In this episode India talks to Broadcaster, Author and adventurer Ben Fogle about his relationship with movement and the wilderness. Ben reflects on some of the mammoth physical challenges he has accomplished in his life despite hating exercise as a child and the importance he puts on getting outside everyday for his mental and physical wellbeing. Ben also shares how he has kept his adventurous spirit alive whilst at home during lockdown including his new found love of Wim Hof inspired cold water therapy!
Find Ben on Instagram - @benfogle
Ben's website - https://www.benfogle.com/
If you have any questions or would like to suggest a guest please get in touch! You can email India via indiapearsonclarke@gmail.com or send a message via Instagram @india_outdoors / @finandflow / www.indiapearson.co.uk
~Music - Caleb Howard Almond ~
You can find this episode on iTunes, Spotify and many other podcast platform
If you have any questions or would like to suggest a guest please get in touch! You can email India via indiapearsonclarke@gmail.com or send a message via Instagram @india_outdoors / @finandflow / www.indiapearson.co.uk
~Music - Caleb Howard Almond / @oakandalmondcarpentry
In this episode India talks to Broadcaster, Author and adventurer Ben Fogle about his relationship with movement and the wilderness. Ben reflects on some of the mammoth physical challenges he has accomplished in his life despite hating exercise as a child and the importance he puts on getting outside everyday for his mental and physical wellbeing. Ben also shares how he has kept his adventurous spirit alive whilst at home during lockdown including his new found love of Wim Hof inspired cold water therapy!
Find Ben on Instagram - @benfogle
Ben's website - https://www.benfogle.com/
If you have any questions or would like to suggest a guest please get in touch! You can email India via indiapearsonclarke@gmail.com or send a message via Instagram @india_outdoors / @finandflow / www.indiapearson.co.uk
~Music - Caleb Howard Almond ~
You can find this episode on iTunes, Spotify and many other podcast platform
If you have any questions or would like to suggest a guest please get in touch! You can email India via indiapearsonclarke@gmail.com or send a message via Instagram @india_outdoors / @finandflow / www.indiapearson.co.uk
~Music - Caleb Howard Almond / @oakandalmondcarpentry
India 0:09
Hello, and welcome to start a ripple podcast. I'm your host India Pearson. And I believe ripples are made when we connect movement with nature, not only for our mind and body, but also the environment t. This podcast is a platform for me to chat with inspiring folk who feel the same and have some fascinating stories to tell from their experiences. I hope the conversations that come from this podcast will encourage you to get outside, move dream big, and see what happens from the ripples you create. Time to introduce my guest Ben Fogle is an award winning broadcaster, author and adventurer, best known for presenting the hit series you lives in the wild for Channel five. Not only this, he is the United Nations patron of the wilderness, and has taken moving in nature to the next level, having climbed Mount Everest road across the Atlantic and raced across Antarctica to the south pole to name but a few. And his honest reflection from the lessons he has learned on these adventures is what makes him so captivating. He says, For anyone taking yourself out of your natural environment and comfort zone is a great way to reflect where you've come from, and where you're going. It's away from phones, social media, information overload, to be able to completely switch off and turn your mind to something different. What you get from that is perspective. Hello, Ben, and welcome to the start of rebel podcast.
Ben 1:49
Thank you very much. I'm excited to be here.
India 1:52
I have to say I am so excited to have you on the podcast. Okay, let's just dive right in. So you have done some mammoth challenges in your time, you know, you've climbed Everest road across the Atlantic, raced to the South Pole and ran six consecutive marathons across the Sahara Desert. But But where did this need to move in nature start, you know, you know, where did your rebels begin?
Ben 2:20
It started quite late. If I'm To be honest, it's not something that I can say ever since I was a little boy, I've been drawn to adventure or physical exercise, if anything, actually, as a child, I, I, I actually disliked sport, because sport as a child, for me, was very defined sport was football, sport was rugby or cricket. And in less it was a specific sport no less like that even cross country then, then you weren't in the gang. And, and none of those kind of traditional sports ever really appealed to me and the notion of going for a run without the pressure of a teacher chasing you, without the pressure of other people commenting on how fast you were, or being out of breath. And being stuck at the back actually meant that, that I actually I kind of shied away from any physical activity because I didn't think I was very good at it. So it came much later in life. It actually started when when I went to live on the island of Terran, save for the BBC experiment Castaway, which was about 21 years ago, that was probably the first time when I realised the power of nature, as a healer, the power of nature for mental well being physical well being, because on that, that that island, which was in the Outer Hebrides, I never did physical exercise, in the traditional sense, I never went for runs or did work out. But it was a very physical year there, lots of lots of lugging heavy materials around. And and I I kind of suddenly became really healthy and really fit. And my mental health started to improve. So I think that was probably ground zero for my realising, and living with the power of nature to transform mental and physical well being.
