EP 28: Blake Cason on Radical Honesty, the Mindfulness Muscle, and Cycling Priorities

Blake Cason is a mindfulness and work/life balance coach, and the founder of Pivot Wellness. We talked about bringing awareness to our relationship with climbing, practicing radical honesty, ways of strengthening the mindfulness muscle, cycling priorities, and ways that both Blake and I have struggled to find balance between work and climbing. Support on Patreon:patreon.com/thenuggetclimbing  Show Notes:  http://thenuggetclimbing.com/episodes/blake-cason  Nuggets:  2:01 – The first time Blake jugged a line, choss in the Canadian Rockies, and supporting Mike on ‘The Shining Uncut’8:19 – Intentionally showing up to support another person in climbing9:58 – The relationship sandbox, and play and responsibility13:53 – Common issues/areas that Blake works on with her clients and climbers16:34 – Beauty in doing things that don’t have a point, and being out of alignment with what motivates us vs. what we’re actually doing20:24 – “Shoulds”, guideposts, and self-imposed suffering23:33 – Radical honesty, “is that working”, and slowing down28:12 – Finding mindfulness through climbing, and her climbing relationship as a barometer32:11 – Tuning into your body and your breath to return to the present moment34:14 – Focusing on the breath, and code-switching35:52 – Training the mindfulness muscle 39:43 – The practical use of mindfulness, and how to bring mindfulness to reflecting on the past or envisioning the future42:50 – Mindfulness applied to climbing performance, “paying attention”, and finding language that resonates44:57 – Savoring, loosening the grip, tapping into a growth mindset, and getting the whole brain firing 53:04 –  Self-limiting beliefs, “Is being attached to that belief working?”, and the research behind the importance of self-compassion58:28 – The brain-body connection, “abort mission”, and punting1:01:18 – ‘Joe Six Pack’, recognizing a need, and choosing to walk away (for now)1:05:31 – How Blake would work with a client who struggles with fear1:12:59 – My (Steven’s) struggle with balancing the podcast with my own climbing and expectations1:16:49 – Cycling priorities, and how Blake cycles her focus between her own climbing and her business, and values vs. priorities1:23:56 – Using inspiration as a guide for priorities1:25:57 – Zooming out1:32:13 – Gratitude1:32:55 – The area of mindfulness that Blake is working on currently1:37:31 – Where to connect with Blake and how you can work with her1:40:28 – Take a breath1:42:49 – My free life coaching session, and send us questions!