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A Dose of Wanderlust 🥾 with Meredith Ewenson
51 Plays11 months ago
On this podcast episode, we have an expansive conversation with outdoor enthusiast @meredithewenson 🌄 for your listening enjoyment!
Meredith is the creator of Mindfulness in the Outdoors offering online inspiration, practical resources & in person excursions all to support you with connecting to nature in an approachable & inspired way🌿 Her IG page is so satisfied to the wanderlusty SOUL. Think raw nature beauty meets practical preparedness for adventure!
Meredith is sharing SO much with us on overcoming our fear/blocks that keep us from exploring the unknown & practical tip to taking time with nature -even in small mindful doses offers us immense rewards. What I LOVE about Meredith is her contagious enthusiasm and smart approach to helping anyone to tap into their adventurous spirit. 💚
Enjoy this convo that is a reminder of the powerful healing with nature as our charging station. 🧘❇️✨
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Transcript
Introduction to 'A Dose of Inspiration'
00:00:11
Speaker
Hello and welcome to another episode of a dose of inspiration. If this is your first time joining us, I am so happy to have you here. My name is Renee Novello and I will be your guide. I.
Reflecting on 2023 with Renee Novello
00:00:27
Speaker
wanted to just take a few minutes here at the top to just check in, say hello, see how you are feeling as we are moving through this last part of 2023. I can't believe that we are now on the downside of a whole
00:00:49
Speaker
year. I hope that you are getting some time to reflect and to sit with perhaps the things that have come up for you this year, what you have been through, what you have worked through and how all that is settling before we get into the anticipation of a fresh start in the new year.
00:01:08
Speaker
So I wanted to welcome everyone. If you have not listened to the episodes here before, I am so glad that you are here.
Podcast's Mission: Sharing Transformative Stories
00:01:18
Speaker
I wanted to touch base on the intention for this podcast and about that. I felt some things to share coming through and figured why not. We'll start there.
00:01:31
Speaker
So really, the intention is through listening to my voice, to our guests, that you will be offered a dose of inspiration by hearing stories, hearing backstory of where people have come from and through.
00:01:50
Speaker
and how they have grown and we hear from a variety of different souls who are somewhere on their path where they have one thing in common or a couple things in common. For example, they have overcome some challenges as we all have
00:02:12
Speaker
And through that overcoming of a challenge, they have come to the other side of fulfilling an aspect of their sole purpose. So it isn't so much really about the specifics of that, although entertaining, and we can certainly identify and hear parts of ourselves within the pain of someone's struggle, within what they have overcome
00:02:42
Speaker
But it is about us as a collective sharing in the energy of transformation and nothing to me is more inspiring than hearing stories of transformation. The word inspiration actually means in spirit.
00:03:04
Speaker
which is so cool. So when you're listening today, whether it's to our amazing guest Meredith, or you've gone back and listened to episodes previous, my intention for this is that this reflects something back to you within you that is coming to life. Maybe it's just a little tiny glimmer right now, but you know, it's there. And once you know, it's there, you cannot ignore.
00:03:32
Speaker
You're knowing, you know that you are here and you are meant to have impact, that you are meant to live life, that you are co-creating. So all episodes have that common thread. They are a nod to something on your path.
Introduction to Guest: Meredith Ewinson
00:03:50
Speaker
And today's guest is a perfect example of that. Meredith Ewinson is the creator of a company that takes mindfulness outdoors. She is sharing with us today how this calling has stretched her to adventurous places and how she faced this nudge from spirit and how that came with the opportunity to overcome fear of the unknown.
00:04:19
Speaker
and also the other side of a reward that is immensely gratifying. Meredith is the perfect person to help us all to feel safe and held as we expand and get outside into the actual elements. Whether that is just on a mindful walk around our block or whether you would consider joining her on one of her larger adventure retreats,
00:04:45
Speaker
She is someone that allows you to move through something that is stretching you in these elements and through that we talk about how that engaging of the mental grit that goes with coming on a bigger adventure
00:05:04
Speaker
how there is an everlasting benefit to that. So settle in, get cozy, and enjoy this expansive conversation with my friend Meredith. Hi, Meredith. Thank you for being here today. So good to see you. Thank you for having me. It's so good to be in your space. It's been a few years since we've connected, and I have been
00:05:31
Speaker
watching, observing, and totally into your new company and the way that you are showing up with your work in the world. So I'm really excited to introduce the listeners to you.
00:05:47
Speaker
Thanks so much. I'm excited to chat. And I'm, like I said, open to chat about kind of any of the facets. I know, I think both of us are people who really embraced the journey of things. And I think that is really where a lot of my work is rooted, which is why it has not necessarily had a linear path. And I think that is very much purposeful and very much the point. And I feel like it's a little bit of a microcosm of like,
00:06:16
Speaker
what I do and why I do it is like, because of what I do is focused and rooted in nature. There isn't just like a linear path. There isn't just like a step A through Z. So it takes I just got
Meredith's Journey with Nature
00:06:29
Speaker
like chills a little bit. It takes a lot of trust and using your intuition and patience. And I'm here for that journey. You know, so I'm excited for this conversation. I love
00:06:41
Speaker
I love that. That is a great starting off point. And tell us about your company. Tell us about what you're doing right now. Sure. So essentially what I do is I help people connect with nature. And that can happen in a lot of facets and a lot of ways. I'm a very multi-passionate person. Not I think, I know. Everything that I do is rooted in curiosity.
