I think it's Colin O 'Brady talked about, he
wrote a book called the 12 hour walk. And so
I read the book. It was suggested to me by another
nurse coach actually, and decided to do that
challenge. And so it's essentially spending 12
hours outside in nature disconnected. So no phone,
no companion, no dog to walk next to me. just
me and my thoughts for 12 hours outside. I can
walk as much or little as I want. I can sit down
as much or little as I want. But just spending
that time solo and how transformational that
can be because we don't hardly ever take even
two minutes by ourselves, let alone 12 hours.
In this episode of Life's Next Lesson Plan, I
sit down with Tracy Weber. a registered nurse
and coach who made a bold career pivot into holistic
health. But her journey wasn't just about changing
jobs. It was about healing, growth, and rediscovering
herself. Going through a divorce, Tracy found
solace on the hiking trails using nature as a
path to clarity and renewal. We'll talk about
her transition from traditional nursing to holistic
wellness, the lessons she's learned along the
way, and how hiking became a powerful tool for
both physical and emotional healing. If you've
ever felt stuck in your career or personal life
or are just interested in hearing more about
the power of nature, this conversation is for
you. Thank you for joining me for another episode
of Life's Next Lesson Plan. I'm Rachel and I
started this podcast during my 29th and last
year as a high school teacher. The goal of my
work with Life's Next Lesson Plan, as well as
my Live and Learn Patreon, is to create a connection
where we are all teachers. We all have lessons
and stories to share that can help others. I'm
so fortunate to be able to extend the four walls
of my previous classroom to an unlimited audience.
where we can all learn from each other. And my
guests are some of the most inspirational people
with the best stories and lessons I know, which
is why I want to share them with you. Their words
are something everyone should hear. It is my
hope that you are able to take away something
from each episode to apply to your own life,
whether that be a career search, path to a more
fulfilling life, or new ideas on current topics.
Today I'm so excited to bring to you Tracy Weber
I was just saying to her before we started recording
that there are many facets that you'll hear in
her background and her journey today that we
could go down multiple paths so I'm excited to
hear her story and to share it with you I've
never met Tracy in person. In fact, I found her
online in a hiking Facebook group I was looking
for guests to talk about different topics and
definitely she is going to talk a little bit
about hiking today but I think like I said a
lot of her background and her journey is going
to resonate with my listeners and you'll hear
why because she's made a lot of decisions that
I think we have had to make in our time and hopefully
that will resonate with you. So I'm going to
let Tracy talk a little bit more about her background
and then we will get into her story of her journey.
Thanks, Rachel. So happy to be here. Thank you
so much for the invite. Yeah, so my background
actually started. Actually, I don't even know
if I mentioned this to you, but my background
was in biology. That was what my undergrad was
in. But I really quickly found out that there's
not much that can be done in that field. At least
you can't progress very far. So fast forward,
I began to begin getting interested in healthcare.
So I got my CNA license and also went back to
school for nursing, which I swore I would never
go back to school after my first undergrad. But
I quickly found that that was the path for me.
I practiced for a few years and very quickly
found myself getting burned out in that field
of nursing and didn't really know what to do.
I was spinning my wheels for a while. I didn't
want to throw away all the years of schooling
that I had put in, but also didn't want to go
back to school for a super long time for more
studies. So I went to a career fair and instantly
fell in love with massage therapy. I just, for
some reason, I just felt a calling to go that
path. And really, since I started that, I never
looked back. I did massage therapy for a number
of years, about three years overlapping with
my nursing career and found that I could fly
on my own doing the massage and just went that
route. And as the years went by, I added different
teachings to my repertoire. I took different
classes and found that I was really enjoying
what I was doing. Did some training in yoga and
since became certified. I also did training in
Qigong and got certified in that. Did a few specific
trainings in massage including lymphatic drainage,
craniosicral therapy. All this to say I was really
kind of immersed in the holistic field and in
the process got my own chronic health conditions.
My family got some chronic health conditions.
And so all of this experience really helped me
in the process also, which is a little bit different
path, but basically helped myself to heal as
I was also helping clients that I served to feel
better. Along the way, I found that I was really
doing a lot of patient education, if you will,
which came naturally to me as a nurse. big part
of what we do is educating our patients and clients
and so after a number of years I realized that's
what I was doing all along in fandom with the
massage therapy and so I went back to school
again and did my coaching certification that
was specific for nurses to become coaches so
there's a little bit different of an edge to
be a nurse coach. Um, which doesn't mean I coach
nurses, but it means I'm a nurse that does coaching.
And so that's kind of a summary of what I've
done kind of through the years and kind of come
full circle. Now I offer a little bit of all
of that. Plus I do some traditional nursing as
far as IV therapy. I do a really specific treatment
called electro analgesia, which is for pain relief,
wound healing, um, mental health issues and just
a whole slew of Benefits that can deliver. Oh,
wow. I've never heard about that. Can you just
explain that briefly for us? The electro energies.
