Danny Layer is conducting an underwater meditation session in his Bundaberg backyard, just as he has done at least once a week for the past year. Here, he drops an underwater speaker into the blue and encourages his students to give in to the sensory deprivation threatening to engulf them once they’re submerged. “It can be anything you want it to be down there,” says Layer, a former hard rocker and construction worker who made the move from his native Seattle to sunny Queensland more than three years ago. “Chanting is a big part of what I do, but if you’re going through a rough time, you can scream through your regulator for a while, and if you want to relax, you can just self-sooth by absorbing the music.”
As far as Layer knows, he’s the only person offering such a service within the state, but perhaps what’s truly unique about his services is that he’ll only accept payment through what Layer refers to as “an energy exchange” – a method of payment that’s affordable to every Australian regardless of income. “Money doesn’t grow on trees but the things that I need do, so I love gifts of home-grown fruits and herbs, or a house plant they’ve potted themselves, a meal they’ve baked or anything else they’ve poured their energy into,” he says. “When you exchange energies – so we’re talking about a system where it’s basically ‘my time for a little of yours’ – that’s a lot of positive reciprocal vibration and energy going around, and when you’re doing something nice for someone and they do something nice in return, people soon get into the habit of paying it forward.”
““I have a job that pays the bills... but a barter system like this... is all about building relationships and building moments," says Danny Layer. Source: Supplied
I love gifts of home-grown fruits and herbs ... a meal they’ve baked or anything else they’ve poured their energy into.
Over the past year, Layer says he’s been the recipient of countless baskets of avocados, apples and bananas, as well as a few paintings and house plants, and he couldn’t be more thrilled with his chosen currency, insisting that if more people stopped the relentless pursuit for more money than they need, the world would be a far happier place. “I have a job that pays the bills [he’s a dive team member and general deckhand at , a touring charter on the Great Barrier Reef] and that’s all I need,” he says. “But a barter system like this goes back thousands of years and is all about building relationships and building moments – imagine if we could take our focus off bits of paper and metal and redirect it on the important stuff instead?”
Layer’s love of food goes back to his youth in Seattle, where he says he was “constantly” seeking food festivals, new and beloved. “It’s actually a great city to be a foodie but I used to be a lot fatter,” he laughs. “But now to offset the huge respect I have for food, I also have a huge respect for what eating the right kinds of food can do for my body and mind and, for that reason, I tend to stick to mostly fruit and vegetables.” He says he has lost 20kg by shedding all the processed foods, sugars and meat.
Danny Layer accepts home-grown fruit, hand-made meals and potted plants in exchange for his services. Source: Getty Images
Still, Layer says he’s lucky because he has a choice over what he puts in his body to sustain life and promote good health, and his dream is that all humans might one day eventually say the same. “Good health shouldn’t only be for those we deem can afford it, but something to be shared by everybody,” he says. “Somewhere along the way, we’ve created a system where only the elite can eat good food, have regular massages and therapies, and treat themselves, and this is my way of saying, no, there can be a better way and the solution is already right in front of us.”
If you’re interested in an exchange with Danny Layer, he can be contacted via email: [email protected].
