How to Know When to Say No (and Yes) Outside with Julia Yanker

Still Shaken After the Scare

Show Notes In this episode, I respond to a thoughtful question that came out of The Art of the Mother Duck workshop Luc and I recently taught on nervous system skills in outdoor recreation and group dynamics. We explore what happens after a stressful or overwhelming experience outdoors — when the body continues carrying activation, fear, or protective responses long after the moment itself has passed. I walk through why these responses are normal, how the nervous system learns quickly around threat and survival, and the ways intense experiences can leave behind incomplete survival responses that continue showing up when we return to similar situations. From there, we explore some practical ways to support the body through this process: orienting to safety cues, resourcing, co-regulation, pendulation, and titrating slowly back into challenge. I also talk about the importance of patience when capacity feels smaller than it used to — and how rebuilding trust with the body often happens through small, successful experiences over time. This episode is an invitation to approach nervous system healing with more compassion, more slowness, and a deeper understanding of what your body is trying to do for you. Timestamps 00:00 — Introduction + walking in the woods 01:00 — Reflecting on The Art of the Mother Duck workshop 03:30 — The listener question: what happens after intense experiences? 04:30 — Prevention vs. response in nervous system work 06:00 — It’s normal to be impacted by intense experiences 07:30 — The nervous system as a fast learner around threat 09:00 — Fight, flight, freeze, and the “panic zone” 10:00 — Completing survival responses 12:00 — When experiences land as growth vs. overwhelm 13:00 — Interrupted cycles + incomplete responses 14:30 — Why some activation stays stuck in the body 15:00 — Somatic therapy + completing survival cycles 16:00 — Returning to activities after scary experiences 17:00 — Orienting, resourcing, and co-regulation 19:00 — Pendulation: activation + safety together 21:00 — Lowered capacity after overwhelm 22:30 — Titration + rebuilding trust slowly 23:00 — Whitewater story: feet in the river as the right first step 24:00 — Giving the body small successful experiences 25:00 — Learning safety takes time too 26:00 — Closing reflections Submit your questions for the Q&A [here [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeWCEmKCyGEGIrxIEaJGTmOPwv6TBnJ_SDUDuDBQ4TTVFAbIw/viewform]] Photos and links from this episode: www.mindandmountain.co/podcast [http://www.mindandmountain.co/podcast]

Somatic Snack: For the Busy Times

Show Notes In this episode, I introduce a new summer series format: Somatic Snacks — shorter, more focused episodes exploring practical nervous system tools for real life. Recording from a spring walk in Anchorage, I reflect on the seasonal shift into busier, brighter, more activated rhythms — and the nervous system challenges that can come with high-capacity seasons. From there, we explore how to stay tethered to ourselves while moving through periods that require sustained activation. Together, we practice noticing the sensations of “busy season” in the body and experiment with bringing awareness to something grounding or pleasurable at the same time. We also explore the importance of micro-pauses and tiny moments of down-regulation throughout the day — especially during transitions, after completing tasks, or when approaching overwhelm. This episode is an invitation to work with activation instead of against it, and to build nervous system practices that support sustainability during full and meaningful seasons. Timestamps 00:00 — Spring in Alaska + migratory birds 01:00 — Summer travel + seasonal nervous system shifts 03:00 — Introducing “Somatic Snacks” 05:00 — Invitation for future topics + listener questions 06:20 — Busy seasons + sustained activation 08:00 — The “accordion” metaphor for nervous system work 09:00 — Noticing the sensations of activation 11:00 — Being with activation without changing it 11:30 — Pendulation: activation + resource together 12:40 — “Playing harmony” vs. going back and forth 15:00 — Can the body be activated and okay? 16:00 — Presence, stress, and metabolizing activation 18:00 — Activation as fuel instead of overwhelm 18:40 — The importance of micro-breaks 19:30 — Feeling completion + satisfaction 20:00 — Transition moments + threshold awareness 21:30 — Examples of micro-pauses and resets 22:30 — Building new neural pathways through repetition 23:00 — Presence, pleasure, and nervous system shifts 24:00 — Closing reflections + practice invitation Submit your questions for the Q&A [here [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeWCEmKCyGEGIrxIEaJGTmOPwv6TBnJ_SDUDuDBQ4TTVFAbIw/viewform]] Photos and links from this episode: www.mindandmountain.co/podcast [http://www.mindandmountain.co/podcast]