00:07:08
Speaker
following my curiosity. And when I have moments of inspiration and joy and passion within that curiosity, I go down that road, even if sometimes there's multiple roads. So to be like a little more grounded in this, I teach yoga and specifically right now I've been focusing on teaching outdoor yoga. I like people to be connected with their senses.
00:07:32
Speaker
and I've moved more in that direction with my yoga and meditation teaching. But primarily, my main focus is helping people connect through nature, just through things like walking meditations. I have a free walking meditation that people can download and use and take out into nature if they're the type of person that's like, I want to feel more grounded, whatever that means, or I feel, I know I feel a little,
00:07:56
Speaker
chaotic or stressed and I just need a pause and a break but sitting still in a meditation might not feel interesting accessible to me. I love the balance of movement with your senses and with nature and really that's where a lot of like this
00:08:17
Speaker
phase and evolution of my business began was when I felt that way. I had a moment sitting in front of my computer. It was probably, probably like five years ago now. It was a few years before pandemic time. And I just felt like really stressed and really kind of burnt out. I loved what I did, but I wasn't feeling
00:08:38
Speaker
Fueled personally and something in me said, like, go outside.
Inspiration from Nature Walks
00:08:42
Speaker
You got to get up and you got to go outside. And so what I did was I literally shut my computer. I went to a place where I had been to a nature walk before, which is a place I go to very regularly these days. My favorite place in Rhode Island is called Satuist Wildlife Refuge for anyone who might be in the area.
00:09:00
Speaker
I went for a walk and it was during that walk that I literally felt the pressure and the heaviness and just all of the like mental chatter begin to melt away as I was walking and moving and just looking and using my senses and connecting with nature on this walk. It really wasn't
00:09:21
Speaker
intentionally meant to be that way. I just knew I needed to get outside. And what happened was nature fueled me by letting me release all that I did not need to have at that time and
00:09:34
Speaker
be use that time in nature to feel grounded and fueled and inspired. And so I literally had like a light bulb moment that was like, this is it, like this is it, it's doing whatever it is that inspires you and you love, but allowing nature to be a guide for you in that process. And for me, it's the primary guide and I guide people to be guided by nature, if that makes sense. But I definitely think everybody could use
00:10:03
Speaker
more nature in their life. And I also am a big advocate for enjoying it and exploring it in simple ways, in really accessible ways, near wherever you live, even if you're a city dweller, which I grew up in a big city. So I get that.
00:10:22
Speaker
more immersive, challenging type adventures. Like I love to go hiking and go on hiking trips and camping trips and those types of like, you know, sometimes purposely challenging experiences because there's so much to learn from nature. And with that, like you learn so much about yourself and you're so and ultimately this all comes back to being more grounded and connected to your own self. Nature is just a really beautiful
00:10:51
Speaker
easy way to get there. And it's somewhere that's been lost for a lot of us along the way, just, you know, the way our modern society has moved forward. So yeah, I love that so much.
00:11:05
Speaker
So what I had a question that came to mind because I have felt this myself is, and are you seeing this or did you experience this and are you seeing this with the people that you work with is that I know I'm going to feel better if I get outside. I know that if I go for the walk, if I put my feet in the grass or whatever it is, you know, sit in the park, I know that I will get a benefit, but there's resistance and there's this sense of like,
00:11:30
Speaker
almost internal struggle of I'm gonna miss something, I'm not gonna be working. Do you feel like people have that resistance? Did you have that resistance? 100% for myself and for others. And there's two things that I always share when that question comes up, because it comes up a lot.
00:11:49
Speaker
One is for me, I had to at first schedule it into my calendar. I literally created what I called nature office hours because I needed at that time to kind of trick my brain into it being like a productive work time, right? Because that was the mindset and the mentality I was in at the time was everything had to be productive.
00:12:12
Speaker
in that way. So I literally would add look at my calendar for the week and say okay and I started with every single Friday at 8 30 a.m. I would go to Saturist this place that I like to walk and every single week no matter rain shine snow and it was like almost maybe it was actually more than a year I think I only missed maybe a handful of days because I was out of town I would go every single Friday for this
00:12:36
Speaker
what I called regrounding walk. And it was my way of regrounding my energy and my body into nature so that I could show up as my fullest, most creative, most productive self in the week moving forward. And then I would maybe schedule in a 2 p.m. walk or something, which 2 p.m., that's the middle of the day. What are you doing going on a walk in the middle of the day? You know, that's like blasphemy for some people. But when you schedule it in,
00:13:05
Speaker
It really makes it more approachable. So a lot of people do say, I don't have, you know, have the guilt, first of all, the guilt of taking time to do something for themselves that feels like not productive, et cetera.
