Meet Marenn Sagar a Sapphire Coast local, who undertook a life-changing voyage that ultimately lead to him discovering his future career, meeting his wife and unlocking the keys to inner balance.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
When he first flew over to Sweden in 2019 for the Midsummer Festival at the Angsbacka Course and Festival Centre, Marenn would never have imagined it would lead him to pursuing a career in Zen Coaching.
"I had gone to the first one to meet a friend and then one festival led to another and I began volunteering there and becoming part of the community which felt like a little utopia," he said.
Marenn now 30-years-old has returned to the Bega Valley having completed his course in Zen Coaching and has introduced his wife Vera to his hometown in the Bega Valley.
Marenn had grown up travelling between his parents' homes in Wallagoot near Bega and Wallaga near Bermagui.
His childhood had been one filled with a rich knowledge and appreciation for nature, due to his parents raising him with a set of strong environmental values.
"I spent a lot of time in nature as a kid, seeing the beauty of nature and everything it gave to us but then as I grew up and studied sustainability, I began seeing how much was being destroyed and it didn't sit well with me," he said.
Marenn also harboured a love for getting creative which was stimulated in his early education at Mumbulla primary school in Bega.
"Mumbulla helped harvest a community mindfulness and they really valued creativity there," he said.
After graduating from high school at Bega High, Marenn undertook studies in Urban Design and Regional Planning and completed a Bachelor of Sustainability at the James Cook University of Australia.
Marenn also studied Global Sustainability at the University of Dundee.
After his graduation Marenn said he needed a change of scenery and was drawn to taking some time out for travel and introspection, which led to him booking his trip to Sweden.
"I learnt about the outside world but the next step was to look internally and find out what is my truth? To connect within myself and go on a healing path," he said.
This is what brought him to the Midsummer Festival which then led to him attending the No Mind Festival where he first discovered the concept of Zen Coaching, something he would later pursue as a career.
It was actually while he was at the Midsummer Festival that he also met his future wife Vera van der Slot.
"We connected in Sweden and when I came back from Australia we spent six months living at the community centre in the festival then travelled around Europe in a van we bought," he said.
After those four months of bliss, Marenn returned to Australia right around the time the Black Summer Fires hit the South Coast in late 2019 and early 2020.
During his time home Marenn witnessed and experienced the impact the Black Summer Fires had on his community, having been forced to evacuate and take shelter during the peak of the fires himself.
"Everyone has their own experience and story from that time but it had a profound and traumatic effect and I feel that COVID then affected us in a different way again, causing division and a great disconnect," he said.
Marenn had been fortunate to travel back to Sweden to meet Vera before COVID-19 lockdowns were put in place. While living in the northern hemisphere, Marenn kept himself busy by taking on a Zen Coaching course.
However once his travel visa began to expire, Marenn found himself in the position that he needed to return home and this time he'd be coming back with his wife Vera. They were married shortly before his return home.
Once settled back in his home at Bermagui, Marenn recognised that there was a great need for re-connection in his community.
"Over the last couple of years there's been lots of challenges for our community and it has stirred up different emotions and reactions. For some it has also triggered past traumas too," he said.
"We need to look underneath those emotions, to the deeper story and bring some healing to our inner selves."
Marenn then began creating his own business that he dubbed Blue Wren Zen Coaching which he said would offer people the opportunity to connect in the present moment, observe and let go of thoughts that seemed to consume their minds.
"Wellbeing starts with connection to ourselves, acknowledging how we are feeling and listening to ourselves, so we can then support ourselves and put strategies in place that align with us," he said.
Marenn said his work "in essence" meant supporting people "to really connect within themselves and allow whatever they're going through to happen and learn to move through things".
"So they can get to the other side, without getting stuck in their thoughts," he said.
Marenn said connection with the "true self" can look different person to person, however going beyond identification with the mind was an essential aspect.
"Becoming present with the self and having the embodied experience that we are more than our thoughts is a beautiful aspect,"
"Discovering we can simply be a holding space for not only thoughts but all experience, can be life changing."
Whenever Marenn isn't busy practicing Zen Coaching, he can be found tinkering away making pieces of jewellery that he then sells at markets and other local events.
"I've been focusing on making jewellery which acts like my own meditation practice, where I pour my creativity into my work," he said.
Marenn said he was excited to attend the inaugural Wanderer Festival where he planned to set up a market stall and connect with visitors and Bega Valley locals.
Amandine Ahrens
I've grown up in the Bega Valley and I'm a regional daily news reporter on the Far South Coast of NSW. Got a story? Get in touch: 0436 426 843 or email amandine.ahrens@austcommunitymedia.com.au
I've grown up in the Bega Valley and I'm a regional daily news reporter on the Far South Coast of NSW. Got a story? Get in touch: 0436 426 843 or email amandine.ahrens@austcommunitymedia.com.au
