It taught me to listen to people’s stories and that there is a story there. And that sometimes a person’s individual story isn’t also the truth. It taught me that their truth isn’t always the truth. And sometimes you have to pull those apart and work out what’s really going on.
Dr Kate Baecher is a psychologist, mountaineer and ‘free spirit at heart’ - and you’ll meet her on Sparta Chicks Radio this week.
A rock climber and mountaineer (who also served in the Army for 10 years), Kate has a unique perspective on how to manage fear, the thoughts we believe and the stories we tell ourselves.
We start this conversation by diving into Kate’s background and whether her love of adventure or psychology came first.
Plus she shares how she came to serve in the Army for 10 years despite being someone who (by her own admission) is ‘…not particularly good at hearing the word ‘no’. And I’m not very good at taking direction from people .’
Then we discuss:
- why spending time in nature is such a powerful source of confidence for women (hint: it’s about the facades we carry in our everyday life),
- why fear is actually a good thing, and being fearless is bad,
- the physiological response that occurs in your body when you feel fear - whether that fear is real/immediate or perceived,
- why you can’t think straight when you feel anxious, and tactics you can use to calm your anxiety and get your brain functioning again (I’ll vouch for the 4 second breathing exercise she mentions; I’ve been using it a lot in the last week or two),
- why mantras and affirmations work and why you should ‘let the body climb’ (or swim or run or ride or whatever it is you love to do), and
- how you get to choose which thoughts you believe (and it is a choice).
I loved this conversation and know you will too.
My challenge to you is to select one of the strategies Kate shares in this episode and practice using it over the next week.
Then come over to the Sparta Chicks Facebook page and share your experience.
Click here to listen on iTunes.
Notes and resources:
To find out more about Kate or to say hello, you can find her on Instagram or at her website.