DEAN Bentley was an introverted mechanical engineering student, covering his depression, anxiety and self-harm with alcohol when he began a journey of self-discovery.
“Everything looked good on the outside, I had good grades and friends but, on the inside, I wasn’t happy, and I started to question why,” he revealed.
Dean had been living on the Gold Coast, but in late 2023 decided to build a life on the mountain.
Having grown up in Ashford in New South Wales, with a population of just 500, he sought the solace a small community brings.
“I had a desire for a closer community and to be in an area where I could enjoy more slowness and feel more grounded and not be in the rush of life,” he shared.
“I find it’s good for my soul (the slowness). I get to know more of who I am and what my priority is and focus on that.”
Today Dean works as a coach and mentor, working with people with trauma and emotional blockages, as well as a support worker for people with disabilities.
“It started from my own journey of wanting to figure out my own life. I was living my life for everyone else, trying to do what I thought was good or what I was meant to do, rather than go after my own dreams,” he said.
Thanks to the encouragement of a partner urging Dean to get help, he began exploring alternative methods of spirituality, yoga, meditation and finding his own coaches. This became the beginning of him helping other men.
He’s reluctant to describe it as a calling. Instead, he said it’s more walking his own path into evolution and wanting other men to join him.
“It’s what we need for a healthy masculine culture,” he explained.
“I noticed I wasn’t the only one suffering and there were a lot of men who were disconnected and didn’t know how to share their own emotions and suffering, and they were very closed off.”
Since then, he has been involved in many men’s groups including forming Men of the Mountain, which meets every Tuesday evening from 6-9pm at Heart of the Soul on Gallery Walk.
The group attracts a wide variety of men, seeking support in a gamut of areas.
“It’s the full spectrum of men and that’s the beauty of it,” Dean said. “We have different seasons or periods in our lives where we could be struggling or winning, and it can be a gift to share those moments with other men.”
Dean lives with his partner, Chantelle, a yoga practitioner and healer.
His life if filled with learning. He’s currently teaching himself to sing – although he admits it’s mostly in the shower at this stage – indoor rock climbing and studying mythology and Viking history.
Learning to speak French is also on his radar.
“I have a fascination with language and see there is great power in words. A lot of our words are derived from Latin, of which French is a deviation of that. I think it’s a beautiful language,” Dean explained.
Chantelle is also keeping him busy building a flower and medicinal herb garden.
Another project that is close to his heart is his podcast, Wyred where he interviews coaches, leaders, entrepreneurs and creatives from around the world who have shaped their own path in life and explores what it has taken to get to that point.
