Deep Roots

In this episode I answer listeners questions sent in over the first 5 weeks. Tune in to hear questions answered on goal setting, purifying water on the Atlantic, what I did with Darien (my boat) after finishing, daily routine & mindset practices on board, my thoughts on building mental toughness and getting out of a rut, sponsorship & personal investment in the project and some questions from former British & Irish Lion Stephen Ferris asking about my experience with giving up and self-doubt See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In this episode I answer your questions sent in over the past few weeks, such as, what to do during a major storm in the middle of the Atlantic. And why would a man who has stated to 'not being a strong swimmer', decide to row a boat across the ocean?All that and more on the latest bonus episode.Produced Niall Killeney-Taylor See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

In the last listener's questions episode, Damian answers questions on readjusting to life off the ocean and how quickly he put on weight again, when reality kicked in that he wasn't going to win and the importance of having a better understanding of the challenge before setting such goals versus having big aspirational goals; did he ever just shit himself in the dead of night; the issues around questioning everything over preparation and has he ever ended up injuring himself by pushing through the excuses his mind can make up.  Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Welcome to the Adventure, Welcome to Deep RootsThe mission with Deep Roots is to share my journey to self realisation through the vehicle of extreme adventures and expeditions. The deepening of oneself through toil and hardship, dreams and purpose, and the pursuit of my physical, mental and emotional edges throughout the four corners of our incredible planet, surrounded and challenged by nature's wonders.    - Damian BrowneTo be apart of the journey and get in touch with the podcast, contact on:Instagram > https://www.instagram.com/auld_stock/?hl=enWebsite > https://www.damianbrowne.com/Produced by baLORE MediaExecutive Producer: Niall Killeney Taylor See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Day 1, the day everything that could go wrong, went wrong. After 588 days of preparation, plus 2 extra days because the start of the race, the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, got put back due to weather conditions, I pushed my 7 metre (23 ft) ocean rowing boat away from the marina in La Gomera (Canary Islands) and rowed into the unknown. I felt prepared for many things, but I was not ready for what happened after only 6 hours into a 5000km trans-Atlantic crossingTo be apart of the journey and get in touch with the podcast, contact on:Instagram > https://www.instagram.com/deep_roots_podcast/>https://www.instagram.com/auld_stock/?hl=enWebsite > https://www.damianbrowne.com/Produced by baLORE MediaExecutive Producer: Niall Killeney Taylor See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Days 2, 3 & 4 - What is in this week's episode?Mental redirects, clarity on what had gone wrong on Day 1, learning to live, the solo mistake, losing the fight to sleep, the mentality, "I want it to be as hard as it can possibly be" and why, not ungrateful but, the trade winds secret, a BGAN, and building an association between hard and it's rich rewards.Video Clips:Day 1 -  https://youtu.be/fVcSRMrpST4 Day 2 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4HSrb-OQrU&list=PLzeIfDFiyHOeHgXTvX3kv2kyqGupppjYj&index=2 Day 3 -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QyFIQcAmNQ8&list=PLzeIfDFiyHOeHgXTvX3kv2kyqGupppjYj&index=3 Day 4 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nZw5iZ96O_c&list=PLzeIfDFiyHOeHgXTvX3kv2kyqGupppjYj&index=4 To be apart of the journey and get in touch with the podcast, contact on:Instagram > https://www.instagram.com/deep_roots_podcast/>https://www.instagram.com/auld_stock/?hl=enWebsite > https://www.damianbrowne.com/ Produced by baLORE MediaExecutive Producer: Niall Killeney Taylor See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Days 5 - Dreaming awake, the pressures of time, foulies on and the cabin dry, arse dry battle, Denali journal, the interesting consequence of low-level discomfort, dropped standards.Day 6 - Wired to find solutions, the introduction of routine and structure = mental resolution, space and freedom popping the emotional cork, good mileage, rowing my little heart out, a pushing to my edges. Day 7- One week doing just one thing, unfathomable, living.Video Clips: Day 5 -   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgI7ikAbjc8&t=7sDay 6 -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1UDcPLW1crc&t=6sDay 7 -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGwz56e3XbUTo be apart of the journey and get in touch with the podcast, contact on:Instagram > https://www.instagram.com/deep_roots_podcast/>https://www.instagram.com/auld_stock/?hl=enWebsite > https://www.damianbrowne.com/Produced by baLORE MediaProducer: Niall Killeney Taylor  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Days 9 - The biggest conditions the