Durable Dad with Tommy Geary
The Durable Dad podcast gives men the skills and tools they need to be rock solid for their family, their work and their community.
Durable Dad with Tommy Geary
062: Get Outside
Did you know there are no straight lines in nature?
Our brains are more visually stimulated in the forest than they are in our living room.
That’s one of the thousands of reasons it feels so friggen good to be in nature.
And the longer we’ve been in our hustle-bustle-live-inside-the-box world, the more likely we are to flip out at our kids or stress out at work.
Nature is a hack to more patience and presence in our everyday world.
Listen to today's episode of the Durable Dad podcast and let nature take you out of your sympathetic nervous system – go-mode… and into your parasympathetic – your naturally calm state.
Your brain and body will thank you for it.
This is the Durable Dad Podcast. I'm your host, tommy Geary. This show is gonna give you the skills and tools you need to be a rock solid man for your work, your community and, most importantly, your family. All right, what's up? Episode number 62, durable Dad Podcast.
Speaker 1:This week we're going to dive into a topic that gets me pretty pumped up. We're going to talk about nature, we're going to talk about getting outside, and I'm feeling pumped about it because I just got back from taking a client on a two-night backpacking trip. We were kind of kicking off some coaching and some deeper work we're going to do over the next six months and the travel there. As soon as I was landing at the Asheville airport and looking around, I guess I didn't realize the mountains down in the southeast were legit mountains. And when we're landing into Asheville, I'm looking out the window and I just like got pumped. I was like hell yeah, this feels like home. Get back into the mountains, get back out into nature. And as I was on the trip, after the trip, it just reminded me how good it feels to walk around in the forest with bare feet to smell fresh rain and because of our lifestyle and our environment, we forget what it's like to be in nature. Being in nature is different than being in the backyard boozing in the sun, playing yard games. Those are always good times, but it's not really what I mean when I talk about connecting with nature. What being in nature looks like, could look like, is, yeah, two night backpacking trip, but it also looks like 20 minutes sitting on a bench, taking in the surroundings. It looks like being quiet, no phone, and you open up your senses, and it can be unsettling to sit alone with your thoughts.
Speaker 1:When I did this exercise at a Durable Dad Day that I hosted a couple weeks ago, I was kind of teeing up what we were going to do go and sit in nature, be alone and one of the guys was like, how long are we going to do it? And I said, well, it won't be an hour long, it'll be shorter than that. And he said, could it be two minutes? And we all kind of laughed. But that's the unsettling feeling. Very rarely are we alone and not doing something, not having a screen in front of us, not having a task that we're getting done, and on the other side of this time, one of the guys at this durable dad day came back after 30 minutes alone and I was like that's all I needed, like I'm feeling better, we can go home now and it was one of the first exercises we did After this backpacking trip that we just did. We were kind of recapping and one of the highlights was this alone time that we did and it was a little more extended than just the 30 minutes.
Speaker 1:But what happens? When you sit in nature like this and you take in the colors, you take in the sounds, you take in the smells, you feel the air, you start to feel better. This is the animal part of us, right? We're human beings, we're human animals and that animal part of us that is connected with nature, that is a part of the living breathing earth, doesn't get to be in touch with the natural world. Very often Our current environments we live in 72-degree boxes and they're square and they have straight lines, like. One of the cool things about nature is there are no straight lines in nature. I just love that fact and that's a part of us that's so subtle.
Speaker 1:When scientists talk about the benefits of being in nature, it's really hard to quantify because there's just subtle things that connect with our deepest DNA that make us feel better, feel better. So there's all these benefits of being in nature, and if we're not deliberate about spending time out there, we get caught up in our current lifestyle that disconnects us from nature. And I get caught up in this Like this is why I'm fired up about it, because I was just reminded of how amazing it feels to be outside. I have a little spot on my calendar every day to be outside for 30 minutes, but sometimes that 30 minutes is a quick walk around the block while I'm trying to get a phone call in or get some other things done. It's not being in nature, it's outside, getting that fresh air in the face, getting some sun on the skin. It's healthy.
Speaker 1:But because we're so disconnected from the natural world, the natural pace of life, we get caught up in the hustle culture. We're always moving fast, we're rushing from thing to thing, activity to activity, task to task, and there's no space. There's no space to quiet down and enjoy life. I was talking to a buddy about Sundays and how Sundays used to be a day of rest. Now we have kids activities and baseball tournaments, and stores that used to be closed on Sundays are now open and there isn't that built-in day of rest, there's no margin to slow down.
Speaker 1:So, at the basic level, we have a sympathetic nervous system and a parasympathetic nervous system, and our sympathetic nervous system is the one that's always assessing. It's the one that's worried about emails stressing about kids, the upcoming visit from the in-laws. When we're there and we're on the go, trying to accomplish, we have less patience. And when your heart rate's up, when you're feeling tense in the chest or the jaw or the shoulders or your breathing is high up in your chest and not in your belly, that's the sympathetic nervous system and it's helpful, but we don't want to live there all the time, and nature makes it really easy to shift into the parasympathetic nervous system. That's the one they call rest and digest. You're breathing deeper into your belly, your breath is softer and you're not on high alert anymore, and this is when your body is able to heal, your body is able to feel good, and that's a huge benefit of nature. When I was out there with my client last week, he just said he felt healthier, and the root word of healthier is heal. So when we get out of our sympathetic nervous system into our parasympathetic, we start to heal, we start to feel better, and so there's a distinction between being outside trying to get things done and being in nature. Being outside, you can still be in your sympathetic nervous system. When you're really in nature and soaking it in, you're in your parasympathetic nervous system, and I am an example of this.
Speaker 1:When I got to Asheville. I got there early and I was on the go. I had to run to the gear stores, I had to do some grocery shopping. I went up to the trail and ran the trail just to make sure that we found a good campsite. And I was kind of on a recon mission, assessing, in that sympathetic nervous system, looking around. Yeah, I noticed the creek, yeah, I noticed the sun and the beautiful forest, but it wasn't until I found that campsite that I kind of settled. I went to the river and I threw some cold water in my face and I just took a breath and looked around and there was a shift in my state. I just relaxed and nature can be that hack. I'm pumped up about this right now. It's something I really believe in.
Speaker 1:I'm reminded after this weekend for myself to get out in nature more and just to be there, and I want you to, too, schedule some time to be outside and to soak it in.
Speaker 1:I'm actually going to post a link to a walking meditation that I really love and I do sometimes. So if you do want to be moving while you soak in nature, you can listen to this 15-minute meditation or you can take some of the tips that I gave which is kind of forest bathing you can Google forest bathing but it's sitting or standing and it's opening up all of your senses. It's feeling your feet on the ground, right the felt sense, feeling the air on your skin, feeling your feet in the ground. Take your shoes off, that's always better. Open your eyes, open your ears, smell, taste all the senses. Let nature just do its work and start to feel better, have more patience, be more calm, happier around your family, around your work. That's what I got for you guys today this challenge to put yourself in nature for at least 20 minutes or do a backpacking trip. Hope you guys have an awesome week and I'll catch you next time.