Practice: A Slow Walk

Show Notes In this episode, I invite you on a slow walk practice — an exploration of pace, nervous system regulation, and what becomes available when we intentionally downshift. We begin with a story from a recent neighborhood walk, where someone commented on how slowly I was moving — and how differently that landed in my body than it might have in the past. From there, we explore the idea that slowness isn’t “better” than speed, but that many of us live in cultures and nervous systems that are deeply conditioned toward urgency and fast pacing. Together, we experiment with slowing down physically and noticing what shifts: awareness, sensation, breath, attention, pleasure, discomfort, and connection to the environment around us. Along the way, I offer reflections on nervous system range, inner critic healing, and the importance of finding your own pace rather than performing someone else’s. This episode is an invitation to get curious about rhythm, pressure, and what your body might want if there was nowhere to be and nothing to achieve. Timestamps 00:00 — Introduction + invitation to slow walk 01:00 — The “Art of the Mother Duck” class announcement 04:30 — Early spring in Alaska + the story behind this episode 05:20 — “You’re walking so slow” 06:30 — Slowness, nervous system range, and cultural pacing 07:30 — Inner critic healing + trusting your own pace 08:50 — Beginning the slow walk practice 10:00 — Settling into a slower rhythm 11:00 — Feeling feet + contact with the ground 12:30 — Letting your feet choose the pace 13:00 — Slowness is not morally superior 14:00 — Activation, exercise, and learning to slow down 15:00 — “Your pace is sacred” 16:00 — Bringing awareness to ankles, knees, and hips 18:00 — Expanding attention into the environment 19:00 — Sights, sounds, smells, and air on the skin 20:30 — Checking in with your current pace 21:30 — Releasing pressure + achievement 23:00 — Noticing what happens in the body 23:30 — Discomfort with slowness + nervous system learning 25:00 — What becomes available at a slower pace? 26:30 — Closing reflections Resources:  Learn more about and sign up for The Art of the Mother Duck here! [https://www.mindandmountain.co/mother-duck?cid=4fda3069-efba-4ffe-9125-430878d4a192] Submit your questions for the Q&A [here [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeWCEmKCyGEGIrxIEaJGTmOPwv6TBnJ_SDUDuDBQ4TTVFAbIw/viewform]] Photos and links from this episode: www.mindandmountain.co/podcast [http://www.mindandmountain.co/podcast]

How to Know When to Say No (and Yes) Outside with Julia Yanker

Show Notes In this episode, I’m joined by my friend and fellow somatic practitioner, Julia Yanker [https://www.juliayanker.com/], for a conversation about how our relationships with outdoor adventure have evolved alongside our nervous system work. We reflect on our early days in outdoor recreation — how belonging, fear of disconnection, and identity shaped our choices — and how those patterns sometimes led us into situations that weren’t actually aligned with our capacity. From there, we explore what’s changed. As we’ve built more self-trust and nervous system awareness, both of us have shifted how we approach risk, challenge, and decision-making. We talk about learning to recognize internal signals, developing access to a true “no,” and how that opens the door to more grounded, authentic “yeses.” We also touch on adventure-related trauma, how life stress impacts perceived risk, and the common experience of feeling pulled between a yes and a no in real time. This episode is a reminder that nervous system work doesn’t take you away from adventure — it brings you closer to yourself, and from that place, your choices become clearer and more aligned. Timestamps 00:00 — Introduction + meeting Julia 03:00 — From adventure to somatic work 06:30 — Early patterns: belonging + fear 10:30 — Risk, disconnection, and self-abandonment 15:30 — Building self-trust + self-compassion 20:00 — Co-regulation + relational healing 26:00 — Shifting relationship to risk 31:00 — Returning to challenge with more capacity 35:30 — “What changed?” vs. “what’s wrong with me?” 40:00 — Trusting signals + adjusting expectations 42:00 — Accessing a true “no” 45:00 — Boundaries without over-explaining 48:00 — Navigating mixed yes/no signals 55:00 — Does this work change how you adventure? 01:00:00 — Becoming more yourself 01:03:00 — Closing Julia's Bio: Julia Sowaska is an Adventurer Priestess who has spent her life pursuing adventure and connection with the Divine and Great Mystery. Through exploration of the outer terrain of Mother Earth, she finds deeper connection and meaning in the inner terrain of her spirit and psyche. She is a life coach in private practice, supporting people around the world, primarily in the realm of relationships, as well as supporting folks with adventure trauma or renegotiating their relationship with adventure and the outdoors to be more in alignment with their authentic selves. She is currently living as a digital nomad in Europe and embarking on a 2-year experiment of, "What happens if you live life by the compass of following your highest excitement everyday - and what does that mean when we 'have to' do certain things to survive?"  Resources:  * Check out Julia's website here. [Julia%20Sowaska%20is%20an%20Adventurer%20Priestess%20who%20has%20spent%20her%20life%20pursuing%20adventure%20and%20connection%20with%20the%20Divine%20and%20Great%20Mystery.%20Through%20exploration%20of%20the%20outer%20terrain%20of%20Mother%20Earth,%20she%20finds%20deeper%20connection%20and%20meaning%20in%20the%20inner%20terrain%20of%20her%20spirit%20and%20psyche.%20She%20is%20a%20life%20coach%20in%20private%20practice,%20supporting%20people%20around%20the%20world,%20primarily%20in%20the%20realm%20of%20relationships,%20as%20well%20as%20supporting%20folks%20with%20adventure%20trauma%20or%20renegotiating%20their%20relationship%20with%20adventure%20and%20the%20outdoors%20to%20be%20more%20in%20alignment%20with%20their%20authentic%20selves.%20She%20is%20currently%20living%20as%20a%20digital%20nomad%20in%20Europe%20and%20embarking%20on%20a%202-year%20experiment%20of,%20%22What%20happens%20if%20you%20live%20life%20by%20the%20compass%20of%20following%20your%20highest%20excitement%20everyday%20-%20and%20what%20does%20that%20mean%20when%20we%20'have%20to'%20do%20certain%20things%20to%20survive?%22] Submit your questions for the Q&A [here [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeWCEmKCyGEGIrxIEaJGTmOPwv6TBnJ_SDUDuDBQ4TTVFAbIw/viewform]] Photos and links from this episode: www.mindandmountain.co/podcast [http://www.mindandmountain.co/podcast]