00:13:20
Speaker
Um, so I would encourage you to like schedule it into your week. It's a lot easier to commit to something when you've scheduled it like a week in advance versus just like, I'm in the middle of something, but I should go walk. Then schedule it for the future for a couple of days ahead of time. Um, and so that kind of makes it more of a routine.
00:13:43
Speaker
So that's the first thing is scheduling your nature office hours if that's what you need to do. The second thing is I often hear from people, oh, I don't have a lot of nature near me. I don't have the ocean like you have, or I don't have XYZ. And listen.
00:14:00
Speaker
I understand that because I have FOMO for other beautiful natural places in the world that are not near me either. I love the mountains. I actually I live on an island surrounded by the ocean. I love the ocean. It's beautiful. And I make the most of it. And I still desire to be in other places, too. So I understand.
00:14:20
Speaker
What I would say to that is there is so much to enjoy within probably a hundred feet of your own house and I don't care where you live. It's when you can really find joy and beauty and connection and grounding in the simple things like a dandelion growing between the concrete and the sidewalk. It's when you are acutely aware of those types of, those elements of nature
00:14:48
Speaker
that to me, honestly, that is no different than like sitting at the beach and watching the sunrise. You can get the benefit of connecting with nature, no matter how epic or perfect or whatever remote the nature is.
00:15:05
Speaker
There's a little practice that I share sometimes that I call the pigeon on the power line. And it's, I don't know, it just came to me one day and I started doing it. And this is a way to kind of help yourself develop that connection to nature wherever you are, specifically if you're not somewhere that screams nature.
00:15:22
Speaker
So anytime you're outside, when you walk outside your house or getting in your car and you're doing errands, whatever, generally, for the most part, wherever you are, there's probably like power lines somewhere. And if there aren't, maybe use a fence or something like that. And every time you notice a pigeon sitting on a power line or a bird of any kind, whatever,
00:15:44
Speaker
Pause, notice it, appreciate it, take a deep breath. And that is a moment of connection to nature, to yourself and grounding that's going to support your nervous system. It's going to make you feel more connected to nature. It's going to open up your awareness of gratitude and connection to other things in your life beyond just that experience.
00:16:04
Speaker
And it's these little tiny micro moments with nature that really compound over time and teach us to have those moments of appreciation even when things aren't picture perfect. Because guess what? They're not most of the time. So next time you're outside, look up.
00:16:22
Speaker
notice a pigeon on a power line and just pause. Feel your feet in the ground. Take a deep breath. It doesn't have to take more than three seconds and then go about your day and see how that might shift and see how you might begin to do more of that over time and how that begins to really shift things in a big way. That's awesome. I actually saw something the other day that I had never heard of and you know
00:16:47
Speaker
part of the cool thing about social media is, you know, you do get exposed to so much that is like insightful or different. And I saw a really beautiful reel that was referring to the art of noticing. I don't know if that's actually like an actual thing thing or someone just made it up, but that's exactly speaking to what you're saying. And when I saw it, it struck me because it was like, yes, like that's so simple and so profound. And
00:17:12
Speaker
we can notice in the moment, like you were saying, something in nature that we can have our sight on and be able to take a deep breath in that moment. And it doesn't take us out of necessarily like life happening, but how powerful that was. And I really liked that. I thought that was interesting nod to what you were just explaining. It's like the art of noticing. So pigeon on the power line. I got it. I'm gonna do it.
00:17:39
Speaker
Yeah, do it. And it's so good. And that art of noticing, if you want to call it is, it's really yeah, it's just a way to like strengthen your connection muscle with the world around you with yourself. And I mean, you know, as a spiritual person, the more you feel connected,
00:18:01
Speaker
the more you feel gratitude, the more gratitude you feel, the more that radiates out into, you know, not just your own personal experience and life and world, but the way you interact with others and then perhaps the way they interact with others. So it's really like there's a ripple effect that happens. I often refer to this as like mindfulness in the outdoors is like just teaching people
00:18:25
Speaker
And it's not even like in some ways it's not even teaching people. It's like reminding people. It's like shining the light on like here. Here's a moment that you're already having and here's how you can amplify it in a way that's going to benefit your life that then will benefit lives of others and others and others. So there's such a ripple effect that comes to grounding and connection and especially with nature because it's everywhere.
