In this episode, I share a nervous system breakthrough that emerged from time on glacial ice — a shift from managing risk with urgency to trusting what felt safe enough. Recorded on a winter walk in Anchorage, this conversation explores how learning to read nuance in safety can transform not only our experiences in wild places, but also how we move through everyday life.
I reflect on skating around icebergs, noticing real versus perceived threat, and the relief of being able to stay present inside an experience that once felt overwhelmingly stressful. Through stories and somatic insight, I explore how our nervous systems learn to orient toward danger — and how, with practice, they can also learn to recognize cues of safety, stability, and support.
This episode is an invitation to rethink what safety means, to move beyond the illusion of certainty, and to cultivate a deeper trust in both the environment and the body’s capacity to respond. Rather than waiting for perfect safety, we practice sensing what is safe enough — and allowing that to be a place of genuine settling and joy.
00:00 — Welcome & winter walking reflections
03:00 — Introducing the idea of “trusting safe enough”
06:30 — Icebergs, risk & the familiar hum of anxiety
10:00 — When conditions feel stable enough to stay
13:30 — Differentiating real threat from perceived threat
17:00 — Why “safe enough” matters more than perfect safety
20:30 — From practice to embodiment in nervous system work
24:00 — The “gas in the system” metaphor for activation
28:00 — Overreaction, self-judgment & nervous system habits
31:30 — Training the body to notice safety cues
34:30 — Discharging stored stress & releasing excess charge
38:00 — Inside-out vs. outside-in approaches to release
42:00 — Trusting the body’s ability to read reality
45:30 — Safety, systems, and the limits of certainty
49:00 — The two parts of trust: environment & self
52:30 — Celebrating nervous system wins & closing reflections
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Photos and links from this episode: www.mindandmountain.co/podcast