India 4:16
I think the language that we use around you know, those more traditional sports that we're talking about, can also be a little bit of petting, sometimes, no words like exercise, physical education training, you know, they're not that appealing. Which is why I try to use words now like movement, you know, I say, I'm going to go out and move by the beach for an hour or in yoga, I use the word wiggle quite a lot because it's a little bit less intimidating. And it just changes your mindset around what you're doing. And now, you've obviously done a lot of challenges in your life. You don't rowing the Atlantic being one of them, but do you feel like you You need a challenge to work towards it? To get yourself out moving, or you just as happy to take yourself out for a run in the woods, for the sake of it?
Ben 5:07
Well, I've got a slightly contradictory answer to that. because on one hand, what what turns me off Sport and Exercise as a child was the pressure of competition, this notion that if you're going to go for a run, it's all about how fast you run it in. I find it now, I get asked daily, are you on? Strava? What distance do you run? How fast do you run? Do you know what India that I couldn't care less about how fast you do it, I couldn't care less about how far you go. It's all about what makes you feel better. So let's take today I went for a run today, I really didn't feel like it is a bit gloomy where I am. I'm a fair weather runner. I like to run in the heat of the sunshine. This winter has been quite hard, a lot of mud and a lot of dreary, rainy cold weather. But for me, I was able to run until I I turned that Blue Monday sentiment into a Happy Monday sentiment. And it had nothing to do with the speed. It had nothing to do with the distance. But people are still slaves to this notion that it's all about how fast you can run. And if you look at the apps and the smartwatches. That's all about your speed. And how can you get it up when people are talking about marathons? I've done quite a few marathons. Now, the first thing they say is how fast What is your marathon time? Now we need to change this shift because just doing a marathon, whether you're walking it or whether you're you're running it in sub two hours, they're both brilliant. But they but but each one of those is brilliant, according to who you are. So for me, I hate any sort of pressure. But where I contradicts my answer, I find that actually we do have to be motivated to get out. I think a lot of us, it's very easy wake up anything, I really don't want to go for a run, I've got myself in these little periods, where I go for a long time without doing exercise. And it's amazing how you spiral down. And it's quite hard to get yourself out of that little rut of not going. So I do need. So I do need to be motivated. And what I've done over the years, especially with those bigger challenges that you've you've given examples of there, I have tried to give myself the pressure of anticipation and expectation by taking on a challenge to actually get me out of those ruts in the first place. So what I find is I need every so often, I need to set myself a goal, quite big goals, climbing Everest rowing the Atlantic, and that has that has shaken my fear of my fear of competition, because I do I don't like this pressure of people expecting you to finish things in a certain amount of time. But I think sometimes you do have to confront those. I think it's really important. So that contradictory answer is I don't like competition. And I don't like trying to do things fast. And I don't like doing things in a competition arena as such, but I also see the benefits. And I do force myself to confront those occasionally.
India 8:05
And the competitions that you're choosing to do are in very unique places. So, you know, from an outsider's point of view, it seems like it's as much about immersing yourself in the experience of being in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean or the Sahara Desert, as much that is about, you know, pushing yourself to get a certain time for example,
Ben 8:26
it is very much about that. And they're also very, very slow. walking across Antarctica is very slow. And I'm very good at a very slow plod. It's amazing how often I turn up to do a marathon, for example, and everyone's like, what are you going for? Are you going for sub two? I'm going to try and finish.
