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00:00:01
Rachel Smith
22 Plays3 days ago
Join me as I sit down with Rachel Smith RN, a health and wellness coach to discuss the positive impact the outdoors can have on ALL of us,
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Transcript
Introduction to the Podcast
00:00:01
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Outdoorsy Educator Podcast, where stories become lessons and every journey has something to teach us.
Weekly Interviews and Guest Insights
00:00:10
Speaker
Every week I sit down with people from all walks of life to hear their adventures, explore their experiences, and uncover the insights that have shaped them along the way.
00:00:21
Speaker
Whether it's from the outdoors, the classroom, or any other path, each conversation offers a fresh perspective on learning, growth, and what it means to truly connect with the world and the people around us.
Introduction to Guest Rachel Smith
00:00:41
Speaker
And on this week's episode of the Outdoorsy Educator podcast, we have Rachel Smith. Rachel, how are you today? I'm doing great. Thanks so much for having me. Oh, no, we appreciate you and your time. Why don't you tell the audience a little bit about who you are?
00:00:56
Speaker
Sure. I am a nurse practitioner. i own my own practice and I specialize in longevity medicine with my patients. um I'm also a wife and a mom and traveler. i'm a writer. i'm a speaker. i'm a
Rachel's Multifaceted Life and Travels
00:01:12
Speaker
private pilot. So i I wear lots of different hats and that keeps me engaged and excited. Hence the planes over your shoulder in your office. Yes. Well, those are not all mine, but my husband's also a pilot. He's a commercial pilot. So those are those are dead boys those are his Well, that's kind of exciting. um
00:01:31
Speaker
Yeah, I just got back from ah a long plane journey on Friday.
Longevity, Wellness, and Healthcare Complexities
00:01:35
Speaker
Long for me. but you know I go home back to Scotland every year, and it's a little over 10 hours usually on the way back. And at that point, I'm ready to not be on a plane again for a little while.
00:01:47
Speaker
I hear you. Yeah, it's um good. But, you know, we came across each other online. And when you talked about sort of longevity and just overall wellness in general, that, of course, took me in my mind to educators that I work with. And we've heard about it. It's probably been since teaching began, you know, educator burnout, people not really taking care of themselves first and foremost, and And I just thought it could be a really interesting discussion because we see so many health education professionals who feel exhausted despite the fact we have more access to more medical information than ever before. And I was curious as to your take on what you see. We have yeah more medicinal breakthroughs.
00:02:34
Speaker
we can you know We can go to the doctor and find out all these things about ourselves through various tests. And yet so many of us are still struggling. And i was curious as to your perspective on that.
00:02:48
Speaker
I think it's multifactorial. And so I'll talk about it in a couple of different layers. We do have access to so much information.
00:02:59
Speaker
And the way that we have access to that information through online resources and, you know, Dr. Google for lots of us Google. some influencer that we're following on Instagram or TikTok, puts us in the driver's seat for our health, which in many ways is the right place for us to be. However, it's a different dynamic and a different power dynamic than it has been in the past when it comes to healthcare. care
00:03:30
Speaker
It seems to me that very much so in the past, we would go to the doctor and we would Follow the doctor's advice, whatever that advice might be. And that was the only access we had to information about what we ought to be doing differently than what we were currently doing.
00:03:51
Speaker
Now
Medical Research and Digital Challenges
00:03:52
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that we have all that information, many, many people are sort of taking a DIY approach to their health care.
00:04:02
Speaker
which just adds another level of responsibility on top of every other hat that we're wearing. So I think that that's part of it. Unless we're trained in navigating medical research and kind of unwrapping those ah studies,
00:04:24
Speaker
that are perhaps mentioned or perhaps not even mentioned by the Instagram influencer. We may not know whether this applies to us, whether there's any validity to it, but everything about social media and the way programs and solutions are sold to us is by creating a sense of fear first. So they they first ignite your fear and then they sell you the solution.
00:04:54
Speaker
So that's, I think, you know wrapped up in this access to information that we all have, which is tied into the the flip side of this coin. And I think where so much of our burnout comes from no matter what field we find ourselves engaged in, whatever our career path is,
00:05:16
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because we have so much information, so much digital stimuli coming at us constantly. We all live with our phone ever ready.