TWAC has seen in 10 years, the battle with no moonlight, an overnight storm, waking up to find you are minus one oar, self-loathing, deep reflection and analysis with brutal honesty, lazy and sloppy standards, the uplifting process of holding myself accountable & to a higher standard, a tough lesson, the incredible stories of Team O2 and Team Tenzing, the beautiful clarity a simple life of survival and existing brings and a simple 3 step process to change anything in your life.Day 9 -    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pC8bqHMyZ2s&t=10sHere are a few links to things I mention during the episodeAlan Colville blog on his GWR for most vertical metres cycled in 48 hours - https://www.teamjmc.uk/2020/10/reaching-new-heights/Team Tenzing's TEDx 'Fire & Water' -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=szym3hKe0QQThe story of Team O2 -  https://www.beyondtheragingsea.com/To be apart of the journey and get in touch with the podcast, contact on:Instagram > https://www.instagram.com/deep_roots_podcast/>https://www.instagram.com/auld_stock/?hl=enWebsite > https://www.damianbrowne.com/Produced by baLORE MediaProducer: Niall Killeney Taylor  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Day 10: Lack of choice and its rewards, patterning habits & building associations, choosing the hard road and shitting into a bucket.Day 11: A close encounter with a tanker, a visit from a beautiful lady, the endearing story of Oliver Crane and the eve of the day I dreaded most.Day 12: A spectacular sunrise to welcome me to Christmas day, expectations vs. reality, "out of this world" rowing conditions, how the memory of goose sandwiches thwarted my attempts at a family xmas video, a hopping Sat-Phone and flow state.Day 13: Silence, huge swells, sitting on top of a 6-metre wave for a nano-second, sliding up walls of water, getting to grips with steering, targeting more miles and flying fish.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Day 14: Imagine being woken up as you are catapulted, face first, into the side of a solid wood cabin during a capsize as a ferocious wave turns your boat over 360 degrees in a raging storm. Welcome to Day 14 on the Atlantic, also known as the craziest day of my life. This was a day spent at the edges of life as I battled my wits, fears and mother nature. 2 full capsizes, one where I hung onto the boat with one hand as I rode the capsize 180 degrees under water, calmly repeating to myself a practiced mantra for the very scenario, "squeeze your grip". 3 more capsizes were narrowly avoided as I stared a face full of Atlantic Ocean in the eye and Darien teetered on the brink but held firm, much like my grip on a vital piece of equipment. Then there was the whale. The curious, playful adolescent who revived me from a minor state of shock with its visit and subsequently stirred emotions I didn't know existed as it circled my boat and made eye contact with me on one of its final passes. Simply, a day I will never forget. Day 14 - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rhhlH-_crRM&t=55sDay 14 (night) - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4h0EuJK_hg&t=4s Produced by Niall Killeney TaylorSee acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Day 15: Loss of memories and connection, issues and frustration with my steering and lack of control over the boat, getting weight into the stern of the boat, 3 Mars bars for breakfast, a gift from A-Team Adventures, a new waypoint 1350 nautical miles, a hopping mind and the focus shift from performance to survival. Day 16: A large period of my morning taken away from rowing and progress trying to sort out my steering problem, outcome orientation and the pressures of time, the mental hack - "extended limit" and manipulating our control over perception, and the power of a perspective change and visualisation over self-absorption, letters from home and a lovely addition by my mother. Day 17: Opening up the cabin hatch to another unwelcome surprise, complete steering system failure & consequentially my favourite memory of the whole crossing, getting a very clear window into my own character, calling Justin my boat builder, an unfortunate sequences of events equally steering failure, only 2 or 3 boats in the whole fleet rowing with the traditional set up and the rawest way to row an ocean, pride in taking the bravest road and not looking for easy, respect for the pioneers, the visit of the first support boat, Manny and Kyle on Skye, confirmation of my 'fucked' steering system by Manny when he swam to Darien, the contradiction of ocean rowing, rowing into the sunset; committed to a new race. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Day 18: Surprise and disappointment in myself and my output; night rowing and the allure of the cabin lights; my race is over after 700 miles; conditions change and the daunting reality of the mammoth task ahead without a functioning steering system; getting spat out of wind tunnels and the exhausting process to try to get back in; the colossal upper body strength needed to realign the boat and the demoralising reality that this fight was never one I could win but would be faced with daily; my connection puzzle/strategy, letters from home and an emotional punch in the gut; a ship and a dredger so far from land?; A competitive animal by nature or nurture. Day 19: A new year; no dramas for 24hrs; grinding, grinding, grinding; strength, concentration and monitoring waves to steer; never giving up the hard fight; the first inkling of sores; moving around the seat to steer; a weak nod to backside maintenance but was it already too late?; a lucky revive, Queena and the silent AIS.  