Wellness + Wisdom | Episode 606

How can you use your fear to prepare for unpredictable situations?

Akshay Nanavati, Adventurer and USMC Vet, joins Josh Trent on the Wellness + Wisdom Podcast, episode 606, to share how he uses fear to prepare for extreme conditions in nature, what lessons he learned about life during Polar expeditions, why it's important to love your fear, and why you need to confront your darkness.

"If you really want to know the heights of awe, the heights of bliss, go play in the depths of the abyss. Go play in the pain cave, go there, because it'll amplify the intensity of the human experience. It's how you feel more awe." - Akshay Nanavati

Live Life Well from Sunrise to Sunset

Save 20% with code "WELLNESSFORCE" on everyone's favorite Superfoods brand, ORGANIFI, including their Sunrise to Sunset Bundle and their Women's Power Stack that includes HARMONY + GLOW for true hormonal balance and great health radiating through your beautiful skin. Click HERE to order your Organifi today.

Are You Stressed Out Lately?

Take a deep breath with the M21™ wellness guide: a simple yet powerful 21 minute morning system that melts stress and gives you more energy through 6 science-backed practices and breathwork. Click HERE to download for free.

Biohack Your Mind & Body with Plunge Ice Baths!Save $150 on your PLUNGE order with code "WELLNESSFORCE" As seen on Shark Tank, Plunge's revolutionary Cold Plunge uses powerful cooling, filtration, and sanitation to give you cold, clean water whenever you want it, making it far superior to an ice bath or chest freezer.

*Review The Wellness + Wisdom Podcast & WIN $150 in wellness prizes!

*Join The Facebook Group

Donate to The Great Soul Crossing THE FIRST-EVER SOLO COAST-TO-COAST SKI CROSSING OF ANTARCTICA

Donate Today

In November 2024, Akshay will set foot in Antarctica to begin a 1,700-mile journey where he will drag a 400-pound sled filled with all his supplies needed to survive in one of the most unforgiving environments on the planet.

For 110 days, he will endure temperatures below -40 degrees, and hurricane-force winds as he makes his way across the coldest, driest, and windiest continent on Earth.

With your donation to support this monumental journey, you can have your name recorded permanently in history, and get access to his incredible mindset techniques, community, and more...

(There is no monetary profit for Akshay in this fundraising.)

In This Episode, Akshay Nanavati Uncovers: [01:30] The Gift of Suffering

Akshay Nanavati
How he learned that suffering is a gift when he joined the Marines.
What you can learn from nature.
Why Polar travel is the most difficult outdoor activity.
The selfless and selfish reasons that motivated him to cross Antarctica.
What enlightenment is according to Akshay.

[11:05] Fear Propels You to Prepare

FEARVANA: The Revolutionary Science of How to Turn Fear into Health, Wealth and Happiness by Akshay Nanavati
How you can use your fear to prepare.
Why labeling fear as rational or irrational is assigning judgment.
What scares Akshay more than Polar expeditions.
The power of negative visualization.

[13:30] Emotions + Duality

To feel fear is to be human.
Why emotions are neither good nor bad, they're just emotions.
How feeling guilt was an expression of love when Akshay's friend died in a war.
What the real cause of suffering is.
How you can use your emotions as fuel.

[21:15] Fear of Vulnerability

How Akshay met his girlfriend and took her on a hike for their first date.
Dave Asprey
Why he was more scared of an intimate connection with a woman than of death.
Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor Frankl
Akshay's struggles with drugs.
The only way out is through.
How sharing your feelings can open up a space for authenticity and vulnerability.

[30:25] The Power of Pain

BREATHE: Breath & Wellness Program - 33% off with code "PODCAST33"
410 Mark Divine | Positive Neurodiversity: Kokoro Spirit, The 5 Mountains For Inner Peace, & How To Fulfill Your Potential
Courage and curiosity are essential to growth.
How experiencing pain amplifies the experience of pleasure.
The positive effects of darkness retreat.
Why Akshay feels grateful for all his pain and suffering.

[35:20] The Darkness + The Light

The health problems Akshay has been struggling most of his life.
Black Hawk Down
How a movie inspired him to join the Marines.
Braveheart
Gratitude is a superpower.
How he used the depths of his darkness and the gift of his light as weapons to drive him forward.

[44:05] Learn to Love Your Fear

How fear keeps us alive.
Why it's normal to feel fear when you do something new.
Why courage is the most important of all virtues.
411 Gay Hendricks | The Genius Zone: The Breakthrough Process to End Negative Thinking and Live in True Creativity
Finding Joe
How labeling your emotions can help you create space between you and the emotion.
Why acceptance is key to transformation.
How identifying the constructs that shape your reality can help you free yourself from the constructs that don't serve you.