Yes. Yeah, so I call it EA for short. It's much
easier to say But basically it's the highest
FDA cleared pulsed electricity essentially Some
people liken it to a TENS unit, but it's very,
very different and it really helps to target
inflammation. It helps to improve nerve healing
and, you know, just a whole bunch of benefits
that machine can provide. Oh, wow. I have never
heard of that. So two things that jumped out
when you were just describing your background,
because I can identify with you saying you felt
sort of like pull. to massage therapy? Like,
how would you describe, like, the feeling that
you got or just, you know, that either a moment
or maybe reflecting just during your journey?
Can you just unpack that a little bit more? Because
I think a lot of the listeners are kind of either
searching for that feeling or that is definitely
something that I felt too. Almost describe it
as a full body, yes. You know, when I went to
that career for that day, a long, long time ago.
Um, I just, I went to the booth and I talked
to the people that were running it and I think
I even got a chair massage that day, which I
hadn't previously had a bunch of massage experience,
you know, receiving massage myself. Um, but it
was just like, it was an instant knowing almost
like a gut reaction. Like, I don't know why,
I don't know how, I don't know when, but this
is something I need to do. Yeah. I can completely
relate to that. And then I almost felt like a
bit of relief briefly. Like, okay, this is like
the answer. And there's so many unanswered questions
that come after that of just like, what is the
path and how long, like you're right. Like, okay,
then there's a little bit of anxiety that kicks
in after that, but it is, it's kind of like,
I need to do this. I feel really good about it.
And then like. Let the planning begin, right?
Exactly. And having that trust in the process.
Yeah, exactly. This will all work out and I can
do it. And then even trusting my own decision
making, you know, trusting myself that regardless
of the why. that this was the next step for me.
Absolutely, because you know a lot of people
are going to ask questions about why you're doing
this and, you know, why are you abandoning what
you've done and you have to feel good about your
decision. And then the second thing that jumped
out to me, just because I'm a little bit unfamiliar
with the healthcare part of it but I didn't realize
when you said there's different opportunities
that if you have the healthcare background to
go into the coaching can you kind of explain
that if we have listeners who have worked in
healthcare just kind of what you mean by that
and how that works like what what that path might
look like when you talk about coaching you're
talking about like wellness coaching is am I
right in that? I do a combination of wellness
and life coaching. Okay. And I think for me,
it's very difficult to separate those two things
because to me, wellness incorporates all facets
of life. So it's not just your physical health,
your mental health. It's also your environmental
health. It's your professional, you know, life.
It's your relationships. It's all of those things
kind of combined into one. And so yeah, there's
different types of coaching. There's, you know,
people that focus on weight loss. There's people
that focus on chronic health conditions. There's,
you know, people that have had no medical background
and people that have all the medical background.
So there's, there's not a lot of regulation in
that industry. And so for me, it was important
to go to a program that had a professional background.
And the fact that the program really only allowed
RNs to do the program, spoke to me. It was again,
one of those just intuitive hits that I was like,
yes, this is my next step. And it was just kind
of that inner knowing that because they had that
same background as I did in nursing, there's
kind of that similar thread in that way that
we can all connect on a different level. Not
to say that any other program is better or worse.
It's just this was the right one for me because
of what I've done previously. OK, so what does
that look like? Is it a two year program? Do
you do it online? Like in your experience, how
did that work for you? It's not going back for
another four year degree, correct? Oh, my goodness.
Exactly. Now I kind of laugh because I feel like
I'm a forever learner, always taking classes
and excited to learn the next thing. But no,
it was. I took mine during COVID. I didn't obviously
know that going into it. But I was in the program
for about four months before COVID hit. So it
was aimed to be an October through May program,
if I remember the dates right. And it ended up
being October through October, just because of
all the COVID nonsense. But it was all done online.
And then we, of course, like any other nursing
program and probably most coaching programs that
are reputable. We had to do practices, you know,
first we'd practice with classmates and then
we would find people within our communities or
our circles that wanted free coaching. Oh, that's
awesome. So then, like you said, you keep getting
additional certifications because you're passionate
about it, right? You're like, wait, I could offer
my clients this. And you yourself had benefited
from some of the therapies that you were learning
about as well. So it doesn't really feel like
work or education, right? It's just fun. Exactly.
And, you know, the way I look at it is it's more
tools in my toolbox than I could offer. So, you
know, we are all so individual that what works
for you is not going to work for the next person.
So to me, like having a variety of tools that
I can choose from to help people is super important.
It's just it's critical to what I do. So when
you made this not a career switch, but sort of
just a pivot, did it? Does it look like now like
a brick and mortar business and online? Are you
all online? How does that look with your coaching
business? Very much a hybrid model. I do have
an in -office practice where I can see patients
and clients for various services, anything from
massage to IV therapy to coaching. But I also
do offer some of those services online. Obviously
you can't do massage online, but I do a lot of
the coaching online. Um, and, and that provides
just another level of a way to connect for people.
