What Playing Outside Teaches Us — Resilience, Mindfulness, and the Gift of Nature (Episode 73)

Send us Fan MailEverything you learn outside follows you home. The resilience to own a mistake in front of your team. The ability to sit with discomfort without shutting down. The capacity to notice something beautiful you've walked past a hundred times.Jesse Tubb, founder of GRIT Adventures and former active duty Army officer, joins The Parks Podcast to talk about what nature actually teaches us — and how the lessons from playing outside translate directly into the rest of life. He works with youth, veterans, grieving military families, sports teams, and corporations — using adventure racing and mindfulness-based resilience skills to help people build confidence, regulate emotions, and reconnect with themselves through the outdoors.In this episode: — What GRIT Adventures is and how it started during the pandemic — Why our devices are the biggest barrier keeping people from going outside — The somatic experience of getting lost in the woods — and why it's actually valuable — The eating meditation Jesse does with kids in detention centers that reframes what it means to be connected to the earth — Why we over-parent in the real world and under-parent in the digital world — and what it costs kids — The healing power of communal outdoor experiences for veterans and military families — The 5% problem — why outdoor marketing targets extreme athletes when 95% of users just want to take a walk — Micro adventures — how to start with 10% outside your comfort zone — Creeking — and why it might be the perfect entry point for anyoneResources mentioned: — GRIT Adventures: gritadventures.com — TAPS: taps.org — Wounded Warrior Project Odyssey: woundedwarriorproject.org — The Anxious Generation by Jonathan Haidt: anxiousgeneration.com — Jesse's eating meditation: https://youtu.be/-uVj0Zqhb_k?si=iKu5g76F8ogldpDbSupport the show