00:05:26
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i silenced it for this, but it's there. It's there. Mine is over here too. Yep. Right. And meanwhile, I've got Claude working on several projects in the background, you know, while I'm doing this. So we are touched by technology constantly.
00:05:45
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you know, we wear our digital trackers to sleep and we check that data first thing in the morning. This is good and bad. Right. I think that's the key, right? I mean, all this technology and access to information has a lot of positives, but it can also be a bit scary. And I love the fact that you said, or you really alluded to the fact that a lot of the times problems have to be created to market and sell solutions. And I think we see that in health. I think we see it in politics, in with social issues across the board.
00:06:19
Speaker
You know, people can't sell their ideas unless there's something to be scared of. It's true. Yeah, that's that's really interesting. one Right. Yeah. Yeah. You have to yeah create the problem, create an enemy, whether that's somebody or a fear of something.
00:06:35
Speaker
Absolutely. um And so if you could dive into what it is you do a little more as a nurse nurse practitioner, um do you have people that come in and they've already and I may be completely wrong here. This is just like you know my curiosity and they've almost self-diagnosed.
00:06:53
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or they've been looking things up, so they've already decided it must be this, it must be that, and you have to navigate that conversation with your medical expertise. Yes, that is ah that that is a conversation I have on repeat multiple times a day. Interesting. Nobody comes in having not already run their symptoms through chat.
00:07:15
Speaker
Right. which And the reality of that is, I also am going to run their symptoms through chat because I want to know what chat told them. So I'm prepared to answer specifically what they think they already know.
00:07:30
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Right. Because, because they think they've done their, their research. In fact, they'll tell me I've done my research, which is great. Right.
00:07:41
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And, and kind of challenging at the same time. So yes, in in the work that I do, sometimes people come in having, absolutely done a lot of looking into it on their own one way or another, and or been to lots of other practitioners and maybe not been given the answers that they felt were adequate to explain what they were experiencing.
00:08:05
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And so the scope of my work in a practice that's focused on longevity is Let's take you where you are, evaluate any gaps in your health, physical, emotional.
00:08:22
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Let's look at the blood work. Let's look at your nutrition, your lifestyle, your stress, your sleep. your exercise, and then let's project out 10, 20 years and see, you know, what what are the what's the burden of risk and how can we decrease that?
00:08:39
Speaker
what What does that look like in a very individualized way? Following the science, so as much as possible, not guessing. Not blindly you know throwing it at dart board, but following the science, but individualizing it for that person and what their life looks like, what's actually doable for them, actually workable.
Outdoor Activities and Personal Growth
00:09:04
Speaker
That's their plan. that' That sounds like a very healthy approach. um When I was looking into you know who you are and what it is you do, I've noticed that you you've particularly embraced the outdoors activities like running, kayaking, cycling, mountain biking.
00:09:20
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And you know even me, somebody who not in medicine at all, would know that obviously these things are good for them. your blood pressure or weight loss. But I was curious to what these activities might've taught you about yourself and your health that might not be captured on, let's say a fitness tracker or a lab test.
00:09:40
Speaker
So the activities that, that you just listed were more, um, adventure, um, well, like mountain biking, for example, even, even road cycling can be, um,
00:09:54
Speaker
quite an endurance feat depending on how you approach it. i once, um, rode ragbri, which is a 500 mile bike ride across the state of Iowa. That's what i need told on my, on my radar. I've got a friend who's done it I don't know if he does annually, but he's done it quite a few times. And every year he, that, that rope for pulling me onto going to ragbri comes, gets a little shorter. yeah yeah It was great fun. i would encourage you to do it.
00:10:22
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I um felt that I had trained adequately. that Maybe, you know, we could always be better trained, of course, but I put in the miles in the six months preceding RAGBRAI. What I hadn't adequately sorted through was how to hydrate and manage electrolytes. So I ended up with so much fluid retention at the end of the week. I was kind of a mess. But in any event, what those types of outdoor activities teach me about myself, whether it's mountain biking or just a really long
00:10:56
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grueling bike ride is what I'm capable of and what I'm still capable of. Even when I'm not necessarily feeling it, when I push through and get to the end that I, that i at 55 years old, I can still do these things.
00:11:11
Speaker
And right ah even, you know, when it was something I was doing 15 years ago, that it it was something, this is hard and it will be hard.
