Fully Alive in Nature with Shane Metcalf Part 2 (of 2)
“Without nature, we can’t be fully alive. Without being fully alive, we can’t actually give our greatest gifts to the world. We can’t really deliver on what we’re here to do, if we aren’t vitalized, if we aren’t engaged in the majesty of this planet that we live on...”
YOUR KEY INSIGHTS FROM SHANE
The foundational truth of nature
“I think that it goes back to that foundational truth, which is that it's all nature... This microphone is nature. The computer that we're recording on is nature. Look up to the sky, you can see clouds.. instant connection to nature. It's understanding that we're way more connected than we think. We go to a park, let's say it is processed nature, which is the man-made material objects, but if you don't see those things as separate from the whole... It actually makes it, I think, a lot easier to see, to find the house plant in your home and actually connect with that. It makes it easier to go to the park and just lay in the grass under a tree and feel that deeper connection. That’s part of the beauty of going into nature. If you can do a backpacking trip and go really deep into wilderness to untouched wilderness, there is a level of silence and attunement that start to develop where the mind can quiet down.
I think it is finding the nature in the small ways, in the cities, and then making it a priority to get out, to travel, to go to these beautiful spots on the Earth. We're incredibly privileged human beings who can travel. We can get on planes, but we can also just go into our backyard. Living in San Francisco, I used to live next to Glen Park Canyon, which is this amazing little canyon in the south side of San Francisco, and hardly anyone's in there, and I'd go in and it would just be like, Wow, I feel like I'm in deep wilderness. And yet, I'm not. And so I would always just go out and seek out those things because it was a priority for me, and I made it a priority. I used to be a part of a men's group and we'd meet every Wednesday, 8:00 AM and the Oakland rose garden. And it was amazing because all of a sudden we're out there in all these incredible roses and blossoming plants and get to do really cool men's work. We were in Oakland, and yet we were not. We're in this incredible garden of amazing flowers blossoming.”
realign Your energy
“I think that things like stress are actually collective fields. When we're around a lot of other people, we get influenced. The subconscious, the collective consciousness, has a greater influence when we're in the density of populations. When we get out and we actually disconnect from the human world and we re-attune to the natural world, we’re deeply influenced by our environment. When it’s trees and squirrels and rivers that are the primary influence on our DNA, it starts to change. It starts to influence and create an actual physiological effect. I think that that's a part of why deep immersions in nature are really powerful, and if anyone hasn't ever done that like, What are you waiting for? Go do it!
And in terms of epiphanies, a part of what I feel like that nature shapes me with is it just deepens my appreciation for beauty. Growing up in Northern New Mexico, I got to see thousands of the most incredible sunsets on the planet. I mean, jaw-dropping illumination of mountain ranges and valleys and fields with a golden quality of light that's just unparalleled. I really think that shaped me and helped me actually understand that the root of life is being present. It is being able to open up to a greater sense of wonder and awe. That has led me into an appreciation of beauty. How can I make our office is really beautiful? How can I have fresh flowers in our home? How can I prioritize spending my time in this one precious, short life that I have? How can I be ambitious and have dreams and pursue those things, but also stop and slow down and actually be present with the majesty and just intense experience that being alive actually brings?”
simple practices that tap into shane’s nature advantage
”So when you go for walks, leave your phone at home. I remember there's been times when I've taken the van out and we didn't have service, and at first I was like, ‘Oh no, we don't have service,’ and then it's like, ‘Oh, thank goodness we don't have service.’ Turn the phone off immediately, open your eyes, and be a little more present.
As we start to be able to gather in person again, set up your team retreats and your leadership retreats in beautiful spots. Do walking sessions. In the current COVID world with so much screen time, I really think we need to balance that out with more time away from our screens. We need to be more deliberate about getting outside. That's part of what's helping me adjust in Colorado. We're using our weekends to go adventure and explore this incredible state.
For me, the thing that I love the most is actually having a hot tub outside your house, if you can. If you have a backyard, get a hot tub because it allows you to spend more time outside in whatever climate it is. But with that, I increased the amount of time that I was spending outdoors probably tenfold. Hot water is just such a miracle of a thing. I really think that it can heal a lot of the collective trauma that we have is through hydrotherapy.
Learning the art of savoring, learning to pause. On your drive, look up and see if you can, with a beginner's mind, notice details that you haven't noticed before, even if it's a place that you've been hundreds of times. This one exercise I liked was try to count the number of shades of green when you're looking out at a landscape because that... it would be innumerable, the different shades of green that I can see with my eyes right now…”
a full immersion in nature
“If we go back to this idea that we're not separate from nature, doing a cold plunge is a full immersion in nature. Water is just the most incredible thing. And especially for our mental and emotional health, so cold water therapy is incredible. I once heard, I haven't validated this, but that cold water therapy is as effective at treating mild depression as anti-depressants because it's almost acting like mild shock therapy for the brain. It produces this flood of beneficial hormones. A super easy trick is for people who aren’t quite ready for the ice baths is to just go ahead and crank it over too cold after you've taken a hot shower.
And it's so great because we have transcendent experiences that are available to us, all you need to do is go do 20 minutes of breath work, then jump in an ice bath. You will shock yourself out of the learned numbness that we have as modern humans. It shocks us of all the bad news and all the intensity and all of the emotional chaos of the world right now. It actually cleanses us of that and renew us so that we can become fully alive, because I think that's where I would connect the nature advantage. Without nature, we can't be fully alive.
Without being fully alive, we can't actually give our greatest gifts to the world, we can't really deliver on what we're here to do, if we aren't vitalized, if we aren't engaged in the majesty of this planet that we live on...”
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