Ben 8:45
I just want to finish and as long as it's like a long, slow Florida, I could just give me a multi marathon and it's great. I can do a very slow plot. It's not going to be particularly beautiful. It's going to be slightly ungainly. There's going to be no finesse to what I do but it's just it's it's about controlling the mind and getting yourself into this sort of zone. I don't I don't actually do yoga. I know you do yoga and things. I probably should because I actually I really enjoy the spirituality of exercise of guessing out and paddleboarding. You know that that's something that I love. Now I don't live too close to an ocean and I particularly like paddleboarding on an ocean. We live close to a river over a paddleboard here and there's something about the the motion of paddleboarding which is slightly yoga esque the movement of your body keeping your core being being connected to the water being connected to nature and and it's no surprise to me that that paddleboarding has become so incredibly popular because like I can totally see what it does to you. You're in the moment. And that for me is what all of these big experiences have been rowing. The Atlantic Ocean was as much about the whales that we saw while we were out there. It was as much about watching the West come in about surviving at sea as it was about the competition of guessing from the start point to the end point and for me i think if you if you change your mindset and just think about that it's about immersing and engaging with nature you know this whole notion of running really really really fast you know people who brace around the world on bicycle or or going as fast as they can i kind of i see why people like that in the in the context of competition but actually we need to enjoy it you want to actually you know be a part of the environment you're in that's why dog walkers i think a really a connected because you're you're going very slowly the dogs are going back and forth and you suddenly start to sit and you start to actually you know engage with the landscape you're in you know you'll know india about the art of forest bathing which was developed in in actually no one really knows where it came from i think it's probably probably just human nature but you know the japanese have practised it for a long time the scandinavians have and this is the notion of rather than going to a beach which we we contextualise is the place where you sunbathe you lie there and you absorb the sun's rays well forest bathing is the the the forest example of that and you lie and you just let nature start to act around you because you know if you're running through a word you're not gonna see anything let's be honest you know especially me my big lumbering foot footprints everything scatters but as soon as you spend some time and start observing the theatre of nature begins all around and that's what i find very kind of therapeutic
India 11:38
yeah i love that the theatre of nature amazing yeah i think it's about awakening the senses you know i love teaching yoga outside it's one of my favourite things to do in the summer have a space that looks out to sea and you know i asked my students to fill the grass underneath their fingertips and to really listen to the sounds of the waves crashing against the shoreline and it is such a powerful way of bringing your mind into the present moment and having this awakening now it's incredible now i read a quote from you somewhere that said adventure doesn't need to be crossing a pole or rolling across an ocean and adventure can be anything out of the ordinary so how have you kept your adventurous spirit alive over lockdown
Ben 12:30
well it's been a hard one but i think to continue on the theme we were just on india i think what's quite interesting is again sport and exercise pre pandemic was often for not everyone i realised this but for many people it was going to a gym and the gym was the church or the theatre of exercise and you'd get onto a running machine or a rowing machine or you'd use the heavy weights that were in the gym now obviously you know and i feel awful for all gym owners but that they have effectively closed down for for the whole year so we've all been forced to adapt for me running was a you know i really engaged much more with running during lockdown than ever before because i was one of those gym goers i have to admit but i think what it's done is it has we have all realised that actually the landscape around us whether you're lucky enough like you to be close to the beach i've got woods near me not everyone has that but most people have access to a park or green or a scrublands whatever it is and i think we've all realised that actually you know the landscape around us is a gym and we've realised that actually the benefits of just getting onto a running machine in a in a slightly an inspirational gym and i know there's some very inspirational gyms out there but you know it's it's then what are you doing the exercise for are you doing it because your body is an kind of an ornament and i think a lot of people mistake the what exercises for now there are some people that do it for the big packs and they want to pose with the big muscles and you know we see that there's a place for it the ripped six pack i think it's the whole source of tawi and made in chelsea phenomenon it's all about you know how how you look and ditto for for women but for me exercise has always been about the body as a tool you know this this for me is not about having a you know i'm 47 now so it's not gonna happen but it's not about having a ripped body it's about having a body that i can carry my 10 year old daughter on my shoulders and not collapse in a wheezing mess you know i want to actually be physical and i want when i go away filming as i just was last week in wales one of the people i was filming with loves running and for one of the sequences we went out for a run together i was able to do that which i wouldn't have had i not just kept things ticking over so i think it's quite interesting how we how we view exercise then on to the question that you actually asked how I've coped with the last year, it's been really hard because I like variety when it comes to my exercise and as much as I've just dismissed gyms, I still like gyms because I think there are there are different machines that give you different things. So a rowing machine for example, I find an amazing tool for cardiovascular all over fitness but haven't had access to that. So we as a family have tried to get out every single day not even have tried, we have got out every single day, whatever the weather. So that's just kind of dog walk and exercise and then my wife Marina and I kind of made a commitment at the beginning of the very first lockdown that if there was one thing we owe to the NHS, it was keeping our own health and mental well being that was our way of giving back. You know, this, this whole thing of stay at home protect the NHS well, personally, I think it's, you know, stay at home and keep yourself fit and healthy protect the NHS. And it's funny, isn't it? Because, you know, we're out in the countryside, but certainly during the first lockdown, you know, I remember cars beeping at me when they saw me running in a kind of aggressive get home, you're not supposed to be out people were taking this stuff at home very literally. And I know that people who live in cities still get some aggression from people if they go for a run because people don't want you know, get your disgusting COVID germs away from me. And it's it saddens me that people kind of see that as exercising as as mad do well, as you know, I think we're probably the people who are the fittest and the healthiest, who are actually looking after ourselves and keeping COVID at bay by keeping our immune system going. So that's what motivated me over the last year to kind of really keep running every day. I haven't wanted to do it. So my knees aren't particularly thankful for it. But my wife, I think, I think it was the best decision my wife and I made and it's kept us sane, to be honest.