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Day 24: An ocean rowing warning playing out, 'Everything breaks', My first video diary after 5 days of technical difficulties, Spares for spares, My one luxury on hold, 1000NM done, The story of a non-swimmers first plunge into the ocean and the reason behind why I had to do it, The electric blue of my first wash in 23 days, wearing something normally found on glaciers to keep me safe and alive & Having no Deathwish. Day 25: Waking low, No energy, enthusiasm, Solution focused, Tracing back through my thoughts to find the valuable information, The learned and lived consequences of not embodying my highest values, Super high levels of self-awareness is the desired goal. Videos:Day 24 -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RH7fp8zB16YDay 25 -  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c3R4KlLaybM  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One corner of the vast answer to the title question. Striping back the layers of protection and exposure to thyself; 3 choices available to me with the exposed information; The empowerment of choosing the brave option & having a bit of fun in the process.Day 26: Ill-disciplined start; The daily battles especially night time rowing; The stark difference between two spaces separated by one metre and millimetres of plywood, 1st fresh water wash in 26 days; "Disgusted with myself" and solutions to stop it happening again; The fight between outcome focus and its powerful allies the monotony of the task, the discomfort in entails and the duration involved versus striving to be present and control the moment. The difficulty & frustrations of steering with the oars at night with no moon; The consequences of not having more specific purpose than rowing the Atlantic once I was clearly out of the race; One component of my mental preparation - Affirmations and the 3-step process to an effective practice and how I used it; The scary and empowering fact that there's always more within us.Day 27: Groundhog Day; Solace from my relentless drive for more from myself; 'Demand the impossible for maximum results'; Joe Rogan retweets; The worry of a fast-disappearing supply of chamois cream; The continued deterioration of my arse and fingers; Creeping close to the halfway mark.The power of purpose and an aligned life; The paradox of the relationship; & The peaceful existence of being your driver. -----------------------------------------------------------Day 26 -  https://youtu.be/4AIOq5hUhZA Day 27 -  https://youtu.be/zkc7YNg2DDYProduced Niall Killeney-Taylor See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Sometime I feel like I don't belong in the modern world; Unleashing the wild man inside me; becoming uncomfortable in comfort; A coded deep communication I trust and listen too; Accepting my dark side; and feeding off actions that align with my values.Day 28- Benign conditions; Hands flaring up dramatically overnight; This is exactly where I want to be, no complaints; Taking in as much as I can while I'm here; James Glynn and Joe Rogan Tweeting; Milestones on the horizon.The power of perspective; The irony of ocean rowing; The relief of having only one thing to concentrate on, rowing.Day 29 - Calm day again; Working hard for every mile; The consequences of that effort, dehydration; Drained just after getting on the oars; Rowing later into the night; Using the stars to guide the boat; Grinding out the days.'Go South until the butter melts, then turn West; The trade winds; My weather router and our system of comms.; Mood = positive; The watermaker and its strain on the system.Day 30 - A video update for social; 14NM from halfway; Sitting in literally the middle of the Atlantic; Congratulations to The 4 Oarsmen, Team Antigua and Swiss Mocean; Pushing South; Steady state physically and mentally; A call to support my 3 charity partners.Why I try to use my expeditions/challenges to support people doing great work in their corners of the worldDay 31 - Halfway! 1330nm rowed, 14 days now without a steering system, very happy about this; Late start this morning and I'm getting on my own case about it again; Text messages from Kris and Team Noble and their generous words bring with them a rising of my emotions; 38NM is last 24hrs; dodging night squalls; mood is generally down; Perspective shift needed. Hard to rise yourself day after day and face the fight again. Lack of self-discipline in rising on time = a red flag for me. These flags worry me hugely.  -------------------------------------------------------Day 28:  https://youtu.be/GFei00otcLY Day 29: https://youtu.be/h6kj79p8H5g Day 30:  https://youtu.be/_MLV-Z6-Ddo Day 31:  https://youtu.be/-Gk0H2K93F4Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/DamianBrowne  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

