A Forest Monk Speaks of the Benefits of Discomfort

Description

Ben came to ReWildU for a 2-week adventure, where he faced many challenges. Here he shares some of those adventures, and his "takeaway" from them.

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Tags: Kenton Whitman,ReWild University,Human Rewilding,personal rewilding,mindfulness,how to,bushcraft,survival,wilderness survival skills,how to survive in the woods

Video Transcription

[Music]

so this is Ben everybody and you probably saw him in an earlier video and you've just been here for two weeks yeah there was there's a lot of transition from going from civilization to kind of woods living so that I feel like took up some of the first part of it but in in the particularly these last three days I feel like there's been some pretty powerful experiences yeah can you share some of your thoughts what you saw the first experience was one I decided to cook beans like the first time I decided to cook all by myself yeah and like I was really worried about getting the fire started maybe no previous experience with fires starting really er no well learn the skills okay but yeah like and then the second I got that fire had this feeling like fulfillments kinda like oh I got this fire like it was if nothing else mattered mmm and then I just kept like feeding the fire and eventually you know I got the beans cooking and having the beans was like really good so there's direct reward for your efforts like Annette you're so directly connected to you yeah to the experience of getting those beans into your body of giving that fire huh just press on it's like very easy but honestly it made me excited kind of like that when I come back to try out like all these recipes and it would just be so easy like gonna have to deal with the mosquitoes while trying to make the fire everything like that speaking of which you had a so we went up to that camp and we asked you to be in charge of getting a fire for us and we were and we had some footage cuz I mean I feel like I could almost not see my skin how many mosquitoes were there so they were all over you and we knew smoke was gonna be our only salvation basically it was all up to you yeah I was about to break toes like even get get feeling itchy all over but that just got the spark we used to portray it was like the birch bark yeah and then at like the second I got that pretty much like everyone hopes like you know get the match put in the you know birch bark shard that we call a match yeah yeah sure oh yeah that was actually like wow like I felt all the pressure is kind of on me in a way yeah I was just determined I could get that fire okay you're like most people would have just thrown up their hands and started screaming and swatting and running I mean the intensity you were working under was yeah and I feel like if I knew that was gonna happen like then that I would have kind of given up but because I kind of didn't know what to expect mm-hmm so I don't know I made it so that I was just able to continue on without lightning sir

oh yeah basically uh like there's you know big thunderstorm like in the buildin night and I don't know where like lightning pretty close to my tent and then there's like this huge boom that was so for reference we have a cabin where people can go is a storm shelter it's really secure but they were camping out in that that first lightning strike I mean it came out of there was no distant rumble of thunder or anything to say things out of nowhere you guys should go to the cabin boom yeah and like I was kind of yelling big dude like we do and then yes we decided to go to the cabin and like as I was talking to the cabin I have this like irrational fear that and second like lightning is just gonna strike us even though actually after that the thunder was pretty distant and average thunder yeah then we slept in the cabin and that wasn't very fun right now good I didn't bring with me anything so does the kind of stuff like on the rug that used some pants is like pillow but yeah that was but I was kind of panicking like I couldn't get my flashlight for my survival token because I couldn't find the zipper and I was dark and mm-hmm answer kind of like shaky and stuff you got a few a sense of what it's like to be panicking and basically since I'm afraid for your life in that sense of yeah the lightning could have come that's so phoner will come again vulnerable and then your martial arts experience be willing to talk about that one yeah yeah I mean that's so they see like before we did the sparring I felt really like I don't want to do this like kind of lazy like I'm uncomfortable to do the sparring but then I kind of I guess you know force myself to do it and like I felt pressure building up as I was sparring and like I think Dustin was also kind of building up the pressure on me yeah and then at some point that kind of got mad and I like started hitting like more aggressively and then really shortly after that had this I'm saying I'd like just to cry and everything then just started like sobbing and it was really powerful I did not expect that to happen and the man I'm really glad it did like I think just here think and you can't really beat it out of me hmm and it get it in a good sense yeah I'm very controlled but so what did you these various experiences what did you pull out of it like what's your take away don't be afraid to be uncomfortable and delve into like discomfort and stuff like scared of like the sparring was like uncomfortable but then you know brought the sobbing out and like that was a really powerful experience and I could have just decided you know to be lazy and back out then I wouldn't have that experience and like that and I was actually really eye-opening - so it sounds like delve into the discomfort yeah and then like gifts kind of unfold as you do I feel like life kinda and awards you the opposite of our culture's message comforted at every turn like how can you get most comfortable and I'm saying good going to discomfort yeah even on this Trek like going into discomfort was you know walking to the really dense shrubbery and everything vana say just like sitting on this cliff it really feels like worth it you earned it all the way from that distant cliff I guess you can't really see it well on behind these trees when we came from but like wow I did all that and get wild blueberries up here and gooseberries and oh there's some cherries it might even be ready up here like yesterday I had this feeling like because I'm real soon yeah like I almost felt it rapidly alright I'm leaving soon I don't need to push myself anymore just you know take it really easy yeah I think he always have to just do something that's uncomfortable and oh and also we went to Hayward yeah like we did a town trip to see what that was like and socializing with people I think that's also part of the next step for me is to do that feel comfortable with that it's really all about expanding what you feel comfortable with yeah yeah say yeah I'm definitely gonna you know practice that when I get home there's the Main Street right near my house and nope that was a good one cuz you said social stuff is kind of tough for you and I think it is for a lot of people and then identifying that place in me where things are uncomfortable and the easy thing to do is say okay I'm not going there yeah and I used to like think you know small talk with people is just waste of time and stuff I can really like uplift your mood yeah pretty drastically especially like posting people in a positive way so definitely like you know oh the cashier like I said thank you and smile have a nice day like stuff like that all the stuff that I kind of overlooked that I now realize like so pretty important hmm thank you for sharing thank you for being here for two weeks yeah life-changing explain good mmm on a visit in the winter it'd be awesome it's it's a different game in the winter we get to do some intense stuff thanks for watching everybody and yeah share your comments below your thoughts about discomfort and going into it all right talk with you soon [Music]