India 16:49
Now, I follow you on Instagram and I have seen that you've also been doing some Wim Hof training, you know, running out in the freezing cold and just a pair of shorts and taking ice cold baths. Do you mind explaining a little bit more about this Wim Hof theory, and how does it make you feel?
Ben 17:08
Yeah, so the Wim Hof theory is something very basic, which I I've kind of, I've admired for many years now, because I've, I've seen the benefits of it. And it's, it's basically about cold water, cold air immersion. So his theory is very much based on the whole barefoot running model barefoot running the Barefoot Roddick, the barefoot running model, basically hypothesises that our feet have been over protected by modern trainers. And we've lost connection with all those incredible nerves and things in our feet. So that the idea being that actually you release your feet and you get more out of yourself. And there's different forms of barefoot running, you can wear these ridiculous shoes that have five little toes that you you, you wear, you can buy unconstructed shoes or you can actually be barefoot. Well, the Wim Hof Method, basically hypothesises that all these clothes and central heating have been to the detriment of our bodies, because suddenly, all the veins that you might have in your arms have lost their ability to be really effective. So his model is about immersing your body with cold and boosting your immune system and your mental well being. You can do that in a cold bath in a cold icy swim in the ocean, or bare chest running, obviously for women, sports bras, whatever it is, but it's wearing minimal minimal clothes. And and I I kind of felt as the winter encroached, shorter days, it's pretty depressing time, whatever your mental well being, I think a lot of people have struggled for the last few months and my way of overcoming that and my wife has did the same with cold showers and in embracing the cold and I really hope that I have found it. life changing. I really have I can't kind of I can't recommend enough for everyone just try the cold shower thing. You can have a look at his site. And it gives all the details of how to build up your immunity to it not the cold weather running by the way and bare chest running as it's sometimes called called. It's hard. I did one last week and I was exhausted by the end of it took me quite a while to recover. I probably went for a bit too long and it was really cold the other week, but actually I still think the benefits are extraordinary.
Unknown Speaker 19:29
Yeah, I can vouch for that. And you know from walking my dog on the beach every morning, I'm seeing more and more people know swimming in these freezing temperatures. And they come up out exhilarated and every day It seems like there's more and more people doing it. And I've done it a lot more myself this this winter too. And I have to say I find the benefits come after. I don't enjoy it in the moment and I certainly don't enjoy the leader. cutting into the cold water. I feel the benefits when I'm home and I'm dry. And that's my get that buzz. Do you find that too?
Unknown Speaker 20:07
Well, I think I think it's, I think this is symbolic of lots of things we do in life, the actual the anticipation and doing it and never necessarily the most enjoyable part. Often it's the reflection, and that's the way you feel afterwards. So I went for my run this morning, I feel great now because I don't feel guilty that I haven't done it. Did I enjoy it at the time, not for not for the first 20 minutes. But then you know, you get into it. And it's a great kind of feeling of pride in yourself that you've actually done something you didn't necessarily want to do. And I think, you know, lockdown, what it's done is it's, it's, it's actually softened. A lot of people. When I say soft, a lot of people we've all got used to being at home for long periods of time, I've got used to being with my family the whole time, which is great. And that's not softening, by the way. But there's other things where we're, you know, where we've, our lives become quite safe bizarrely at home. And, and I think a lot of us are going to have to wean ourselves back out to doing things we didn't necessarily want to do, getting on the tube, getting on the bus, commuting to work, all those things that many people have hardly done for a whole year. So I think actually going out for a run when you don't really feel like it is quite a good way just to you know, shake up that complacency of what you've become used to. And to remind yourself that actually we're heading hopefully, back into a kind of a life of normality from this year of abnormality.