00:18:51
Speaker
Yes. And it's such an antidote to the constant influx of technology because that disrupts, I was just listening to something this weekend about how that disrupts our connection to the frequency of the earth and the entrainment that we have that natural rhythm of us as a vibrating being the earth is a vibrating being. And when we're constantly on technology, it's basically creating like a static or disruption. And
00:19:18
Speaker
So even though, you know, we were kind of speaking to like, oh, this could be considered something that's not necessary. I kind of feel like we're in the time of the world where it is necessary actually to our well-being to have that be present and to seek that out is that that reconnection back down to help counter
00:19:39
Speaker
all the constant frequencies that are not natural, right? Yes, exactly. And that's how it started. That's how it started for me. All of this practice that's sort of like has been revealed to me or developed or whatever been inspired in some way has all been through being that same person with those same thoughts and those questions that you asked me. But
00:20:05
Speaker
Perhaps I just, I don't know, listened a little closer or became a little more curious. And I'm definitely someone who like is patient enough to move with the breadcrumbs of things, you know, because I think sometimes it's easy, especially in like our modern world where things happen so quick and we can get the full thing that we want right away immediately. There is like a lost art in
00:20:32
Speaker
developing certain connections to things. And I think, yeah, that's something that I find very interesting and fascinating. And yeah, I just love there is it's an endless practice, connecting with nature and just seeing and experiencing like what's revealed to you by just simply placing yourself in its presence and being open to being connected with it.
00:21:01
Speaker
Absolutely. And I love that you have a walking meditation because I can remember going looking for one not that long ago and I really didn't find one I liked. And that is such a, I like how you explained it that it's something that you can listen to that gives you something to focus on instead of just kind of wandering aimlessly or being distracted by your phone or whatever.
00:21:28
Speaker
Um, so definitely, definitely we'll at the end tell people how to get that. Cause I think that having something to listen to that's meditative while you're walking is a whole different experience than, and, and so valuable too. Cause I agree. I don't always want to sit still.
00:21:47
Speaker
and meditate and sometimes that can be really hard for a lot of people, myself included, and just to be able to walk and move your body and feel your breath and have something to listen to, I think is a huge benefit for people. I wanted to ask you, when you were little, do you feel like this was a part of what lit you up as a child or is this something you've
00:22:14
Speaker
gravitated towards later in life? Were you a big little kid out in nature playing or? So such a good question. And this question fascinates me too, because this is something that I have thought a lot about. And I'm sort of learning about and asking myself as well. So I grew up in downtown Chicago. I grew up in a big city.
00:22:37
Speaker
with a city family who grew up in the city like my parents when I say I'm going camping like my dad's like like thinks I'm in a homeless shelter like he's like well like asking me if like there's people without homes that are around me and I'm like no it's camping like nature like he's a city person through and through I love that dad so that's that's a good point so we would
00:23:00
Speaker
Yeah, like, they don't, they aren't nature people.
From City to Nature: Meredith's Exploration
00:23:05
Speaker
So I didn't a lot of people who are very connected with nature and do a lot with the outdoors. They usually say, Oh, well, my parents taught me to do this or that. And that wasn't the case for me. And I think that is maybe why when I
00:23:19
Speaker
sort of started to have some of these light bulb moments as I was growing up. I was like, this feels like such a world that I have not been a part of. And I'm so curious and so interested. And I feel so deeply impacted by it because it wasn't something that I sort of took for granted, honestly.
00:23:40
Speaker
It wasn't something I really had experience and like we would, you know, we had a house in Michigan we would go to and I'd like maybe play with like bugs or whatever like a little bit, kind of like whatever any other kid but I definitely didn't grow up in a nature outdoorsy family of any kind. And it's sort of been my own self exploration to be honest, and
00:24:03
Speaker
Perhaps that's why it's made such a big impact, as I mentioned, is it's just like the obviousness of the stark contrast from like where I grew up to where I am now is so clear. And that being said, like I always have very much been an animal lover and super connected with animals ever since I was little. Where I grew up and where my parents still live is pretty much across the street from the Lincoln Park Zoo in Chicago.
00:24:32
Speaker
And we also have like a pet store down the street. I would go to the pet store every day. I'd ask to help clean the cages and pet the animals and like all of that. I would go to the zoo and like,
00:24:44
Speaker
And I still go there and look at the coyotes and the bears and stuff. And I get it, like pet stores and zoos, those aren't always positive. But that was my experience. That was the beginning of nature and connection to animals for me, which is a big part of why I love being outdoors is to experience and connect with and see what type of wildlife I might find. That is a huge part of why I love to be outdoors too.
00:25:12
Speaker
Um, yeah, so it's sort of something I'm unraveling that same question for myself a little bit. And every once in a while I kind of think about it, but yeah, I, I, I did not grow up with a lot of like nature outdoors in my background. It just sort of developed over time. And it's fascinating to me because from my perspective as an outside person looking in, you're so confident. You're so confident out there. I'm like, Oh, where's she going now?
00:25:38
Speaker
Oh, look at her, she's by herself. I'm like, wow, like that's amazing and brave at the same time. I mean, did you have to overcome some fear and resistance? Or did you just kind of be like, no, I got this. I know, I know what's up.
Overcoming Fears in Nature
00:25:53
Speaker
If you could hear the conversations with my therapist, literally like so many of our conversations have revolved around like my fear of the unknown in the outdoors. Really? Yes, 100%.