[53:20] Letting Darkness Open Your Eyes

What encouraged Akshay to get into athletics.
How children are programmed to not feel their feelings.
The problem with immediate gratification.
565 Pavel Stuchlik | Connecting Back With Spirit: Dark Retreats, Iboga + EMF Detox (Your Guide To Self-Transformation)
Why divorce made him break his sobriety and brought him to dark retreats.
What darkness showed and taught Akshay.
The Green Mile

[01:06:30] Pain Is A Part of The Process

Why Josh prefers to say "responsibility" instead of "debt."
How most people live a life full of quiet desperation.
Happiness is not the elimination of sadness.
Why falling and pain are a natural part of life.
How Josh reparents himself through being a parent.

[01:13:00] PTSD Growth

Akshay Nanavati on The Dr. Drew Podcast
How Akshay struggled with PTSD and what helped him heal.
The principles of post-traumatic growth.
Akshay Nanavati: Find strength in fear

[01:17:50] Shadow Work: Confront The Darkness

Why fitness or yoga are often more about the ego than health.
What Akshay did to face his demons.
Entrepreneurs avoid looking within by keeping themselves extremely busy.
589 Alex Charfen | The Freedom Life: How To Program Yourself For Success In Mind, Body, Spirit + Soul
The importance of confronting the dark side of power.
201 Finding Mastery: Micheal Gervais

[01:24:15] Trust Your Inner Voice

How Josh moved to Hawaii and started healing his feminine.
Why Akshay writes down everything mystical that has happened in his life.
Learning to trust your inner voice.
How physical training helps Akshay access stillness.
Unpacking how he's preparing for the Polar trip.

[01:32:45] The Hero's Journey

Support Akshay's journey
Why he was drive by escapism.
The Hero's Journey: Joseph Campbell on His Life and Work by Joseph Campbell
Why he started studying method acting to understand how to character.
555 Mike Dillard | Richer Every Day: How To WIN The War on Your Money + Mind

Leave Wellness + Wisdom a Review on Apple Podcasts

Power Quotes From The Show It's OK to Feel Scared

"When you do something you've never done before, you will feel scared. That's why I don't like the idea of always being confident to take action. How can you be confident if you've never done the thing before? Confidence is the result of action, not the fuel of action." - Akshay Nanavati

No Emotion Is Either Good or Bad

"There's no bad emotions, there's no good emotions, there's only emotions. It's the label of bad, the assignment of the judgment of the emotion that causes more problems than the emotion itself. The second you accept the "isness" of the emotion and become aware of it without deeming it bad, then you can use any emotion as fuel to drive you into something better." - Akshay Nanavati

The Power of Nature

"Nature makes you realize how small you are, but at the same time, you feel all powerful out there because simply by stepping in that playground to control your reality, to be there, to survive, to thrive out there, you feel more powerful than you've ever felt. It's an experience of both control and surrender, and ego and humility" - Akshay Nanavati

Links From Today's Show

Josh's Trusted Products | Up To 40% Off

Shop All Products

Biohacking

Supplements

Fitness + Physical Health

Healthy Home

Nutrition + Gut Health

Mental Health + Stress Release

Free Resources

About Akshay Nanavati

Akshay Nanavati has overcome drug addiction, PTSD from fighting in Iraq with the Marines (where one of his jobs was to walk in front of vehicles to find bombs), depression, and alcoholism that pushed him to the brink of suicide.

Since then, by embracing his demons, he has built a global business, run many ultramarathons including a 24-hour run and 167-mile run across Liberia to help build a school, spent 10 days in darkness and isolation, skied 350 miles across the world's 2nd largest icecap for a month and become 1 of only 26 people to ski up a remote glacier in Antarctica.

Despite 4 biological defects including a blood disorder that 2 doctors told him would kill him in boot camp, he is now a sponsored athlete and is currently training for a 110-day, 1700-mile, solo, never-before-accomplished crossing of Antarctica.

Combining his life experience with years of research in science and spirituality, he wrote the book "Fearvana," about which the Dalai Lama said, "Fearvana inspires us to look beyond our own agonizing experiences and find the positive side of our lives." All the profits from the book are going toward charity.

Akshay is now on a mission to help our human family fall in love with suffering in order to create a life of greater meaning, purpose, joy, and fulfillment.

Listen To The Latest Episodes...

Don't Miss New Episodes: Follow Wellness + Wisdom on Spotify

Where's my next Warren Wiersbe sermon?!