So it takes some of the excuses out. Like I don't
have time. I don't, I don't have the ability
to get to your office. Um, you know, you're thousands
of miles away because I've worked with people
all across the globe. Um, so it takes some of
those excuses out when we can just meet face
to face over a computer screen. It's a little
bit different you know energetically when you're
not face to face in person but in some cases
I find that it allows people to almost dig a
little bit deeper and be a little bit more vulnerable
when they're quote unquote hiding behind the
screen. Exactly. So I'm always fascinated and
I think other people too listening might be interested
in knowing how does that look going from I'm
a nurse today and then I have a career pivot
you know you said that part of your business
is brick and mortar and part of it is online
how did that look right you know did you buy
a place how how did that look can you describe
that for us? Yeah so actually it goes back a
little bit further to when I was in school. for
massage therapy and I needed to do an internship
and so there was a very well respected massage
therapist within my community that I asked if
I could shadow her and do my internship there.
She graciously accepted and after I can't remember
the timeline but about a month or maybe five,
six weeks, something like that. Um, I was acquainted
with her and her other colleagues and they were
acquainted with me and it was really a seamless
fit and they invited me to join their practice
after I graduated. So there was a time for about,
it was about two, two and a half years that I
practiced part -time in nursing and part -time
in massage therapy, renting my space. Um, and
then after about two and a half ish years, I
made that decision, you know, I was steady enough
with my practice and I had someone tell me, you
know, when are you going to spread your wings
and fly? And I thought, okay, yeah, now's the
time, you know, what am I waiting for? Why am
I waiting? And so after that timeline, I just
decided to jump and have been all in ever since.
That's awesome when you can kind of phase out
of one and you know dabble in and make sure you
like it and get used to the next and then it
sort of organically grows and there you go. I
think everybody's journey is different so I appreciate
you sharing that insight because I think myself
personally I'm guessing other people want to
know like how does that look do you just transition
one day or like you said it's a two and a half
year process and then you know that you're being
pulled in the new direction so I appreciate you
sharing that with us. We're going to move on
to, of course, because this is life's next lesson
plan, we always talk about our education roots
a little bit. So I typically ask my guests to
prepare a funny or memorable story from their
education journey. And the real reason I brought
you here, I think is related to this story, a
story a little bit more about your hiking and
backpacking experience. So can you share that
memory with us? Yeah, it doesn't really have
to do too much with education other than it happened
during my undergrad degree. But I was working
in a lab at the time and two friends from the
lab invited me to go backpacking with them. I
thought, okay, this is great. I'm getting to
love the outdoors, which I hadn't grown up a
full lot knowing how to backpack or hike. But
during college, I definitely started to develop
a love for that. Great. We planned this big trip.
I think it was up to Steamboat Springs or close
to that area in Colorado. Just some of the really
most pristine hiking available. And so we decided
there's three of us, so we're going to divvy
up who brings what. And so one of the people
said, OK, well, you bring a dinner. And, you
know, also, of course, you need to bring your
sleeping bag and your pad to sleep on and so
forth. And, you know, I'll bring a tent and I'll
bring a breakfast, whatever, you know, so we
split it all out. So in the course of this conversation,
they were like, okay, well, also, we're going
to be hiking. So we're going to be burning a
lot of calories. And one of the people that's
going with us also on a normal day has quite
a good party appetite. If you're going to bring
pasta, make sure you bring it cooked because
it's hard to boil noodles at altitude. So I was
like, great. And, you know, I also knew they
loved things like banana bread. So I was like,
cool, I'll just bring, you know, pasta with a
sauce and a nice salad and some banana bread.
So cooked all this up, packed my Coleman sleeping
bag. I packed my exercise mat because that's
all I had and all I knew that would be some cushioning
for under my sleeping bag. Packed it all in my
backpack. We got barely up the trail and I was
literally feeling like I was going to die. And
they're all looking at me like, wow, she is such
a wimp. Like what's her problem? And, you know,
we'd stop periodically for breaks because obviously
we're at altitude and hiking and whatnot. We're
not in any hurry. We're just enjoying the time
away. And pretty soon they're like, what is in
your pack? You know, first they lifted it up.
They're like, holy crap, that is heavy. I explained
to them what all I had. And needless to say,
it was a good lesson for me because I had this
One pound of cooked pasta, which translates into
what? Like probably three or four pounds once
it's cooked with the water. You know, banana
bread, soft with a pasta and ice salad. And then
this big old heavy sleeping bag that really is
not appropriate for backpacking. It's not a cold
weather bag and a heavy old exercise bag. They're
like, newbie, there's this newbie over here.
At that point, they were gracious enough to help
split the load even further knowing that they
were partly to blame for this situation. Yeah,
telling you to bring all this heavy cooked pasta
along. Exactly. But let me tell you, we ate well.