India 21:31
Yeah, absolutely. Now, it's clear that you like testing yourself in nature. And you get a lot out of out of doing this. And I love, you know, sharing stories for my guests on this podcast, of how they celebrate nature, and they test test the elements. But it's also important to remember that nature is a powerful beast, and we need to be careful. Has there been times when nature has tested you? And what have you learned from these experiences?
Ben 22:07
I think been there's been plenty of times, obviously, especially because I've taken I've taken myself to some quite what I suppose we call hostile environments and a hostile environment is largely due. how I would describe a hostile environment is one that is entirely unfamiliar to you as an individual. So for me, Antarctica, or the Arctic is a hostile environment. But obviously if you were born in Siberia or born in Alaska, it's it's not hostile at all, you know, the New York or London or hostile places. So for me, taking myself out of my comfort zone of home and immersing myself on the high mount the high Himalayan mountains, for example, have tested me because it's an unfamiliar environment. It's one that I don't feel entirely comfortable in. But that's what has been my motivator throughout my life really is is shaking up my complacency in life and having a perspective looking back on what I have and and seeing how other people live. So yes, on the Atlantic huge storms on on Mount Everest, huge avalanches in Antarctica reverses opening up, there have been plenty of kind of moments when I've been in fear for my life. But I've tried to not highlight those in my life. Because I think then nature and the natural world just becomes a theme park, and a place of great danger where man battles nature, and you're gonna die and everything's gonna kill you or hurt you. It's not really like that. So I've kind of tried to, I've tried to share a beautiful relationship between man and woman and the forests and the deserts. You know, a desert on the face of it is a seemingly very hostile environment. But actually, then when you immerse yourself with people who have lived in desert environments, whether it's the Sahara or the Namib, you actually see that the desert is full of life and opportunity and hope. So actually, as much as I have been tested many, many times. I think, I think that that was kind of the point and the purpose. And that was because I'm still predominantly an urban person.
India 24:22
Yeah,
India 24:23
I get that. You know, we, we speak go to nature to test us and to take us out of our comfort zone and what what we know. Now you've obviously immerse yourself in many different environments around the world. And by doing this, it must have changed the way you see the world. I know that you're the UN patriot for the wilderness. So you clearly have a desire to give back. But at what point did you realise you you wanted to do this and I guess use your position. Through activism.
Ben 25:01
Yeah, I think it's twofold. You know, part of it is the guilt because I've obviously flown a lot over the years to get to lots of these places. So I'm aware that my carbon footprint has been higher than many, many people. In the first instance. And, and then the second point is that by being in these environments, I see firsthand the retreating glaciers, I see firsthand the rising sea levels, I see firsthand that the drought or the the excessive rain that communities have had, I haven't been anywhere in the last 10 years where the people, the communities, the locals haven't complained that their weather is completely flipped on its head. So I think I think you'd have to be a I mean, I still find it hard to see how people could possibly deny that things are happening. But I'm also a positive campaigner. And I've seen firsthand, you know, the positive impact we can have last week, I was filming in Wales with a family who have planted a million trees, this is, you know, a young family, they found some benefactors who are willing to help buy the trees, and then they've got volunteers, helping them plant them. And when you see that just for people, you know, to bigger family, but we're a family are able to actually make a profound change like that. I find that really empowering. We watched recently with with the family, the BBC documentary on Greta tunberg. And I just found that deeply, deeply moving. Now she's an emotive figure, and not everyone likes to for whatever reason, I find that bizarre that they wouldn't, but if you're in doubt, watch the film, because I thought, you know, if ever you doubt that a small voice will be lost in the ether, hers is is an example that it won't. And, and, and I think that's where my kind of passion for the environment has has been born. It's one of the reasons I work with the United Nations now. So prolifically because I want to try and convert my experiences into change. Now, whether that's going into classrooms and talking to youngsters, whether that's talking to people like yourself on podcasts, it's I suppose about sharing some of the things I've seen and trying to empower people to believe that we can make a change rather than kind of depressing people into a sense of hopelessness.