00:26:06
Speaker
And I mean, sure, bravery or whatever is part of it. But it's so I think about it this way. There's something I want to experience. And maybe I've experienced a version of that in a very small kind of that first breadcrumb type of way. I went on that nature walk and I saw
00:26:30
Speaker
a flower or a deer or something. There was something exceptional about that experience. And the natural thing for me anyway, is like, I'd like more of that. I'd like to expand that. I'd like that to be bigger. I'd like that to be for a longer period of time. I'd like that to be even more remote feeling. So I can have more of a unique connection in that way. And so honestly, it's like,
00:26:56
Speaker
The more I have experienced nature, the more I want to experience more of it. And what happens then is you have to go places you haven't been before. You have to stretch your muscle into doing something that might feel a little bit scary.
00:27:16
Speaker
I see it as like there is something I want to experience. I desire that experience because I know how I'm going to feel in that experience or at least one fraction of how I'm going to feel. Like fear is a part of that pie of emotion, right? So, okay, let me use an example.
00:27:38
Speaker
I went on my first like solo hike in New Hampshire a couple of years ago and I've done, and actually I could even use an example with like a soul hike in Rhode Island, which is like a very safe place. If you were to get lost, you could just keep walking. You'd get to a road. There aren't bears. There aren't moose.
00:27:57
Speaker
you know, there's nothing that's like, there's no wildlife that is a threat of any kind. But I went on my first solo hike in New Hampshire, which New Hampshire is a place I love to go to. And that was very daunting for me for a couple of reasons. One, I wasn't as familiar with the area.
00:28:16
Speaker
Two, there are bears, there are moose, there are potential wildlife dangers like that. And three, there's a little bit of elevation. You can't always just walk back to the road on a flat road. Like what if I was to get hurt? So when I was planning to do that, the reason why I wanted to do that was because I knew the feeling I would feel
00:28:43
Speaker
with the fear was like a deep connection, excitement, joy. I knew I would just really love being able to have that experience. But with that comes fear too. Like you can't have one and not the other.
00:29:02
Speaker
So it definitely took a lot of like logistical planning, like I'm going to bring bear spray. I'm going to look at the map and know exactly what this route looks like and how difficult it is, etc. Like, you know, there's a lot of planning that goes that is involved, that is in order to help lessen some of that fear. But the fear is always going to be there because whenever there's unknown, which is really what I think it comes down to, there's always going to be fear, whether it's
00:29:32
Speaker
fear of starting a new job, there's the unknown of, you know, am I going to like it? Are people going to like me? Am I going to excel going on a hike by yourself in New Hampshire? There's the fear of am I going to run into a bear? Am I going to know what to do? Am I going to get lost? You know, all of those sorts of things. So for me, when it comes to doing adventurous, outdoorsy things,
00:29:54
Speaker
It always first comes from a place of like, I want to experience that because the feeling I will have while I'm there and afterwards is more worth the effort is more is worth it beyond just stopping myself from fear.
00:30:09
Speaker
And I don't know if that's the case for everybody. Some people might be like, I'm fine with that. I don't know that I'll feel that way. Well, then that's not for you. But for me, there's just so many like life lessons that are wrapped up in that. There's just, you know, it's almost its own spiritual meditative type practice to be able to be with yourself in moments of challenge and
00:30:35
Speaker
having to dig into a place of like perseverance and grit in order to achieve something. So I would not say I am always or have always been confident, definitely not fearless. In fact, I feel like I'm quite fearful. I just have the desire to do it despite that. And because I feel like I have such a strategic
00:31:02
Speaker
logical brain, I got a lot of Capricorn. I sort of like use that ability to take as much fear away as I can. And then move forward anyway, knowing that like my heart, my body and soul just needs to have that experience. That is a beautiful explanation. And so many things that you mentioned resonated. I am often Yeah, I'm often faced with that sense of
00:31:31
Speaker
And, you know, anticipation, fear, anxiety, that kind of thing. But you know, once you're there and you're in it, that you can trust that the unfolding will be okay. And no matter what happens, you can handle it. And you are supportive, right? All those kinds of things. And I love what you said about that in and of itself as its own kind of spiritual practice, because I absolutely agree. And the way that you are now leading people and helping them to have these really cool
00:32:00
Speaker
other, I mean, other worldly experiences like going to Iceland and I saw you're going to Peru. I'm like, that is fascinating. I mean, are you where I obviously those places were on your list, but tell us about like, yeah, what are you excited about or what happened in maybe Iceland that was like really highlight and then tell us what you're excited about, you know, in the future of, of where you were going.
00:32:26
Speaker
Yeah. So I feel like speaking to the beginning of this conversation with like breadcrumbs and natural progression of a journey. Like for me, it started with myself, my own personal experience, my own awakening or light bulb or whatever you want to call it. Um, and being someone who naturally has always been the person that's going to share my experience because that connection with other people and bringing a lot people along.
00:32:52
Speaker
with that and helping them alongside them experience something similar is just like, I'm just always been that person. If I've experienced something, whether it's like, oh, I love this pair of shoes and I think everyone else should have these same shoes, or I've had this incredible awakening with nature and I really would love you to have it too. I'm just someone who's always going to share that.
