It’s not exactly a low stress time of year — and if it is now, let’s be honest, it probably will be at least a little stressful soon. That’s just how the holidays go for so many of us. It’s part of life.

But dealing with it can also be a part of life. And Amy has found that heading outside is perfect for that. In this episode Amy talks about why this time of year is so stressful for her and what she’s been doing about it.

[:50] The body does, in fact, keep the score

[1:00] Here’s what’s wrong with November

[2:28] And then there comes the holidays

[3:09] Here’s some not so good tools

[3:40] But what about going outside?

[3:55] Make a container out of it

[4:30] A recent example

Military injuries and combat trauma are part of our origin story here at Humans Outside. It’s why we started looking to nature for healing. It’s why we moved to Alaska. And it’s why we ended up spending at least 20 consecutive minutes outside every day, no matter what.

The weeks around Veterans Day are the perfect time to talk about the power of getting outside to address war wounds and the weight of military service. But there’s one thing we’ve never done: bring Luke on the show to talk about it himself.

That seems really silly, so in this episode we fix that. Hear Luke Bushatz gives his own perspective on what he experienced serving in the U.S. Army, how heading outside helped him deal with it and what he’s done about it since through his work with the veteran-focused nonprofit Remedy Alpine. This is an episode you don’t want to miss.

[3:06] Let’s just make this awkward as quickly as possible

[3:50] Luke’s favorite outdoor space

[5:01] How Luke became someone who likes to go outside

[7:52] A view into Luke’s war trauma

[13:54] The moment Luke realized heading outside helped his war wounds

[17:44] All about Remedy Alpine

[21:48] Watching nature heal veterans

[31:00] How Luke has seen nature help Amy

[33:00] How we’ve seen nature help our kids

[36:18] Luke’s favorite outdoor gear isn’t boring to him

[38:00] Luke’s favorite outdoor space

Amy hasn’t always been OK with falling. Once upon a time it was exactly what she was avoiding. But since she started spending more time outside, she’s realized that falling is a somewhat inevitable part of life — plus she’s so very good at it.

So how does that help with non-outside things? In this episode Amy addresses what she’s learned from getting comfortable with falling in all the ways. Listen now.

[:46] A new thing I’m saying

[1:10] I do not have a good background with this thing

[1:20] A brief of history of a lot of falling

[3:14] Falling immersion therapy

[3:35] Getting OK with falling (not really) inside

[4:10] And now these are my options

[5:30] Help a friend out and fail a little please

For thousands of years, Tribal Nations have leaned on an understanding that everything is connected to keep themselves healthy and their communities successful. But western culture has lost or, worse, purposefully ignored the wisdom of those teachings — and it hasn’t made us exceptionally healthy and happy.

In their new book The Seven Circles, indigenous wellness advocates Thosh Collins and Chelsey Luger lay out seven interconnected principles for pursuing whole-life health. In this episode of Humans Outside Chelsey and Thosh dive into the “land” principle and use indiegnous cultural teachings to show us how spending time outside and connecting with the land can have whole-life benefits.

[2:42] Thosh Collin’s favorite outdoor space

[3:01] Chelsey Luger’s favorite outdoor space

[3:42] How Chelsey and Thosh learned the value of spending time outside

[7:22] A caveat on “indigenous” wellness

[10:37] What are the seven circles of wellness?

[17:38] Looking at the circles as an interconnected ring

[20:17] All about connecting with the land

[27:30] Why we have to learn to be connected to the land

[31:26] What we spend time with shows what we value

[35:51] How the land circle interacts with the other circles

[40:53] The stages of understanding the circles

[46:29] Thosh and Chelsey’s favorite outdoor moments

You probably know Amy is a runner. But do you know why? The story goes back to a really tragic military deployment, trying to know what to say or do when so many of your friends’ husbands don’t come home to their families and worrying that yo, too, could get The Knock any day.

Listen to this episode to learn why Amy sees running as a path to honoring the fallen while working to live an inspired life.

[:45] It’s hard to remember what I was like in the before time (not those before times)

[1:00] Before I was outdoorsy

[1:43] The story begins with a baby and a sad goodbye

[2:20] When things got real

[3:00] The problem of not knowing what to do

[3:44] The very first email invite

[4:16] Finding something to do

[5:20] The act and power of movement

[6:00] Upcoming bonus episode

[6:17] How I honored through movement this week

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