me!

Heart Earth Radiance is…

I’m Merryl Simpson, a big-HEARTed, EARTH loving, freshwater mermaid, living the fully expressed RADIANCE of my true nature and purpose.

I’m extra sparkly when the sun is shining, the creek is flowing, and I’m walking barefoot through the forest for a nudie swim with the yabbies.

Standing powerfully in my own beauty has been a lifetime’s work up until now, so I’m so grateful you’re here, taking the time to see me for who I really am. Thank you for the gift of your presence.

Offer me truth and I’ll shine from the inside out

A glass of Tempranillo and a few slices of Queso Manchego will also work wonders!

I never imagined I’d be here…

yet life has a way of dancing us on the journey that’s ours, even though that journey can sometimes be challenging.

… and that’s how I landed at Feathertail Nature Refuge; healing myself, healing the land, feeling the land healing me, and inviting others to feel this too.

Nature has always been my playground.

With childhood memories of reimagining my suburban backyard into a magical otherworldly realm where I could travel through underground portals to new destinations, losing track of time as I painted with ochres in freshwater creeks on holidays, and singing to the cows with my Grandma on my Uncle’s dairy farm as we ushered them in for milking…

“Hi Lili Hi Lo Hi Lup up Up”

My Sagittarius spirit loves an adventure…

but journeying with reality isn’t always easy…

In 2005 after moving back to Australia from England, I wasn’t really sure what to do with myself. All my friends had grown up, my backpack was mouldy, and I was running out of distractions. That’s when I talked my way into a dream job as a Teacher & Actor at an Environmental Education Centre on Turrbal and Yuggera lands in Brisbane.

19 years of passionately engaging thousands of young people through story and embodiment in nature and delivering specialised Place Responsive Professional Development Workshops to teachers, has offered me a profound reverence for the ancient wisdom teachings of this land; a passion I regularly fuel by ongoing connection with Elders, volunteering with Noonga Reconciliation Group, and walking in silence, barefoot on the land.

The busyness of my human ‘doing’

Caught up with me in my mid thirties and after traumatic emergency surgery, I longed to slow down and feel more of my human ‘BEing’. Enacting big changes in my life attuned me to an imbalance of giving and receiving, the sense of pushing for outcome rather than surrendering into experience. I needed to shift focus and self-love was the key; sparking my Yoga Teacher Training journey in 2016 (Level 1 350hrs My Health Yoga) followed by Meditation Teacher Training (Mindfulness for a Meaningful Life 110hrs Celia Roberts).

When my partner was diagnosed with terminal cancer, I was catapulted into terror. This was full body stress like I had never known and Viparita Karani (Legs up the wall pose) wasn’t really cutting it for me. My nervous system was in constant dysregulation and it was challenging to access a place of higher consciousness and acceptance for what was happening. Learning to walk with grief in one hand and gratitude in the other was exhausting. How could I support myself so that I could continue to be of service?

I needed support

Regular Reiki and Pellowah Energy Healing sessions from a dear friend and Spiritual Mentor of mine became my lifeline, and I trained in both Kundalini Reiki Level III in 2017 and Pellowah Healing Technique© in 2018 from Julie Parker in Brisbane. I have beautiful memories of the Pellowah Healing Course being held here at Feathertail and the King Parrots flying close to the windows, curious about the buzz of energy inside. They are still amongst my most frequent visitors to the bird baths and their gentle energy and powerful presence reminds me to balance the energies of giving and receiving. As my walk with grief and gratitude continues (and always will), the calling of my soul is to create and hold slowed down space for others in ways that support them to remember their true nature.