That's important good That is a good story that
would so be me. Yes Yeah, all right. So this
obviously lets us know that you have a love for
the outdoors and nature and hiking so can you
talk a little bit about Sort of the role that
that plays in your life and how that benefits
you It's really been a gradual thing for me.
You know, when my kids were young, I didn't take
a whole lot of time to go out and do things for
myself, like many parents do not do. And gradually,
I knew that I needed to do something for me.
And so it started with just, you know, walking
the dogs or the kids around the neighborhood
or going for some interval training. You know
as the kids got a little bit older, I'd go take
them on a trail somewhere You know for shorter
kids size hikes and Every year pretty much for
vacation. We would choose Usually a hiking vacation
if not a hiking vacation. It would tend to be
something that was outdoorsy where we could ride
bikes or you know go camping or kayaking, you
know different outdoor activities And so continued
that process through the years. Fast forward,
I ended up getting a divorce, needed to find
some coping strategies and started to really
step up my game as far as exercise. And, you
know, I got out on the trail. I would say initially
once every other week, you know, when I didn't
have my kids, I'd go for the trail somewhere.
And gradually it just became more evident. kind
of like that intuitive hit like this is where
I need to be and so I found myself most weekends
at least going out on a trail somewhere and then
gradually that became when the weather was cooperative
I would get out on the trail mid -week you know
if I had an early early work day so to speak
um I'd try to carve out some time to get outside
whether it was on a trail or walking the dogs
And I've just never looked back. Now it's an
integral part of who I am and what I do and what
I enjoy. Yeah, I remember during the pandemic
and The nice thing during that time is that we
did have more time to go into nature. But I don't
know how I would have survived without the beautiful
trails that I lived nearby at the time and the
water. And I was going through a divorce myself
during the pandemic. I had moved out two months
before the world shut down. And at that time,
my daughter was a middle school girl. And so
we spent some time on the trail near our house.
And she just said about a week ago I really miss
that trail that we used to live by and sometimes
when she's running she'll go drive over there
just to be on that trail and you start you know
everybody underestimates I think until they have
that experience of it's like a kindred spirit
it's like nature holding your hand through a
tough time is kind of how I explain it so is
that something that you talk about in your practice
as well with your clients? If it comes up, yeah,
I'm very transparent with my clients, you know,
because I think if I'm not vulnerable, I don't
invite them to be vulnerable. And so it does
become, whether it's trad talk or something else,
it does become very important that I share some
of the things that I've been through and some
of the trials I've had to endure and how I came
out on the other side, because I think that instills
a sense of hope for them. Knowing that someone
else has been through some stuff and has made
it through and they can do that too. So yeah,
very very important and I think you had a like
a 12 -hour challenge or something that you Undertook
can you explain a little bit of that to us? Yeah,
I think it's Colin O 'Brady talked about he wrote
a book called the 12 -hour walk. And so I read
the book It was suggested to me by another nurse
coach actually and decided to do that challenge.
And so it's essentially spending 12 hours outside
in nature disconnected. So no phone, no companion,
no dog to walk next to me. Just me and my thoughts
for 12 hours outside. I can walk as much or little
as I want. I can sit down as much or little as
I want. um but just spending that time solo and
how transformational that can be because we don't
hardly ever take even two minutes by ourselves
let alone 12 hours and so you know just really
getting to know yourself and what drives you
what frustrates you, what makes you sad, what
makes you happy, you know, all, all the thoughts
that can run through your head in a 12 hour time
span is really remarkable. Absolutely. I think
that's one of the best and worst things of going
through a divorce during the pandemic is that
the worst part of it was that you were isolated
because I couldn't just go even sit, you know,
in a friend's living room and cry or something
or meet them out for coffee was, you know, January
2020, I was in a brand new apartment and then
two months later, here we go. You can't, I think,
what do I want to say, distract yourself? You
are forced in isolation to really reflect like
exactly what you're saying. And I spent a lot
of time walking and thinking and reflecting and
Definitely getting to know myself and and kind
of thinking about what I wanted for the next
Chapter after we came out of the pandemic and
I was alone and you know what that was gonna
look like So the worst part was that it forced
me into that but the best part was is that I
don't know that I would have done some of that
work Had that not been the case because you have
no choice, but to really sit with your thoughts
And I had a previous guest on who after retiring
from teaching, which, you know, she had had a
long career and she turned to mindfulness and
meditation and went on a bunch of silent retreats
and found that really useful and helpful to bridge
sort of some of the emotions that she was feeling
at that time. So this is interesting. I'm going
to have to dig into that. The 12 hour walk, that
sounds terrifying. But obviously like I said
I can relate on some level just based on what
I went through and I trust your expert opinion.
We're going to take a short break here for some
ads and some ask the teacher anything questions.
Remember you can submit these on social media
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Plan dot com. 100 % of men and women have hormones,
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like me who works full time, so I appreciate
her practicality mixed with some tough love to
keep me going. There's that bell sound effect
that I don't know why I think that's so funny.