India 27:22
Yeah, and I know that the travel industry gets a bad rap doesn't it for the for the damage it does to the environment, but it does open our mind up to what is going outside of our own little bubbles, it was travelling that really, really kind of started my environmental journey journey off. And I and I believe that small acts do amount to big changes, and we need to kind of start within. So from a personal perspective, what small changes have you and your family made in your lives that have a greater impact for the environment?
Ben 27:59
When small steps I think that's that's the key I, there's this notion, we're living in a world right now where if you say you're green, then people will try to pick you up on your shortcomings. So there's this notion that the 10% of the population who say they're their green, are expected to make a 100% change to their lifestyle, and that's just, it's just not possible. It's it's you can't live in the industrialised world, having and be 100% green is almost impossible. Now, some people get worried that there's no such thing as impossible, my whole mantra, but believe me, it's, it's, it's a very hard world to live if you tried to do that. So wouldn't it be better that 100% of us try to make a 10% change to our lives. So I think that's how we started, let's start with the 10% change. And there's all sorts of tiny, you know, we all know that the small things with the carrier bags and water bottles and coffee cups, you can start with those, and then you can start to escalate. And we've been fortunate enough that we were able to change the type of cars that we use. So we now are able to use electric cars, we were able to change the heating system in our house to heat pumps, heat exchange system, basically harvesting the warmth in the air, it turns your house into almost a reverse fridge. So So there are a number of little things, there's still plenty that we need to do. And actually, I feel very proud that my children are the ones that are picking my wife and I up and our shortcomings because we still have them, you know, I'm I'm not a perfect green in any stretch of the imagination. I leave too many lights on that there are products that I buy that I probably still shouldn't. But I think it's small steps. And I think as if we really do all work on this notion that we're all a tiny pixel. If all those pixels come together, just imagine how clear that the image is going to be. And, and that's sort of my that's my motivator, and that's how we try to live
India 29:59
starting at ten percentt is really realistic and a great place to start and then you can always build up from there and watching your show new lives in the wild it's clear that families have done that and i think i watched an episode the other day where the family said that they were at sort of 60% self sufficiency which was incredible and okay so speaking actually of your show you lives in the bb and channel five and i'd love to talk about your experiences when you go to these places and you have to disconnect from technology you might be somewhere in the middle of nowhere where there's no wi fi or the guest might ask you to put your phone away and i'd love to hear from your point of view how that changes your experience changes your mindset and having those breaks from technology
Ben 30:47
well that's an interesting one because we're chatting through the medium of the internet now and i think it is a i i love those moments when i go to spend time with people that either have no connection to the internet or or mobile masts or others who asked you to disengage so there's two examples actually the show that is on this week is a woman called mr back who's lived off grid in wales for many years i think she's one of the most extraordinary people i've ever met and she actually now runs kind of retreats in the woods of this welsh location you go there to to decompress from technology to disconnect from technology so not only is there no wi fi or mobile coverage there anyway you're not allowed to bring anything in so we were exempt that the only thing we were allowed to bring in was the camera that had wireless microphones and that she had to have a big kind of discussion with the rest of the people that live there about whether this would be allowed and they did allow it and and i find it extraordinary and she takes like billionaires you know billionaire.com individuals from silicon valley go to this little welsh word to to disconnect from from the pressures of social media the pressures of online content and i see it you know i get i disappear into the wormhole of social media when i'm at home we've had lots of time during lockdown i suspect i don't want to kind of be a doom monger but i suspect it's another little ticking time bomb that will have come out of the period of pandemic my children have ever been on screen on online and using screens more in their lives you know they're in the other room now doing online teaching which is amazing the teachers have done a fantastic job but you know should a child of 10 be stuck to a computer screen for 10 hours a day probably whatever it is eight hours a day probably not but sometimes you have to choose the least worst option so i think actually my engagement with with kind of being connected to the world i value and i realised the importance of it but it's amazing how much you appreciate it when you're forced to abandon it
India 33:00
so do you find you know if you're out say walking without your phone you have a different sort of connection to the world
Ben 33:08
yeah and i have to and i don't mind admitting if i go out for a walk with my family and i've got my phone in my pocket i'll end up looking at the phone i just it's like a default i think i would hazard a guess almost everyone would agree with that so we actually physically try to leave them behind now you know temptation it's almost like a default you just pick it up when you've got time on your hands you feel this this compulsion which is an addiction to kind of pick up your phone there's so many amazing apps and things in it you know it's without doubt this is a kind of a modern addiction that's afflicting almost anyone with a smartphone so yes i find without it of course you engage more because rather than looking down or taking a photo to post which we all do you're actually you're looking and you're living those moments you're not experiencing those moments to share with other people and it's like people's whole mentality has started changing i've spent some time recently i don't use tik tok but i'm aware of the medium i'm amazed how many pre lockdown anyway how many families i was filming with his children were just kind of perpetually doing these little dances like all day long which is you know basically engaging with tick tock now sounds like a kind of an old dinosaur kind of saying i don't know what these children are doing with these little dances i you know i engage with social media and and i can see the benefits but you have to start to question what people what people are using it for and how they're actually engaging
India 34:45
yeah and then that actually brings us back round to one of the first things you spoke about which was strava and that whole idea of you know people doing stuff just so they can share their time or or other or photo now i can definitely So say that I can end up doing that sometimes I know that when I go out for a dog walk, and if I've forgotten my phone and annoyed myself, because I think that I could have got a lovely photo of my dog or whatever, but actually, those memories, that they're still valid, even if I don't take a photo of them and share them, then they're really special between me and my dog, and it can be easy to lose sight of that. And now I'm really interested to know, where do you feel most connected? Is it by the sea forests, the countryside, the mountains, or the jungle?