How do you use this stuff in real life?

SHOW NOTES In this episode, I’m out on a spring walk in Anchorage, closing the loop on a recent workshop by exploring how somatic nervous system skills actually show up in real life — far beyond workouts or outdoor adventures. We start with a grounding moment in the body, then move into a core idea: these skills matter most not just in big, intense moments, but in the small, everyday experiences that shape our nervous system patterns over time. Through a series of real-life examples — from a high-stakes river crossing to subtle daily stressors — I walk through what it looks like to notice, make sense of, and support nervous system activation so it can fully complete. We explore how unfinished activation accumulates, why the “little things” matter more than we think, and how building awareness in those moments expands our overall capacity. From there, we move into common life scenarios: supporting someone else through distress (coregulation), navigating social anxiety, working with procrastination, and even learning how to receive positive experiences without bracing against them. This episode is an invitation to see nervous system work as something woven into every part of life — and to practice meeting those moments with awareness, curiosity, and support. TIMESTAMPS 00:00 — Spring walk + closing the loop from recent workshop 02:00 — Nervous system skills beyond workouts 05:00 — Grounding into the body (pleasure-based entry) 07:00 — “Everything is a state” 09:30 — Story: high-stakes river crossing 12:00 — Sympathetic activation + post-stress energy 14:30 — Supporting completion (movement, food, environment) 16:00 — Acute stressors across contexts (outdoors, driving, conversations) 18:30 — The core skills: notice, make sense of, support 21:00 — Micro example: startle response in real time 23:00 — Why small activations matter 24:30 — Capacity + incomplete stress cycles 26:00 — Near misses + giving the body time to catch up 28:00 — When someone else is struggling (coregulation) 30:30 — Meeting and matching + being a steady presence 33:00 — Social situations + feeling out of place 35:00 — Orienting to safety (kind eyes, environment cues) 38:00 — Procrastination as a nervous system state 40:00 — Gentle activation + building momentum 42:30 — After a win: why good things can feel hard to receive 45:00 — Expanding capacity for positive activation 47:00 — Letting the good land (counter vortex) 50:00 — Bringing it into your week: noticing + practice 54:00 — Closing reflections Submit your questions for the Q&A [here [https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeWCEmKCyGEGIrxIEaJGTmOPwv6TBnJ_SDUDuDBQ4TTVFAbIw/viewform]] Photos and links from this episode: www.mindandmountain.co/podcast [http://www.mindandmountain.co/podcast]