It's just there's not any good sound effects
for transitions that I have found yet. So we
are transitioning into the Ask the Teacher Anything
portion of the podcast. And the first question
today is what has been my most popular guest
episode and solo episode so far? So I think we
are at like episode 28 or something, right? just
to give the overview and right now my most popular
guest episode is I need a drum roll sound effect
episode 6 with a guest Tom Duran everybody loves
Tom Duran and oh my goodness I can't stop sharing
his Cadillac Ranch Instagram reels because they're
so cool. Watching that house from the beginning
till now when it's livable is just amazing and
so inspirational. And the story behind it is
so heartwarming. And watching all of the guests
as they have come help them with the Cadillac
Ranch, it's amazing. So if you haven't heard
episode six yet with Tom Dran, it is a fan favorite,
apparently. Favorite solo episode so far, I think
it's episode seven on the Anxious Generation
book by Jonathan Haidt and Rethinking Parenting,
Screen Time, and School Pressure. And I actually
did that episode on life's next lesson plan as
a solo, but I did kind of a follow up on Patreon
on my live and learn Patreon called the eight
second attention span and how reading can rescue
our minds in the age of distraction. And in that
episode, I take it one step further because The
Anxious Generation book talks about, you know,
with screen time, what it's doing to rewire kids'
brains, and the rise in anxiety and depression,
and then just the fact that they're spending
less time reading and their attention spans are
going down. I dig a little bit more into that
and actually some of the benefits of reading.
I actually share... an article that I go over
with students in class and I shared on Patreon
actual words from my sophomores this year that
they shared honestly about how they see their
reading interest declining and their attention
spans declining. And so that one as Patreon tends
to be is a little bit more personal and specific.
So Yeah, that's been my most popular by far solo
episode on the anxious generation. Second question
is, what's the most memorable lesson you've learned
from a guest so far? That is unfair, as I've
learned something from every single guest, but
I've been thinking a lot about and I actually
mentioned it in a recent episode as well. I've
been thinking a lot about something that Michael
Hernandez said in episode 20 and it wasn't his
lesson or it wasn't his intended lesson per se.
It was just something that came up in our conversation
and this is what Kind of spurred me to stop asking
guests what their next goal is because when I
asked him he had such a good answer that made
me realize I shouldn't ask that question anymore
and he just he's so so so accomplished and what's
fascinating about that is that he shared that
he doesn't set goals and Instead not that he's
not goal oriented, but instead he follows his
curiosity. Oh Is there a better answer than that?
Like I did an entire episode, episode nine, it
was about the power of curiosity in your life,
the power of curiosity in education, how education
should always be built around questions, you
know, what questions students want to answer,
what problems they want to solve. Oh, that's
like, I did an entire episode about that. And
yeah, we should. Be following our values which
I talk a lot about and we should be following
our curiosity And when I was talking to Brittany
Eamon in a recent episode We talked about the
fact that sometimes because she's very goal -oriented
But she realized she always followed her curiosity
and she looked at it almost like she was quitting
on her goals, but that maybe having goals in
some respect can sort of pigeonhole you because
if you are so focused on the goal and staying
on that track, you're not leaving yourself open
to the possibilities that could happen that take
you off track that are actually better than what
you could have planned while you were tunnel
vision working on that goal. So my mind has just
kind of been blown about this whole idea since
episode 20 of like someone who's very type A
goal oriented has to see her life 10 years from
now is just like going where the wind blows me
and going towards something that aligns with
my values, which I'm working on, obviously, in
this journey and just what I want to learn about
next. What's the next up and coming thing? If
life has taught us nothing else, which I talk
about with Michael is that you don't know what
is going to happen tomorrow. And so you can set
all of these goals and all of these plans and
they can get turned upside down. So that to me
I think has been one of the most mind blowing
things that I've been reflecting a lot on. I'd
be curious in hearing your thoughts about that
too and keep the questions coming. I really look
forward to this segment each episode. I definitely
feel like I could do an entire episode on this
12 -hour walk, but after I check that out, maybe
I'll have to circle back to you and come back
to that because that's really interesting. If
you decide to do it and you want someone to hold
you accountable, just let me know. Yeah, absolutely.
That might be good in this career transition
that I'm going through in the future. I'll have
time maybe to try that out, but it does sound
a little terrifying, so I want to just read up
on it. Is he very encouraging in the book about
the process? Yes. Okay. That would be helpful.
