EXPLORER 16 - ERLING KAGGE


 

THE POWER OF STILLNESS

SHOW NOTES

Our guest today is Erling Kagge, the first man who walked to both poles and climbed Mt Everest. He is an explorer, publisher, author, art collector and entrepreneur. In this episode, we talk about why walking can be like meditation, how to find stillness in the age of noise, and the importance of listening to Mother Earth. If you are overwhelmed by the constant noise and distractions around you and looking for ways to find stillness, then this episode is for you.

The Beginning

“Walking is not something you start doing, it's something you slowly stopped doing.”

Erling started his career as a lawyer. He began to take long walks to explore the world because he always had a sense of wonder and curiosity in himself.

He walked alone to the South Pole for 50 days without a radio connection. During this trip, he experienced a sense of oneness with nature. He felt expanded once he let go of his thoughts and moved beyond his inner noise and perceived a deep connection to nature and peaceful silence.

According to Erling, we are all born as explorers as we are a walking species. Wondering is something we all have in common, but because of our man-made environments and devices, we slowly stopped exploring.

How To Find Your Inner Silence

“I think the most important silence is the silence within.”

Erling talks about how he can return to his inner silence by walking or being outside in nature. He explains how being outdoors in silence can teach us to respect nature and other people more, and ultimately shows us what is really important in life.

Walking slowly is a good practice for our creativity and memory. Taking this time to really connect with your inner silence, helps with forming new ideas or finding solutions. 

According to Erling, the connection between movement and our emotional life is shown in our language as well. Like move - being moved, or motion- emotion.

Erling’s advice on how to get back into silence is to not have devices in our hands that can distract us. Sometimes even 5 minutes of walking can be enough for the inner silence to appear. 

Many of us are addicted to being connected through our phones, however, the real connection is being in our inner silence when we can focus on the important things and truly connect to each other.

Even though most of the time silence is more difficult and uncomfortable than noise, it is always more fulfilling.

Leaving The Comfort Zone

“One of the greatest experiences you can have as a human being are those kinds of flashes when 10 seconds feel like an eternity.”

Erling is a firm believer in making life harder than it is. According to him, always choosing the easiest solution will not push us outside our comfort zone, so we cannot grow. If we live our lives on autopilot mode and do the same, comfortable things over and over again, we will feel that life is short. 

However, if we dare to wonder and look outside our comfort zones, we can experience moments that can feel like a lifetime in a second.

Erling says that many people underestimate themselves. We all have a lot of potential, and we can all experience so much in our lives if we don’t distract ourselves with our devices.

Palma’s Reflection On Inner Stillness

This week, we invite you to explore stillness.

Start by noticing the stillness, however brief it might be, in the pause between the in-breath and the out-breath, or in the pause between two thoughts.

You can also notice moments of inner stillness when you look at something beautiful, like a piece of art, a plant, a flower, when you look into the eyes of a baby or your pet. And if you can, go outside for a walk and notice the sensations of walking in your feet.

Lastly, we invite you to just look into space, like the space above your head or in front of you, and try to sense into it.

This switches on the lateral networks in your brain that usually support the sense of stillness or spaciousness. And just see what happens in your own experience.

About Our Guest, Erling Kagge

Erling Kagge is a Norwegian explorer, publisher, author, lawyer, art collector, entrepreneur, and politician.

For two years, Kagge worked as a lawyer for industrial giant Norsk Hydro. Kagge has also sailed across the Atlantic twice and around Cape Horn.

In 1990, Erling Kagge and Børge Ousland became the first people ever to reach the North Pole unsupported.

After his record-breaking feat of reaching the "three poles", Kagge attended Cambridge University to study philosophy for three terms. In 1996, he founded the eponymous Oslo-based publishing house, Kagge Forlag. In 2000 Kagge Forlag acquired one of Norway’s oldest publishing companies, J.M. Stenersens Forlag. Kagge and Stenersens publish approximately 100 new titles annually. It is Norway's biggest publisher of nonfiction.

Kagge has written seven books on exploration, philosophy and art collecting, which have been translated into 39 languages. He has written for the Financial Times and New York Times

A special thanks to Erling Kagge for taking the time to share his inspiring journey and insights with us.

Photo Credit: Lars Petter Pettersen

Resources Mentioned In The Show:

  • Erling Kagge - Walking: One Step At a Time

  • Erling Kagge - Silence: In the Age of Noise

  • www.palmamichel.com

  • palma@palmamichel.com

Continue Your Journey

Now it is time to find your own unique path. We can help you to connect with your innate wisdom and create an inspiring vision for a deeply fulfilling and meaningful life. Apply for a discovery session on our website,palmamichel.com.

Learn to meditate with Palma on the MUSE brain-sensing device and receive a 15% discount (will be shown at checkout only) with this link!

Thank You

Thank you for joining us on this journey of the Explorer’s Mind Podcast.

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Until next time, We truly appreciate you listening and look forward to continuing this journey together. 

 

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