After 26 hours of continuous hiking, multi-pitch climbing the East Buttress of Mt. Whitney, and summiting the highest mountain in the lower 48 states, Ryan and I were completely exhausted both mentally and physically. We had just completed a daunting, ambitious, and demanding goal that we both initially thought we might not be able to do.

Dreaming of our sleeping bags, we had successfully and safely made it back down to the Whitney Portal where our heads could not wait a second longer to hit their pillows. While debriefing the climb, we couldn’t get over the state of exhaustion we both reached while descending.

Physically, we were entirely drained, but because of our constant mental push, we proceeded to make it back to camp. Mentally, we kept tricking our bodies to keep moving and they continued to move. The mind has powers way beyond what many of us could fathom. We are all capable of exploring those mental capacities to expand our physical limitations.

Tummo, a form of Yoga, is a practice used by monks to regulate their own body temperatures. These monks can sit in the Himalayas and meditate in cold climates without any proper protection. With a calm, focused state of mind, they are able to keep blood flowing throughout their extremities for warmth. Why aren’t we all able to have this ability? I say that we all can, if we focus.

Monks live their lives challenging and training their mental capabilities. Dedicating time and practice towards a skill you want to improve will allow you to reach new levels of higher ability within that skill, whether it’s running a marathon, playing the guitar, or meditating. We all have the ability to reach new mental capacities.

State of exhaustion varies from person to person. Every day at High Trails students leave their field instructors and join their waiting cabin instructors at 5pm, and many of them immediately tell the tale of the “long, tiring hike” they went on that day. Some students really are completely tired from the long hike, but mentally they have convinced themselves that 7 hours outside hiking (most of which was actually spent sitting in their group and learning) was so hard that they couldn’t imagine taking another step. However, there are the groups that make it through our longest hikes, such as up to Horse Meadows, without complaining. Here at High Trails, experienced and positive instructors can motivate and help their students get into the right mindset for a long, yet enjoyable hike.

The amount of exhaustion we each can handle is based on how outside influences affect our mental state and, ultimately, how we can personally change and push our minds further to achieve more physically. A lot of our mental blocks come down to fear and intrinsic motivation. Our minds shut down because of a fear of failure. This can happen by thinking you are not ready or don’t have the ability to overcome a task. In fear, we are preoccupied with avoiding what we don’t want, rather than finding the way to create what we do want.

The human mind is dynamic and ready to be challenged. Defy and stretch your abilities physically by focusing on how your mind is addressing a tough situation. This thought pattern can be used and practiced in more ways than getting yourself off a mountain safely. We are all constantly growing and developing ourselves into better human beings. Challenge yourself mentally to change your perspective on any goal.

If we maximize the amount of time we are in a positive state, we clear out our mental roadblocks to being happy. Outside of work many of us have concrete goals that we hope to achieve. We all strive to learn more about our jobs, become better educators, make better choices about what we eat, be more active, or even to just find pure happiness. The body can achieve what the mind believes.

The next time you are running and feel like you need to stop, focus on your mental state and keep moving. The next time you are stressed out because your students aren’t paying attention in your class, calm your mind and positively redirect your energy towards making a change in your classroom management style. The next time you are pushing yourself in any way physically, focus on your mind and your consciousness can become your reality. Problems are merely opportunities for solutions and struggle is merely opportunity for success. Redirect your thoughts, believe you can and you will achieve more in life than you could ever imagine.

At High Trails Outdoor Science School, we literally force our instructors to write about elementary outdoor education, teaching outside, learning outside, our dirty classroom (the forest…gosh), environmental science, outdoor science, and all other tree hugging student and kid loving things that keep us engaged, passionate, driven, loving our job, digging our life, and spreading the word to anyone whose attention we can hold for long enough to actually make it through reading this entire sentence. Whew…. www.dirtyclassroom.com