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hayel<br />
balance<br />
words: amber o’dell<br />
photos: walkandseemedia<br />
You will often find Shay next to<br />
her blush longboard on the<br />
beach, smiling at sunset colours<br />
next to a bowl of quinoa oats and<br />
berries.<br />
We all work towards the bliss of a perfectly balanced<br />
lifestyle. For Shay, the daily chase of finding the key balance<br />
of health and happiness has never stopped, and she<br />
comes closer to reaching it every day. As a lover of life,<br />
health and the surf, she carries with her a buoyant spirit that<br />
is contagious enough to lighten any moment, which is why<br />
we humble Smorgasboarders were so lucky to have a surf<br />
and a chat with her.<br />
Many may recognise Shay and her bright smile from<br />
Australian Survivor’s 2022 season, Blood Vs. Water, where<br />
her fitness and inner strength earned her runner-up in what<br />
was considered the most ruthless season to date.<br />
As a surfer, yoga instructor, biomedical student, dancer and<br />
organiser of retreats, Shay’s lifestyle is anything but bland.<br />
Constantly chasing health and happiness, her enthusiasm<br />
has taken her across the world to her current home in the<br />
Sunshine Coast. Here, her lifestyle is so full it’s a wonder<br />
how she fuels her mind and body to be so physically and<br />
mentally active – surely there isn’t that many hours in a day.<br />
Shay proved to us there actually is if you put your<br />
mind to it, and said her daily routine is usually filled<br />
with study, yoga, running, work, surfing and meetings<br />
from sunrise to sunset.<br />
“I’ll usually do a lot of my work from uni, so I try to split<br />
my day up. I’ll surf in the morning, go to uni, have two<br />
hours in the lab and then I’ll do two hours of personal<br />
business for my retreats or whatever else. I might go<br />
for a run, get back to work and then maybe go for a<br />
sunset swim or walk. Sunsets on the beach are such<br />
a nice way to relax and get time to yourself. I just sit,<br />
read or play Wordle.”<br />
Shay’s love of a healthy life and the ocean is<br />
canvassed all over her body in the form of tattoos,<br />
with a manta ray gliding over her shin, a palm tree on<br />
her hand, a whale tail on her forearm and the amusing<br />
addition of ‘eat your veggies’ on her other forearm.<br />
She also has ‘salty’ tattooed on her thigh, which she<br />
got after she was inspired by the salt left on her skin<br />
after going for a surf.<br />
For Shay, surfing combines her love of fitness with<br />
her love of meeting different communities and people,<br />
even when she is travelling. She understands the best<br />
way to meet someone is when you are both doing<br />
what you love, and as a self-proclaimed ‘goofy and<br />
fun’ surfer, said she has never been the one to take it<br />
very seriously.