And for me it was helpful to know that I had
Jolene who recommended the book. Like she was
sort of in my back pocket cheering me on. Like
I knew she was there even though I wasn't like
texting her or calling her. You know I touched
base with her before I left and then when I got
back and that was just a nice Thing to have did
you leave like actually camp? Did you leave your
hometown? How did you do that? I was in Iowa
at the time and there was a trail that I was
very familiar with and so I just showed up there
at like I think 430 or 5 because I needed to
be done by a certain time So it was dark when
I started and I just came prepared with a headlamp,
but the Sun was rising and It was just a beautiful
experience, you know, like I had that level of
comfort. Like I knew the trails. I knew it was
a safe place to go. Um, you know, I knew there
was a nature center there where I could go to
the bathroom and get a drink if I ran out of
whatever, you know, so there were just a few
things like that. Interesting. Did you pack pounds
of pasta and a salad for yourself to eat? Absolutely
not. But my car was there so I could just leave
my lunch in there. So really all I had on my
back was like a journal and a pen and I did bring
my phone. Just you never know. I had it on airplane
mode, but if anything would happen, I had a way
to reach someone in emergency. Or I took a few
pictures. I allowed myself to do that just because
part of my experience was enjoying the beauty.
Sure. Well, yeah, I would want proof and like
memories to look back on from it. So, yeah, I
think that's sounded terrifying at first like
you're out there for 12 hours with no way to
reach anybody. But I think that would make me
feel better to at least know that it's there
just in case. Yeah, I just had airplane mode
and, you know, I knew there were benches and
rocks where I was going so I could sit down and
rest or meditate or whatever. Does he outline
this as something you should do alone or have
people done this with a buddy? The idea is to
do it alone. I would say if you wanted to do
it with a buddy for safety or something, just
be on a quarter mile apart or something. You
know that they're there, but you're not tempted
or able to talk to them. Sure. It's meant to
be a reflective, mindful, I understand that.
I might be circling back to you. This is intriguing
to me. Yes. OK. So speaking of being encouraging
and giving people ideas for inspiration, can
you talk to us a little bit? We're big on mentorship
here at Life's Next Lesson Plan. So any mentors
that stick out for you along your journey? Definitely
so. The biggest mentor, I would say, was the
very first massage therapist that I mentioned
earlier. where I got my start. She was actually
a nun and she was in a small private practice
with three other individuals. We were all independent
contractors and not only was she kind enough
to let me shadow her while I was finishing school,
but then also inviting me to join their group
as a practitioner once I graduated and got my
license, but she was just... She was such a kind,
selfless person, always compassionate, always
just had very thoughtful answers and responses
if you were to have a conversation with her.
And she was assertive. And I think myself and
many people struggle with being assertive. And
I think it's also very important to be There's
an art to being assertive without being mean
or You know other choice words that people would
choose to describe it as But I do think it's
an important skill and she just she modeled that
in such a beautiful way I don't know if I remember
mentioned it, but she was in done and so in spite
of that it didn't matter what religion what anything
you were She was just always very accepting and
very open to share her journey and her experience
and her insight, you know, and I very much valued
that. Yeah, I always, you know, wonder after
interviewing all of these people and talking
to them about either an experience or a person
in their lives that sort of either change their
path or really influence their path in some way
just like how life would be different without
that experience or that person always makes me
think about that. So I'm sure you feel lucky
to have met her. Very much so, yeah. I mean that
was she was really a foundation for my practice
is how I look at it and not only could I learn
from her when I shadowed her, but I could also
just watch her on the day to day and see how
she interacted with other people or with me or
you know whatever and just handle things with
such grace and such integrity. Awesome. I think
we are ready to hear about the lesson that you
brought for us today, which I think sort of ties
everything we've talked about together. So it's
perfect that led us here. So kind of hiking your
way to wellness and how if we are interested
in working this into our lives, which I am in
my next chapter, I've only dabbled in it a little
bit. Knowing some of the benefits and and wanting
to for sure be outside more was one of my values
in this transition that I'm making so So excited
personally to hear about this and I'm sure we
have some listeners as well who will be interested
in your lesson today Yeah, I think my biggest
Lesson or takeaway is you know, no competition.
There's no speed. There's no intensity. There's
no set distance that's required Um, you know,
it's just, it's for me, it's a time for me period
and the story, you know, it's just, there's so
many opportunities in nature to find wellbeing.
So you can develop a different sense of peace.
You can meditate, you can find your grounding
or your center. Um, you know, connecting to the
senses can really be beneficial for mental wellbeing.
Um, finding a sense of calmness. You know, sometimes
I'll just go and I'll just take some deep breaths.
I'll enjoy the sun. I'll enjoy feeling the earth
beneath my feet, you know, feeling how my body
moves. Some days, you know, at 50 plus, it moves
better than others, you know, and being accepting
of all of that, you know, and just being in that
space, it helps me with clarity. You know, when
I'm, I'm struggling with something, I might go
in nature to just sort of find my answers without
pushing for the answers almost you know in as
a side benefit it improves my strength it helps
my circulation it helps my mood so you know it's
almost for me it's like exercising without exercising
it's not something I have to do it's always something
that I want to do and to me it's almost it's
just that invitation to be more mindful Yeah,
and something that you look forward to because
you know, at the end of it, you're always going
to feel better. Yeah. Yeah, absolutely. Where
are some of your favorite places to go? That's
actually a loaded question. I'm still working
on that. I am new to the area that I'm living
in, so that had a huge opportunity to explore.