00:11:23
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but I will get through it and i and that I can do hard things. I mean, that's so basic. And yet what that teaches us, what that gives us as a lifelong skill of resilience is irreplaceable.
00:11:36
Speaker
Absolutely. I think that that resilience is is a theme that has come up time and time and time again when I've interviewed people. And when people who can, that they're able to build that resilience and there's almost nothing they can't do.
00:11:51
Speaker
um it's And it's it's a wonderful thing to witness. You know I've seen it in friends. And ah yeah, it's truly remarkable what people can achieve when they commit to doing it and putting putting themselves in a mental head headspace to be able to do it.
00:12:07
Speaker
For sure. And, you know, doing the prep work in advance physically is one thing and surrounding yourself with people who believe that you can do it, support you in attempting it, and will go do it with you, right? This building a community that wants to do those same things is huge.
00:12:29
Speaker
Oh, absolutely. Yeah. finding finding like my finding your people Finding your people is huge. um I mean, I found that in in the hiking community. I do quite a lot of hiking and but doing it with your people and your your little tribe of people going up the mountain. It gives you an extra boost, which is mental, but it feels physical.
00:12:52
Speaker
It does. It does. Yeah. speed And we've only really begun to talk about the kind of the the hard stuff that we do outdoors. But what about just going and sitting by the river or taking a walk after dinner and watching the sunset?
00:13:12
Speaker
Like how glorious and amazing is that? you That was literally, I've got a little list of questions that wherever the conversation took us, I wanted to ask you. And one of those was about misconceptions about time being spent outdoors. um Again, like I'm not somebody who's really built for running, never have been. It's not something I particularly enjoy. So like it kind of, art well, then I can't do ABC, these outdoor things, but I found other things. So i was curious about misconceptions about what people think they need to do if they're spending time outdoors or things they may overlook that actually have huge health benefits. I'd love for you to talk. ah You just mentioned it a little bit, but I'd love for you to talk about that.
Nature Therapy and Health Practices
00:13:56
Speaker
Sure. I mean, if we're going to use outdoor activity as a venue for exercise, like physical activity that's going to improve our um our strength or cardio respiratory fitness, that's one avenue. And you just choose what you love. And and for some people that they start with walking because that's where they're at. And maybe it never progresses more than that. Some people aren't built for running. You're you're exactly correct on that. um But you find what will keep drawing you back and you do that. But if it's not exercise, there are still
00:14:34
Speaker
demonstrated health benefits for being outdoors. And I don't even know if we understand why nature therapy works.
00:14:46
Speaker
Right. You know, I mean, there are clues that we have and we think maybe it's something to do with vitamin D and sunlight exposure. Maybe it's something to do with our circadian rhythm and being outdoors as the sun is rising and then seeing it set at the end of the day.
00:15:04
Speaker
But it's inarguable that we receive benefits in so many different areas, physical and emotional, psychological, spiritual benefits when we spend time outdoors, especially if it's a natural setting outdoors.
00:15:22
Speaker
as So I've spoken to, and I know this is a slightly different field, of course, but I've spoken to several counsellors and therapists over the years, and I've definitely seen an uptick and a trend in their work. of that Instead of sitting in an office saying, across the table from each other and let's start our hour. They're actually going for a walk for their session and talking about whatever it is they're going to talk. And again, this is my you non-professional opinion, of course.
00:15:50
Speaker
What I'm hearing is it's very exciting. There's wonderful breakthroughs happening. It really seems to be a thing that is gaining a bit of traction. I love it. I love it. I have ah a colleague who does some work with my patients. She's a health coach.
00:16:06
Speaker
And that's one thing she offers to her health coaching clients is let's meet and we'll do the coaching session while we walk the the river walk.
00:16:17
Speaker
It's, it's amazing. Yeah, something I never thought about my friend who does this told me was the the ease of which nature provides metaphors that can be used to help with the therapy. You know, seasonal changes, things going dormant and coming back to life, how everything feeds off each other, the cycle, and all of these things can be used to help understand whatever issues it is the person may be having. And it's so simple. It's so simple, but it's so brilliant as well.
00:16:48
Speaker
Absolutely. I love that. Yeah. I mean, who doesn't reach for a mountain climbing metaphor when you're talking about any hard thing that lies ahead, right? How do you prepare prepare to climb to the top of a mountain? You don't just take off. you You have a plan and you pack your bag and you plan your meals and you find a guide. Absolutely. Absolutely.
