The Value of Wilderness-Based Rites of Passage with Brooks Barron
The Inner Frontier with Jonny Miller
The Impact of Wilderness-Based Training on Personal Growth
The guest discusses the profound impact of a wilderness-based training program on personal growth, stating that many students consider it the most impactful experience they've ever had. They also reflect on their childhood curiosity, especially in nature.
Brooks Barron is an experienced leadership coach specializing in nature-based initiations and rites of passage — to help the leaders he works with explore their vulnerability, find their inner wisdom, and surrender to the flow of what wants to come through them.
In this conversation, you can expect to learn:
- Brooks' definition of wholeness as a human being
- The difference between the desire to make an impact in the world from above the line vs. below the line.
- How he shifted out of victim consciousness and took 100% responsibility for his life.
- The dynamics of being nice versus being kind
- The importance of vulnerability and healing
- The benefits he sees in going through a vision quest or wilderness-based rite of passage
- How this enables us to transition into psychological adulthood.
Timestamps
[00:04:07] Positive impact, burning out, seeking purpose, profound change
[00:09:22] Embrace all aspects, shift from fear to love.
[00:14:04] Curious about the good versus bad dynamic.
[00:22:06] Struggling with climate change; personal healing journey.
[00:23:57] Driven by impact, trust, acceptance, and growth.
[00:30:34] Vision quest: therapy vs. transformation, death and rebirth, shift into trust.
[00:37:51] Unfamiliarity pushes people to embrace change and growth.
[00:42:42] Sacred wound: discomfort that creates beauty.
[00:51:45] Struggling to balance passion, responsibility, and self-care.
[00:54:01] Ego keeps me from acknowledging my needs.
[01:01:09] Importance of fitting in while embracing uniqueness.
[01:04:44] "Awakening experiences lead to divine connection, but require rigor."
Official Links
💬 Follow Brooks on LinkedIn
📝 Read Brooks' latest Substack writing
✨ Apply for the Power Awakening Leadership Program
🙋♂️ Learn more about Brooks's upcoming leadership training + coaching
Connect + Explore More from Jonny
🐦 Follow on Twitter/X @jonnym1ller
🫁 Learn more about Nervous System Mastery
🪷 Order our deck of Calm Cards (these make great gifts)
📱 Check out Stateshift — our brand new iOS + Android app
📝 Take the Nervous System Quotient (NSQ) Self-Assessment (totally free)
💌 Sign up to The Inner Frontier Newsletter
Episode Sponsors
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This is my flagship 5-week bootcamp designed to equip you with evidence-backed protocols to cultivate calm and emotional regulation. Our 8th cohort will run in Fall 2025 ~ and applications are currently open. My sense is that if this conversation resonates with you, then you'd likely be a great fit for our upcoming cohort. This curriculum represents my attempt to distill everything I've learned in recent years about creating the conditions for our nervous system's flourishing. It's run in an intensive cohort-based way since this is, in my experience, the most efficient way to embody and practice the protocols.
Previous students have shared how partaking improved their sleep and quality of relationships and tapped into deeper states of joy, clarity, and confidence in their lives. We've had over 1000 students have completed this training, and many have said that it has been the most impactful thing they've ever done for their personal growth — so if you're intrigued at all, you can find more details and apply to join this year's cohort over at nsmastery.com
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📹 Want to create a Hollywood-quality home studio? Get in touch with Kevin Shen here & save $500 with code JONNYSENT500OFF
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