Ben 35:38
It would be the coast without doubt, I'm, I was born in London, I'm my father's Canadian. So I spent lots of time on the lakes in Canada and water generally has always been my environment, it's where I feel most comfortable on it next to it. under it, I don't really mind water. For me, I find incredibly therapeutic. I always thought I'd live by the sea. We're about as far from the ocean where we are in Oxfordshire as you can possibly get. But I feel most content if if I'm by the ocean. Having said that, obviously all those other environments have their virtues except to the jungle, the jungle is quite a hard one to sell really quite a lot of time in the jungle, and I'm still struggling to form a good bond with it. But oceans water I find, I don't know. I think there's a if you imagine you know how much water is in us. I think there's got to be some connection with water. So many you know, there's so much that comes from water therapy, cold water immersion, swimming, being their water, the noise. And I'm certainly one of those.
India 36:48
Yeah, I think the pull of the ocean is very strong for a lot of people. And that parallel you made, you know, with us being made up so much water, I think it's between like 60 and 70%. has got to be something in that. Okay, then. So I ask all my guests this question, looking back at the ripples you've made in your life? What are the biggest lessons you've learned to keeping your mind and body healthy?
Ben 37:16
I think it's about slowing down. I think everything is very fast. I think we live a very fast pace of life. And if you if you get caught up in the race, then there's there's no stopping, you're dragged along. And and what happens is you start tripping up, you start being dragged and eventually let go. And I think as soon as you slow down, and you look at life as a kind of a Yomp rather than a race. If you look at life, as you know, plod rather than a sprint, you'll start getting a lot more out of it. And I think locked down to many periods of lockdown, we've had to force people to slow down. I think we've you know, we've talked about slow food, we've talked about slow travel over the years, the slow television. And the reason it appeals to so many people is because it's it's so counterintuitive to this speed, we want lots of information, we want to move fast, and I'm comfortable of getting caught up in all of that as well. But I think my advice to other people is just slow down, you know, rather than, you know, the this whole comparison culture that we have of you know, either looking at Instagram, what are they doing? What have they done, this whole grass is always greener? Well, if you actually, you know, focus on your own grass, then you weren't worried about what the grass looks like on on the other side of the fence. There's a great quote that comparison is the thief of progress. And I think I think it's true, because you could you know, I know some people are motivated by other people's success and other people's achievements and networks for some. But I think if you use that as the default, it can be quite a dangerous thing because it can actually, you know, people can feel overwhelmed by what the the sense of what achievement actually is. So I think my kind of the ripple that that I've learned over the years has been just about slowing down, slow down your expectations. Dream big, but you know, rather than dreaming, actually make a plan and actually try to make that plan happen. But be realistic with your goals, that when I say being realistic, that doesn't mean you can't be ambitious, you know, we can all be as ambitious as we want. But I think we sometimes get lost in who our role models are. And what we define as success because if you define success, being a Kardashian and earning a billion pounds, and being on the front of every paper, and then becoming president, it's not going to happen. Yeah, there's a few tiny, tiny examples of that. But if you bring it down to To You know, something more attainable and achievable, then you're more likely to actually start having successes, which creates an enthusiasm and empowers you and and the result is that you actually succeed.
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