I often hear conflicting advice from climbing trainers and coaches. On the one hand: “You won’t feel great every day, but sometimes you have to get up and train anyway. That’s how you achieve greatness.” On the other hand, “Listen to your body.” What about those days when you feel exhausted but your training plan still says you should do a workout? How do you know when to go hard and when to take it easy? Here’s a simple rule that will transform your relationship to effort.

We’re big yoga lovers over here at ClimbWell. The benefits of this 5,000 year old holistic practice is not lost on us. Every retreat we begin the day with mindfulness, breath work and yoga asana. It provides an anchor for presence, an opportunity to refine attention and supports both physical and mental performance on the rock. Read how yoga can up-level your climbing performance and learn 7 poses to begin!

“Blake, you’re thinking fast.”

Those words, patiently stated by my climbing partner, brought me back to reality.

This moment was a turning point in my understanding of mindfulness and self-awareness. For years I was convinced I could not meditate, my brain too fast and loud. But this experience of overwhelming fear (during a relatively safe climb) shook me deeply.

Think about something meaningful you’ve accomplished in your life. It could be a professional success, an athletic win, or something in your personal life. On a scale of 1–10, how much effort did that accomplishment require? Were there times when it wasn’t “fun”? Were there times when you wanted to give up? I’m guessing your answer is “yes.”

The benefits of spending time in Nature are immense. Studies explore the ways in outdoor experiences benefit wellbeing. Recognition of Nature’s healing capacity can be seen in the rise of ecotherapy practices and earth-based interventions. Nature supports physical, emotional, mental and spiritual health. Discover the benefits are check out 5 mindfulness-based nature practices.

If you’ve climbed for a while, you’ve probably had what I would call a spiritual experience on the rock: your mind goes quiet, time seems to slow down or stop, and you’re entirely present in the moment you’re currently living. Maybe you’re intensely aware of the beauty around you or so fully in your body that you experience a deep sense of joy. Does this sound familiar? I’ve been lucky enough to experience these moments on the rock several times.

Worthiness is inherent to all humans and is not determined by one’s performance, yet despite us knowing this, the mind runs wild and often does not hesitate to draw meaning from one’s successes and failures. How hard you climb does not make you any more or less than. Nor do your achievements define your value, be it on or off the rock. Let’s take a closer look at why and perhaps more importantly what we can do to change one’s relationship to worth.

The “process” of taking care of our bodies even when we push them hard.

A few weeks ago I went climbing with a new partner who surprised me. At age 21, he has been climbing for just four years, but his climbing skill and accomplishments would suggest at least a decade of experience. He’s redpointed multiple 5.14s, and earlier this season he sent nearly all of El Cap’s Freerider ground up on his first attempt. After a nice day climbing together at a local crag in New Mexico, I couldn’t help but wonder: What allowed this kid to get so good at climbing so fast?!

Do you ever feel like rock climbing is taking over your life? Or that there isn’t enough time to fit climbing in between work and your other commitments? The Climbing Wheel of Life is a simple activity to help climbers pursue rock-life balance.

A few weeks ago I climbed Freerider for the first time and I almost gave up. This is a 3,300' rock climb up the southwest face of Yosemite’s El Capitan. You may have heard of Alex Honnold climbing this route without ropes in a recent feature-length documentary called Free Solo. Like everyone in history besides Alex, I climbed Freerider with the protection of ropes. The route is still a huge undertaking.

Failure is not the lack of success. Thankfully. It is the holding back of our true potential, it is staying safe and controlled out of fear.

Recently, I tried something. Well, I have been trying for a while; several swings coming up short, and learning new strategies. After a few quiet attempts, I started talking about it more…