00:33:15
Speaker
where it started for me and then kind of just sharing my own journey. It sort of then grew into like, well, how can I bring people along for this? Because I would love more women specifically, everyone though, to...
00:33:31
Speaker
have that same feeling of like doing something that might be a little bit challenging or scary, but you just have the desire so much to experience it that you're willing to go through that and have that experience. And it's not until after you have that experience that you're like,
00:33:52
Speaker
Wow. Like there's a reason things are challenging. There's a reason you need to call on the perseverance that you have from somewhere else deep within you in order to, for instance, do a 16 mile hike in Iceland in the rain.
00:34:09
Speaker
the wind, you know, not to say like my intention is for every hike or trip or anything to be like hard, like that's not the point. The point is that you just can't predict everything you can't create a perfect scenario.
00:34:24
Speaker
with anything. Nature is the first one to show you that. So a couple of weeks ago, I just got back from a group hiking trip in Iceland. We did the Luegavager Trail, which is in the highlands. It's about 45 miles. We ended up doing about 50 miles. Sorry, it's 36 miles. We did about closer to 50 miles total.
00:34:49
Speaker
And it was one of those experiences where I was like, this is a place I'm called to.
Insights from Iceland Hiking Trip
00:34:56
Speaker
I desire to go there. I don't necessarily know why. I just feel like I have a connection to it. And I would love to bring other people with me to experience that same thing and have them in their own way, whether they realize it or not, when they're signing up for the trip that like they will be called to tap into that.
00:35:13
Speaker
level of perseverance or grit or determination that they have because you know that is inherently challenging to hike that many miles anywhere. So we just got back a couple weeks ago. It was amazing. We had some challenging weather but we
00:35:31
Speaker
And we were, and I know that everyone on the other side is so proud of themselves and is so excited that they were able to do something that they didn't know they were capable of doing. And that's really what it's all about for me is like,
00:35:50
Speaker
helping people and showing people that they can do difficult things, even if they weren't sure that they could. And that nature is really an amazing sort of framework for that.
00:36:06
Speaker
Yeah, helps you teach, helps you learn a lot of lessons along the way. So it was amazing. I loved it. Iceland, I need to go back like 100 million times. The pictures were unbelievable. Everybody has to go look at your Instagram. We'll give it at the end. Yeah, it's just definitely one of those places that I desire to go to. I mean, it looks just otherworldly and
00:36:30
Speaker
Yeah, so the weather there was a little challenging was a little bit a little it was a little challenging which Iceland like is you know, it can they always say like you get all four seasons in a day. And like it can go from sunshine to raining like and back to sunshine in like a minute. So yeah, we had a couple days where it was like,
00:36:50
Speaker
you know, not torrential rain, but like pretty steady rain and like pretty windy. And we had some beautiful days and some beautiful moments. And it's all beautiful. Like that's also something that I talk a lot about for anyone who might follow me already, or if you end up following me at some point, I
00:37:08
Speaker
I always talk about how there is no bad weather. There is no ugly nature. There's no negative when it comes to specific weather or times of year because there's always something to connect to and learn.
00:37:26
Speaker
when it comes to nature. Like in the winter time, we are asked to slow down and to look inward and to take more time and to maybe remove some things off of our plate. Like nature and the seasons and whatever we're given on a given day,
00:37:43
Speaker
is such a mirror for something that we can use as guidance. And so yeah, when we were in Iceland, the weather was challenging at times. And that is also the beautiful part of it. I would not know I'm not saying I wouldn't want it to be perfectly sunny the whole time. Like that's fine, too. Sure. But there's just different things that you learn.
00:38:06
Speaker
when your hand did different things. So yeah, it was awesome. I will definitely go back and now have another trip coming up Machu Picchu in May. And part of, and I don't know that I'll always do it like this, but something that I just personally love are doing
00:38:27
Speaker
trips that are hut to hut. So like not quite a backpacking trip. You don't have to carry everything. Not, but also not like a camping trip or like, you're not seeing it at a hotel. You're immersed in nature because you're literally like going from point A to point B through the wilderness. But along the way where you're staying might be pretty rustic, but like you have a bed and a shelter. Someone's like in Iceland, for instance, someone was driving our
00:38:56
Speaker
food and most of our stuff from each hut. Oh, that's so smart. I like that. Just so we didn't, you know, so it's like a little high low, you know, it's like going out to nature, we're hiking, we're doing hard things, and we don't need to completely rough it. Like we can have someone, you know, bring us fresh food, that's smart and help carry our luggage. So
00:39:19
Speaker
there was a driver with like a four by four vehicle that could drive through rivers and stuff like that. So he was able to bring us our stuff. But similar in Machu Picchu, we'll be doing hut to hut to hut, doing this whole trail called the Salcante Trail, which goes and at Machu
Upcoming Machu Picchu Hiking Trip
00:39:35
Speaker
Picchu. So I purposely do that in my own life and my own outdoor experiences, but also in some of these trips as well, because there is something to
00:39:47
Speaker
going into nature for like a prolonged period of time and not coming back into like wifi or being, you know, going on a day hike and coming back to like a city hotel. It's like, there's something that happens in your brain chemistry. There's something that shifts differently when you're out in nature for
00:40:10
Speaker
you know, days at a time. And yeah, sometimes that could be backpacking or something, you know, totally by yourself and self sufficient, but I also appreciate when someone can help support the trip a little bit too. So definitely because I also think
00:40:28
Speaker
Um, not to interrupt, but I think like part of what I love about your, your company, you, your approach is that it is approachable because I'm someone personally who is a little intimidated. I mean, I'm, I'm, I definitely have a lot of fear when it comes to like the unknown, I like to control, I like to control things and keep them all sort of like predictable. And, you know, uh, obviously this sort of thing would intimidate me naturally, but I love that you are making it approachable and
00:40:53
Speaker
allowing people to join in that profound, immersive experience, but also not taking them too past the point of their own comfort zone where they're going to feel completely out of control. I think that's really smart.