00:17:12
Speaker
Yeah, it's ah I think it's it's undoubtedly um a good thing spending this time outdoors. And obviously, I work in education and ive I've been thinking about this and I've yet to do much research into it. But you know most educators spend their days indoors, they're under artificial lights. And I was curious if you were aware of any research or what the research may tell us about the impact of natural light and outdoor exposure on things like mood and sleep and just just overall health.
00:17:41
Speaker
health, you know, when when so many of us, and again, I just think about teachers a lot, but so many of us are stuck under artificial lights in an office, into our car, into our homes, and that's our daily routine. Right.
00:17:55
Speaker
So i I'm not going to speak to the things that I don't know, but I but i can guess about those things. ah There is a lot of research that um demonstrates the benefits of nature therapy, spending time outdoors,
00:18:10
Speaker
I think in any capacity, even, you know, people talk about like grounding, like being outside barefoot. you know, I don't know how much that's woo-woo stuff. But ah to me, like if you're outside, you're going to get some benefit. I don't care if you're barefoot. If you want to be barefoot, be barefoot.
00:18:28
Speaker
um But definitely the the nature therapy studies are looking at those outcomes in particular mood and um cognition and sleep. stress management. So those are some of the major things that they are exploring. So it doesn't surprise me. And I don't know if it's a positive benefit that when you're spending time outside, you're getting something specifically from that, or when you're spending time outside, you're not being exposed to the artificial light inside, right? You'd have to look at both sides of it very interesting in a scientific way.
00:19:01
Speaker
Yeah, that's a very good point. it's not just what you're gaining outdoors, but what are you avoiding indoors? I'd never really thought about it that way. That's very interesting. um i I'm not sure what state it is. I feel like it's Washington, might be Oregon, and ah I'm probably wrong. But I've noticed that... ah medical doctors in one of those states, I'm sure, can now but actually prescribe outdoor time where they can, and I didn't know if you'd ever heard of that. I was curious about the role that nature does play in what you do specifically and how you can utilize it.
00:19:38
Speaker
Sure. I have heard of that, but what I don't know is what that means. The state of Washington has said that prescribers can prescribe outdoor therapy. What does that mean? Does that mean it's reimbursed in some way that insurance will cover it or that an employer has to honor that time? That's, now i don't and I don't know the details about that, but I do definitely talk about the benefits of being outdoors to my patients, whether we're talking about stress management or improving their sleep. So I talk about morning sunlight exposure and evening sunlight exposure as well.
00:20:15
Speaker
And then when we're talking about exercise, i I usually will talk to them about like, okay, let's do what we can do. And if that means that you have a walking pad under your desk, that's great. You'll increase steps. You just get an additive benefit if you do those steps outdoors.
00:20:33
Speaker
I want you to do them no matter what. But if you do them outdoors, you also get nature and birds and clouds and sunshine. Yeah, there's so many layers to this. I was just thinking about what you said about grounding, because i suppose there could be or may not be um your medical research showing it does or does not benefit. But if it makes you feel better, it's almost like a placebo effect. This is all good.
Redefining Success and Personal Fulfillment
00:21:01
Speaker
Yes, all these different angles and levels and layers to it, I find um i find very interesting.
00:21:09
Speaker
um So as we kind of come around the the bend here to the homestretch, I do have three questions I wanted to ask you. um i I like to think about the word success quite a lot because it's changed a lot throughout my life. What being successful means, you know achieving goals, they've changed over the years, of course. But i was curious how you might define success and how it has changed, if indeed it has, um you know through your experience in the medical field.
00:21:40
Speaker
Wow. Success, I feel, is kind of a loaded word. Right. It seems to me that it's very wrapped up in what other people think about us as opposed to how we actually value our own life and our own lived experience.
00:22:01
Speaker
Yes. So where have I come to with that? What I have... seen a pattern of my own behavior in life is constantly going for the next thing.
00:22:18
Speaker
So I've sort of lived my life as a very driven individual, multiple degrees. If there's a certification, I'm going to get it.
00:22:29
Speaker
If I'm going to take up scuba dr diving, then I'm going to go get the next certification, right? It's, it's always the next thing. and Yet what I know more and more, the older I get is that those letters after my name, those certifications mean less and less.