So I'm just kind of getting my feet wet in the
area. But I... Are there some past places that
you used to really enjoy going? Yeah, when I
was in Iowa, I went to Mines of Spain or Swiss
Valley Nature Center. Those were kind of my two
go -tos. You know, here, like I said, in the
Wisconsin area, I'm just getting my feet wet,
but I love Governor Dodge. I've done some backpacking
there. um when I hike like on a vacation I love
love love going to the mountains um for me there's
nothing grounding like being in a big big old
mountain you know just finding my center and
my feet beneath me there is like none other.
Absolutely. We camped last summer in Governor
Dodge and we just bought a camper that we're
picking up at the end of April. So I think we
have four trips, one back to Governor Dodge.
Who's there? Yeah, I'm excited to get get back
there. And that's part of this camping journey
will involve hiking. Do you use poles? I'm finding
that my balance in my 50s. I hate to admit it,
but I think I might need to buy some. Do you
use some? I do use them on bigger hikes. I don't
tend to use them on the shorter hikes but certainly
if I'm going on vacation in the mountains I do
bring them along. What I found honestly more
beneficial is to practice. I've seen time and
time again that as we age we do lose balance
and I noticed it in myself especially with some
injuries and so I feel like doing things to promote
balance. also promotes healthy aging. Yeah, absolutely.
I've read a lot about longevity and like the
better your balance is. I noticed it. I don't
know if you've been to Devil's Lake at all for
any hiking, but I noticed it there because they
have such steep inclines going up and down. And
I was like, oh, and I think too, like my vision
is not as good as it used to be. Yeah and like
when you're trying to really concentrate for
me it's on things close up and I don't know I
just the last time I was there I made a comment
to some girlfriends I was like any of you feeling
like you don't have as good of balance and they're
like well we're not out there like traversing
rocks so we don't really notice that one person
said yes but the rest were kind of like well
I'm not climbing up and down big boulders so
I don't I don't have that feeling but I haven't
been out to Colorado in my 50s, yet I've only
been to Colorado in the summer, which I think
is amazing. I've been there multiple times in
the summer and I absolutely love it. But it would
be interesting to compare that hiking to just
some of the hiking that I've done locally as
well. Do you have favorite spots in Colorado
that you've been? I know you mentioned Steamboat
Springs. Gosh, you know, there's so many trails
out there. near impossible. I mean, you'd be
hard pressed to repeat them unless you just wanted
to or live by one. But most recently I went out
to the Golden area and hiked in Golden State
Park, which had some lovely trails, but no, no
favorites. Okay. Isn't Golden near Red Rocks?
Okay, because I went to, I can't remember which
birthday it was, but it was a bucket list item
to see a concert at Red Rocks. And so I remember
being in Golden. I remember the archway, you
know, from it. And I was like, I bet that is
near Red Rocks, which is another place to test
your balance for sure. And everybody's doing
yoga on the stairs of the amphitheater and running
up and down the stairs. That is a place to get
fit. You see the bikers going up the hill. Definitely
for sure. Even the people walking up to the concert
that night. That was really interesting because
of the altitude and also it it is a climb to
get to the amphitheater. Like it is a workout.
I think I had to shed a layer. I did not plan
for like the workout part of going to the concert,
but people, some people were struggling. So yeah,
it's such a gorgeous area and garden of the gods.
I think I've been to out there as well. Oh, just
so many beautiful places in Colorado. Like you
said, you can't possibly narrow it down. Okay.
So we, We definitely know all of the benefits
like you've talked about and balance is a huge
one that I'm working on even in my weight training,
just kind of like doing more exercises on one
leg, you know, paying more attention to that
as part of cutting off aging at the pass if you
have any control over that. But yeah, that's
just something that I've really noticed. I'm
ready to talk to the listeners who are Wanting
to get out there maybe try dabbling a little
bit in this what I'm gonna call nature therapy
and Try hiking a little bit. I'm still definitely
a newbie Um, and you know, that's why I seek
out people who know more than I do, because that's
what I talk about on this podcast is if you do
want to try something and incorporate it more
into your life, you need to learn from those
who are experienced in it. And so Tracy is going
to help us with that today. She has some optional
homework or action steps for us. If we're ready
to incorporate this into our lives. So help us,
those of us who want to be better at. this Tracy.
All right. So my thought is jot down one or more
areas of your life that you want to improve on
and then note how you would like to see it improve
on a piece of paper in a journal whatever works
for you and try to really embody all the ways
that you would feel the thoughts that you think
the ways you'd spend your days when your health
was improved in this way how you would carry
yourself things like that just really feel into
that experience. After that, weight your current
stress level from 1 to 10. Know how you're currently
feeling physically, mentally, emotionally. Jot
those things down as well. After you've done
that, find a place to go outside for five minutes
or more, preferably with some dirt on the trail,
some trees, some grasses, something in nature.