00:41:09
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, are the people that are joining you, are they any level of outdoor experienced people? Yeah, we, we definitely had like a range in Iceland. And I know probably for every trip moving forward, like there will always be a range. And honestly, one of the things that I learned from this last trip was in a lot of ways, mindset, and being able to find that grittiness that's needed to move through challenge.
00:41:40
Speaker
was actually, I think for a lot of people, more valuable than their physical ability.
00:41:47
Speaker
So being able to move through something difficult mentally, those who were able to do that, despite what their physical ability was, were able to move through things that were challenging easier. Even if there was someone else who might be, I'm going to use air quotes because you never know someone's physical ability just by looking at them. But for someone who maybe has more experience or more
00:42:15
Speaker
easy physical ability, that if the mental part became a challenge, that that would be a lot harder. So it was very good. Yeah, it's definitely very interesting. So like, yes, for these types of trips, they are physically demanding, or at least the the, you know, Iceland was and this next one I'm doing. And I'm not sure quite what the next one will be. So I don't know about that. But
00:42:42
Speaker
Yeah, there's definitely a level of like physical activity and physical fitness that you would want to be there to be safe and just have a good time and positive mental attitude and being able to sort of like dig into, you know, inward to find some strength when things are challenging mentally. That serves you, in my opinion, often
00:43:09
Speaker
maybe even more than your physical ability. And I imagine that someone who's like, and I am not this, but I imagine someone who's like an ultra runner or like an Iron Man or like Iron Woman would say the same thing. They're like, I couldn't physically do it. I could just mentally hang in there more than the next person, you know? So I feel like in some ways, yeah, being in the outdoors and experiencing whatever you're gonna get that day is a lot of a mental game more than a physical one.
00:43:39
Speaker
And the fact of something being uncomfortable doesn't make it wrong, like it can be it can be uncomfortable and it can still be okay and not wrong you know I think we sometimes get into that, like this is, you know, kind of contracted and panicked and think like oh my gosh something is wrong, you know, because I'm uncomfortable.
00:43:58
Speaker
Whereas I think you got to kind of mentally, like you said, dig in and kind of train yourself that it's not going to be forever and this is going to be okay. And, you know, that you are okay, even if it is uncomfortable. So yeah, I can, I can see that being the case for sure. I mean, I.
00:44:14
Speaker
Definitely. And I mean, yeah, I mean, everybody that is is signing up and going and just you leading them because that's a big I mean, that's a lot of space to hold for for people that are kind of for the maybe not, you know, seasoned people to be out. So that's awesome.
00:44:30
Speaker
Yeah, I love these bigger journeys. Yeah, my hope is definitely on those types of trips for people, like I said, to just like, feel really proud of themselves afterwards, that whatever level they came in at, and I'm not targeting targeting them to like, people who do this all the time, necessarily, like, it's people who are like, they aspire to do that. And they say, I want to do that. I don't know if I'm the person who can do that. But I'm willing to like,
00:44:58
Speaker
try. I'm willing to give it a go because my desire is there. And that's really what I was explaining to you about like, for instance, that first solo hike, I was like, okay, my desire is there. I feel way back here. How do I fill in the gap? And so my hope is to kind of be that gap. Like, let me help you get outdoors and do something challenging and like, but in a safe contained space with
00:45:23
Speaker
you know a trained guide in that area and like you're not all on your own but you have the space to sort of like build that resilience and like find who you are in that experience safely and with a group of people who are also experiencing the same thing. Totally and just knowing you and
00:45:46
Speaker
feeling your energy. I would feel like you just feel like you've got it. Like you have this energy about you that like, look, I'm not promising it's gonna be easy, but I got you and you're gonna be okay and you're gonna make it. And I think that's just, and also like the preparation, like you said, like I think that also makes people feel at ease when they're with somebody that's really grounded and present and doing things to prepare. And all of that is such a part of your medicine that you're offering to people and
00:46:15
Speaker
Yeah, in these maybe more adventurous places. So that's so cool. I love that so much. And I love that this has become your passion meets your purpose meets an actual thriving business. And that is so inspiring in of itself and helping people to maybe see that the thing that they love can actually be something that they then share and spread and help other people
00:46:43
Speaker
with as well. And, you know, when you, did you feel like, was that sort of, and I think you did touch on this, but like, was that sort of like a mental, like, this is the direction I'm going, I'm going to be bringing people in, and we're going to do this together? Or did it just kind of more naturally unfold and evolve?