00:22:50
Speaker
And yes you know, how how do you feel when you're around me? How do I make you feel? We've heard this before, right? Nobody remembers, you know what you did for a living or,
00:23:06
Speaker
or necessarily anything else about you except how you made
Influential Figures and Aviation Inspirations
00:23:11
Speaker
them feel. So, yep. It's the same with, uh, we deal with that with elementary school students all the time. When we think, when we think back to our, our young school days, we don't know which teacher taught us what necessarily, but we, as you said, and I apologize for interrupting you.
00:23:25
Speaker
It's always how they make us feel always. Uh, yeah, it's, it's, it's a, it's almost a universal truth. I think that's, that's what we remember the most. Um, I can see behind you've got a large array of books, but I was curious as to what book has been particularly impactful on your life.
00:23:46
Speaker
And this could be a couple of different books, might not be your favorite book, but just something that has had a lasting impact on on your life.
00:23:57
Speaker
and This is often a question. i always ask three questions at the end of every podcast, and this one always seems to be the the trickiest or or has moments of pause. Sure, and I can see why, because I've been a lifelong reader, and you know I want to just like dive back to my childhood and find you know the one series that that somehow you
00:24:23
Speaker
In fact, i think I think I will because there's something about the the Anne of Green Gables books from from my childhood that in a way like told me as a kid that um that there was some kinship in the world, that if I was a little bit different than then the other kids in school, that's okay because there there were other people like me. I wasn't alone in the world.
00:24:51
Speaker
I love that. Again, all about how you it makes you feel, isn't it? I love the hand of Green Gables. My last question for you is, and I try to customize this question a bit for each guest. I want you to, you're thinking about taking your plane up in the air for a day.
00:25:07
Speaker
Who would you choose? And this could be somebody dead, alive, famous, not famous, somebody you know, somebody you've never met. Who would you like to take up in a plane for a day, you know, to go with you and you just get to pick their brains and talk to them as you're soaring through the sky?
00:25:24
Speaker
Yes, this is easy because I just got done reading um a memoir that Amelia Earhart had written. And I know I've been interested in aviation since I was 14. I don't think I ever realized that she had written a book, but somebody gifted it to me recently and I just read it um i would, yeah. Amelia Earhart, she was one badass woman and the the kind of flying that they were doing when she was flying was crazy. she wants so
00:25:58
Speaker
I'm i'm getting going to go off just a little bit here. please. um It was an era where somebody had just invented what became the modern day helicopter. they They had a different name for it.
00:26:10
Speaker
And she had never even seen one, but then she had the opportunity to go up in one with with a ah pilot who took her up. They spent about 15 minutes in the air. They landed. And then he said, now it's your turn. Go up.
00:26:26
Speaker
Wow. Flight training. Right? See one, do one. i yeah crazy that she would just set off on these cross-country flights. And it was so common that you might just have to put your plane down somewhere because something was going wrong. and There were far more open fields at the time, so it was much less of a big deal. But having an off-field landing was something that pilots had on the regular back when she was flying. And that is just like a whole different world. So I would i would love that opportunity.
00:26:59
Speaker
Yeah. how did How did we not know she wrote a book? Like I didn't know that till right now. That's incredible. Yeah.
Wrap-up and Contact Information
00:27:06
Speaker
Yeah. I will need to pick up a copy of that. um I have a lot more questions for you, but I want to be very respectful of your time. But how can other people find you? What's the best way to get in touch with you? I'm sure we'll have listeners who have questions about what you do.
00:27:20
Speaker
Sure. Probably easiest to find me on Instagram or LinkedIn at Rachel Smith DNP. Rachel Smith, DNP. Awesome. Well, I'll make sure we link to that when this episode goes out. But Rachel, I cannot thank you enough for your time. This has been a fascinating conversation. And ah thank you again so much for doing what you do and spending this time with me today.
00:27:48
Speaker
It's been a lot of fun. Thank you for having me.
00:27:52
Speaker
Thank you again to this week's guest and I hope today's episode was as enjoyable for you as it was for me and perhaps even inspired your next adventure. If you did enjoy the show, please be sure to subscribe, leave a review or follow us wherever you get your podcasts. You can find more information at theoutdoorsyeducator.com or follow us on Instagram, TikTok or Facebook. Until next time, thank you so much for listening to The Outdoorsy Educator Podcast.