Commit to that day and time. Put your shoes on,
make your way to the trail. Head out in whatever
pace, whatever direction feels comfortable for
you. As you're walking just take note of the
following so take note of how you feel physically
and mentally at different points on the hike.
Noticing what moments of peace or clarity you've
experienced during the time on the trail. Notice
how it feels to be surrounded by nature and how
that affects your mindset and your emotions.
Once you're done go ahead and rate the stress
level again 1 to 10 noting again how you feel
physically mentally and emotionally. Take notes
on all of it. Take some time to read through
your journal entries from before, during and
after your hike and then reflect on how the experience
helped you to reduce your stress, improved your
mood, how it strengthened your physical health
or anything else that you might have noticed
along the way. That's awesome. So I've been seeing
I don't know if it's an app or but there's like
something now in the whole have a smartwatch
that tells you when to stand up and everything
but I've been noticing on social media that these
campaigns to go out and touch grass Like you've
been inside long enough You need to go out and
put your feet in the grass and I'm like, yes,
I did this morning challenge years ago. Well
probably during the, right after the pandemic,
maybe 2021 or something, with a local health
company. And it was like the morning challenge,
the best ways to start your day were to get that
morning sunlight, right? And to go out and do
some grounding and to get some movement and to
do some journaling. I never felt better than
when I was doing that. And I think it's so hard
for people because it's hard to tell an immediate
benefit right like if you go for a run you have
those immediate endorphins and you feel you know
energized and you feel accomplished it's hard
when you're standing in the sunlight putting
your feet in the grass journaling you know it's
hard to immediately I think see the benefits
but the compounding of of doing that day after
day for this challenge it was so beneficial and
unfortunately as you know from living in Iowa
and Wisconsin that is very hard to do year round.
So I look forward to those times that I can get
my feet in the grass but I think that's so interesting
now you know they're finding the research and
it takes a little bit of time for it to catch
up but they are finding you know just exactly
what you're talking about today is we have to
find time to get out and away from our screens
to get outside to do these things to benefit
our health. So I appreciate your message with
that so much. And also You know, I think as you
were just talking right there, I'm like, I can
see why people seek you out. You have a very
calming presence, right? You're very self -assured.
So if people want to connect with you a little
bit more, I will, like I said, put your website
and any other places in the show notes. But besides
your website, is there any place people can connect
with you or is that the best place? They can
definitely connect with me on social media. I
think almost every place is tranquil nurse coach.
Yeah, I can see you're very tranquil, definitely.
Yes, I will share that in the show notes. Like
I said, if you're interested in learning more
about what Tracy does and connecting with her
about her journey at all, any last thoughts you
want to leave us with as we get ready to maybe
incorporate this into our lives? Yeah, I would
say Rachel, you know, just start, you know, you
indicated a fear of doing the 12 hour walk, but
just start. It doesn't matter how in shape you
are. It doesn't matter what clothes you wear.
If you have to start small, just start somewhere,
you know, even if it's just putting your shoes
by the door. Maybe that's your first step, you
know, your shoes by the door for a week and then
after a week, you're like, okay, I'm going to
put the shoes on, you know. all those little
baby steps will eventually lead you. Absolutely.
You mentioned some of the keywords that I use
a lot in this journey and we talk about baby
steps a lot. starting before it's perfect, right?
Just starting messy. And one small step will
lead you to the next, you know, and eventually
you'll be there and you'll look back and say,
oh, that wasn't so bad. So I really appreciate
that wisdom. And I'm so happy to have this chance
to connect with you, even though we're not meeting
in person, I get to see your face, you know,
when you meet people on social media, you know,
you never quite know, but I've really enjoyed
our time together today. Yeah, thank you so much
Rachel for having me. So appreciate it. Tracy's
journey is a reminder that sometimes the hardest
transitions lead to the most fulfilling paths.
Whether it's shifting careers, navigating personal
hardships, or simply lacing up your boots and
hitting the trail. Growth happens when we step
outside our comfort zones. If her story resonated
with you, take a moment to reflect. What small
step can you take toward your own healing or
reinvention? In the meantime, don't forget to
subscribe, leave me a rate, and I love those
reviews, keep them coming, and share this episode
with someone you think might need to hear it.
I think in April, I'm going to be making a decision
to go back to one episode a week. Just as I transition
into my new job What you'll be hearing about
soon and I'd like to focus on my patreon as well
Feel like I haven't had as much time to devote
there So I encourage you if you're looking for
more content than just one episode a week or
you're looking for more personal content Please
check out my live and learn patreon. It's very
easy. You just go to patreon .com slash live
and learn You can become a member for just five
dollars a month or you can purchase single episodes
that interest you Always I have content on Instagram
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plan YouTube Where I've been filming a video
a day as I count down my final days in the classroom
I've also started an empty nest playlist there.
And at the end of April, when we pick up our
Luna Rover camper, I'll be starting a playlist
for all things camping content as well. In the
meantime, you can always check out our website
at life's next lesson plan .com. And I can't
wait to see you back here for the next episode.