00:47:02
Speaker
I mean, I think kind of a little bit of both, like I'm very much an intentional and strategic person in a lot of ways. And I first, and I sometimes have to remind myself of this, not to like get ahead with ideas, but to like, where am I at now? And like, what's truly pulling on my heart? And what is fueling and filling me now and like moving through that
00:47:29
Speaker
chain of curiosity and, um, and desire, and then allowing a little bit of space for things to reveal themselves. And, you know, historically I have absolutely been somebody who like can have tons of ideas and want to implement, implement, implement, but then sometimes there's like the integration is missing.
00:47:53
Speaker
You know, and so that's been a big part of my practice within my business and everything I do is like checking in very often to make sure I'm integrated in what I am doing before I offer it. And then when I look to offer something, is it actually truly aligned with
00:48:17
Speaker
Yeah, with where I'm at right now. And if it's not, then maybe it's a good idea, but maybe it's not for me or maybe it's not for me right now. We got a notes app. You can shelf a lot of things for later. So it's definitely a dance of both, but I'm always leading with my own desire and curiosity first.
00:48:39
Speaker
And then from there, you know, things kind of unfold. Absolutely. And everything feels from my, you know, again, my perspective or, you know, from the observer, it's like so seamless. It's so natural. Like it makes so much sense and just feels so right to see you in your element and to see how, yeah, you're giving that gift to other people of being able to stretch and grow and connect with nature in a way that, yeah, maybe
00:49:07
Speaker
I mean, we all need obviously, but maybe something, I mean, that really sets us up to have more connection with ourselves. Like you said, more connection with our own intuition and therefore be able to guide ourselves, you know, in our everyday life and having that ability to step out of the constant mental checklists and doing and all of that is actually a productive thing to do. And I love that you're showing people that, I mean,
00:49:39
Speaker
Is there anything else you want to talk about or share as we're wrapping up? I am so interested in all of this. Yeah, I don't think so. I mean, really, I just hope people take away whatever it is that they need at that time. Like for some people, it might be the reminder to just look out the window and take a deep breath.
00:50:04
Speaker
for some people it might be going on a hiking trip to Machu Picchu for five days and really immersing in nature there isn't a better or worse and that is something that I definitely like to stress is that it's not you start here and you end there it's you start wherever you are and you move from there where whether that
00:50:31
Speaker
is tiny steps or big steps. You know, I know it's really easy for people. We kind of talked about this, but to have like FOMO of like, well, I don't live somewhere or I can't afford to do a trip like that or and then they feel like they do nothing because of it. And my hope is that more than anything, I'm sharing with people and opening their awareness to the shifts and the changes that are so small and seemingly
00:51:01
Speaker
not much that can really shift a lot and that those small shifts and changes really like compound over time. And it's beautiful. Yeah. And so true. And yeah, I'm going to download the walking meditation. So tell people how to do
Free Walking Meditation Download
00:51:21
Speaker
that. Yeah, I will. Sure. So whether you're on my website, there's a link to it there or on my Instagram link in bio, you can find it. You just
00:51:31
Speaker
enter your email and I will send you the free walking meditation. It's 20 minutes. You can take it outdoors anywhere in the world you are, whether you are in a city or in the wilderness, it doesn't matter. It just prompts you to think, to notice, to breathe, to use your senses and hopefully just feel really grounded and connected by the end of it. So definitely welcome you. It's free to download.
00:51:56
Speaker
And if you have any questions about any of this that I'm talking about, especially if any of it feels very like new to you, or if you had any like, I don't know, thoughts, feel free to share them with me. I love chatting with people about this kind of thing. So you can find me on Instagram at Meredith Hewinson. And that's where I am most of the time.
00:52:16
Speaker
Yeah, and I'll put that in the show notes so that everybody can make sure they get the right spelling and everything. But that's, yeah, that's a beautiful sentiment. And I appreciate you being here and telling us all about this because I think it's so so cool and needed and awesome. So thank you, Meredith. Thank you for being here. You're welcome. Thanks so much for having me. This is great. And so good to see you. Yeah, you too.
00:52:43
Speaker
Thank you for listening to this episode. If you enjoyed it and you'd like to help support the podcast, please share it with others, post on social media, or leave a reading and review. It would mean the world to me. To catch all the latest from me, you can follow me over on Instagram at Feel Good With Renee. Thanks again, and I will see you next time.