They say spending time in nature can change your life. But in a world packed with indoor life pressures, how can you make getting outside just a part of who you are?
Welcome to the Humans Outside podcast, where we explore life in the great outdoors from our perch in Alaska, all while hearing from fascinating outdoor-minded guests.
When was the last time you experienced a sense of awe in nature? Feeling awe is something many outdoor users chase. But can you even define the experience of awe? Or is it one of things where you just know it when you see it? Where can you best find it? And what are the benefits of spending time outside purposefully chasing the feeling?
Professor Dr. Dacher Keltner joins us in this episode to tackle those questions and more. Leaning on research and advice included in his new book “Awe: the new science of wonder and how it can transform your life,” Dacher guides us into an understanding of the what, how and why of chasing awe outside. Listen now.
Connect with this episode:
Read “Awe: the new science of wonder and how it can transform your life” (affiliate link)
Visit Dr. Dacher Keltner’s website
Learn about the Greater Good Science Center
Join the Humans Outside Challenge
Follow Humans Outside on Instagram
Follow Humans Outside on Facebook
Some of the good stuff:
[2:52] Dacher Keltner’s favorite outdoor space
[3:35] How Dacher became someone who likes to go outside
[6:47] Can we define awe?
[9:12] How to experience awe in ways that are not specific to going outside
[11:52] How the “eight wonders of life” are all tied to nature anyway
[13:34] Do humans have a need for wild awe?
[15:36] Why don’t we talk about the importance of awe?
[20:01] Can you create an awe habit?
[21:26] Is there such a thing as an awe muscle?
[23:34] What does noticing have to do with it?
[26:28] The difference between “awe” and “wonder”
[28:04] Tips for finding and keeping an awe habit
[30:18] Dacher’s favorite moment of outdoor awe
[2:52] Dacher Keltner’s favorite outdoor space
[3:35] How Dacher became someone who likes to go outside
[6:47] Can we define awe?
[9:12] How to experience awe in ways that are not specific to going outside
[11:52] How the “eight wonders of life” are all tied to nature anyway
[13:34] Do humans have a need for wild awe?
[15:36] Why don’t we talk about the importance of awe?
[20:01] Can you create an awe habit?
[21:26] Is there such a thing as an awe muscle?
[23:34] What does noticing have to do with it?
[26:28] The difference between “awe” and “wonder”
[28:04] Tips for finding and keeping an awe habit
[30:18] Dacher’s favorite moment of outdoor awe
It’s been three years since I launched the Humans Outside podcast in the early winter of 2020. It’s been an incredible ride of learning, growth and outdoor adventures for me as I’ve connected with 101 Humans Outside guests and recorded over 270 episodes. But what were some of the ones that have stuck with me the most?
In this episode I talk about my favorite takeaways from three years of Humans Outside, plus share how you can enter a giveaway I’m hosting to celebrate the Humans Outside birthday. Listen now!
[:50] What podcasting is to me
[1:17] What three years of this podcast means by the numbers
[1:46] What podcasting here means to me
[2:23] A few highlights of the interviews I’ve loved
[7:20] Info about the giveaway
Enter the Humans Outside birthday giveaway
Episode 18: How Nature Can Help Your Marriage (Corie Weathers)
Episode 26: Heading Outdoors to Conquer Challenges Indoors (Nailah Blades Wylie)
Episode 54: How to Use Outdoors as Therapy
Episode 83: Here’s Exactly How to Build an Outdoor Habit (Sarah Hays Coomer)
Episode 99: How Heading Outside Makes Your Brain More Creative (Cordele Glass)
Episode 171: How to Create an Outdoor Habit that Works for You (Sarah Hays Coomer)
Episode 179: How to ‘Rewild’ Yourself Even If You Live in a City (Claire Dunn)
Episode 208: Simple and Easy Ways to ‘Rewild’ Your Life by Going Outside (Micah Mortali)
Episode 264: How to Create a Habit That Gives You What You Need (Sarah Hays Coomer)
The deep, cold, dark winter of the north is a unique experience that both challenges and inspires. On the one hand, it shows you things about nature and about yourself you’d never see in the long hours of warmer daylight. On the other, it carried a depth that at times feels insurmountable.
Among the winter enthusiasts and survivors are cyclists, people out there riding their bikes through, on and over the ice. They are part of a rich history of people not just exploring the Arctic under their own power, but leaning into the experience despite all the odds. In today’s episode writer and editor Jessica Cherry talks about the experience of cycling through Alaska’s winter. Listen now.
[2:56] Jessica Cherry’s favorite outdoor space
[3:45] How Jessica became someone who likes to go outside
[6:21] Jessica’s personal connection to cycling
[9:42] What is a “fat bike?”
[17:01] About Frank Soos
[18:58] The experience of recreating over winter in the arctic
[21:01] The surprising sound factor
[24:56] What people miss by not going outside in the winter’s darkness
[28:36] How being a climate scientist changes how Jessica experiences nature
[33:09] What Jessica learned from her book, Wheels on Ice
When so many outdoor adventures are or can be solo, when conquering big things is about your internal drive, why does community matter?
After attending a local workshop hosted by a semi-pro runner and friend, I’ve been thinking about why showing up for others and having them show-up for me isn’t just important, it’s life changing. Hear why in this Outdoor Diary episode.
[:56] The premise behind Humans Outside
[1:27] The benefit of community
[1:55] A reminder that is, obviously, related to running
[2:30] The ways it’s up to you alone
[2:46] But also it’s not only up to you
[3:57] How Denali Strable models this
[4:10] How Denali models the power of community
[4:30] Why this matters
[4:50] What I’m trying to do here
Life is full of opportunities for problem solving, for looking at challenges in a fresh way, for reshaping the landscape to peel out an unexpected solution. And what does it take to get there? Creativity.
You might be thinking about creativity as it relates to art, but that’s not what I’m talking about. Instead I mean the creativity found in how you approach the world. And heading outside? It has a measurable impact on boosting creativity if you take the right steps — often literally.
In this episode we dive into boosting creativity by heading outside in a conversation with Garry Pratt, a business coach, author and innovator around what he calls “outside thinking.” Listen now.
[3:07] Garry Pratt’s favorite outdoor space
[4:33] How Garry became someone who likes to go outside
[7:10] Garry’s “outside thinking” lightbulb moment
[9:01] What is “creativity?”
[11:59] What is “outside thinking?”
[15:06] Why is nature perfect for deep work thinking?
[21:00] Why walking in nature works for creativity
[24:24] The deal with 20 minutes
[28:00] All about 20:3:3
[31:00] Why it works for business thinking
[36:34] Does type of nature matter?
[38:55] A few tips for building your own outside thinking habit
[41:45] How to find Garry’s book
Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. The following is an edited transcript of this episode of Humans
Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. The following is an edited transcript of this episode
Listen to this episode on Apple Podcasts or wherever you find your favorite podcasts. The following is an edited transcript of this episode of Humans