One of my favourite moments from the Marathon des Sables; Dense & intense skies full of more stars than imaginable; Magical!; A beautiful compliment shimmering on the ocean's surface.Day 32: Pain meds & ceasing up fingers; Long duration events and finding psychological battles; Is this programmed?; Resets, visualisation and perspective. A shooting star or the International Space Station? Respect & admiration for Mark SlatsDay 33: Lowest mileage but most hours rowed; A New World Record by Mark; and now I'm the last Paddy on the water. Day 34: Strong state - High Spirits; Living hard; Calm again = a unexpected longer 2nd half; Worked hard for every mile; Want big conditions again; Real Turmat for lunch.Day 35: 5 Weeks! Lived every minute of them; No winds; Slow work and a week or more of it ahead; Controlling the moment; Wouldn't want to be anywhere else, 588 days of work just to get to the start line.Videos: Day 32:  https://youtu.be/HIXoI5zJ-tk Day 33:  https://youtu.be/tUewxpqA7dc Day 34:  https://youtu.be/d0xkt0gG1c8 Day 35:  https://youtu.be/Ubydr7q-2LY Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/DamianBrowne See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Day 36:  A sleepless night with an unexpected GPS surprise at 4am; The hidden importance of a window of sleep; The absorption of some hard-fought miles; The real time reality of outcome focus versus process and a headspace treaty. Day 37: 7 miles bringing mental deflation; Expectations are not my friend; Fighting winds but little mileage; The mindset that every moment counts.Day 38: Obsessed with numbers as they pass the days; Hot with little winds today; Counting down to under 1000NM to Antigua; Positivity is a choice; A lunatic on a boat in the middle of the AtlanticVideos: Day 36:  https://youtu.be/OAst11R2nUk Day 37:  https://youtu.be/QJpa1D8a6sI Day 38:  https://youtu.be/RtvOT28Ev2w Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/DamianBrowneWith gratitude, Damian  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

My adult life = an obsession to get better, a desperation to improve; The genesis of this was a decision, my decision; Pain inducing questions I posed to myself; Find what's valuable to me with a boot to the face; My love for rugby and how it fuelled the person I am today; layering and rewiring through actions and experience; The surpassing of rugby as a prioritised value; The importance of "Body First" focus for me; Adventure the perfect fit to explore myself and the world; Finally my thirst for full responsibility for my own training is quenched; How an unstoppable concoction of elements push you to your edges and over, and that's where you learn, grow. Day 39:  In a mentally weak place; Wanting to stop, get off the oars, go to bed, give up; Thinking of things that were out of my control and it was weakening me; Negative thinking = "a sneaky little bastard that can seep into your thinking despite what you know about your psychological workings"; Awareness and analysis helped me reset my mind by redirecting my concentration to actions within my control; Getting back to an unbreakable mindset with 3 windows of effort; The power to take the hard option over the easy option; Turning around a "shit day"Intra days: The birth of "The 4 Controllables" in words; How the accumulation of 39 days of fatigue, pain, discomfort, isolation, space, challenge and a will to be my best everyday led to me seeing clearly my actions and being able to word it; The essence of the method- a redirection of concentration after awareness; A state changer; The hierarchy of order of the 4 Controllables; The power of choice is within you no matter the physical state you find yourself in; What do those 4 concentrations do exactly?; 'Controlling the moment' - the present moment; How awareness unveils the innate laziness of our body; You can always do more!; Equally scary and empowering realisation; A spiritual moment in training described; How we have the power to will yourselves into calmer states despite the level of physical duress; How self-talk can do more than neutralise the power of time over yourself; Strengthening the process over the last 2 years by adding a training/practice structure; The steps in the process - prepreparation- Cues & Questioning- do the work - Reflection; Changing perspective and raising myself up with 3 windows of huge effort & buzzing into day 40 from that. Day 40: If only our minds had a little off switch from time to time; fighting temptation and the easy impulses; Trying to find nonsense in my thinking; Being visited by a pod of dolphins; Seeing them surf down waves, go in and out under Darien, breach and play; The happiness and joy this induced in me as it was a huge hope that I would experience the Atlantic wildlife in its natural habitat, far from the maddening crowd;Closing: Setting the scene of the dolphin pod visit; the demoralising effect of the sores; Playing and having fun in the waves; The amazing effect it had on my state, like their energy transmuted into me; So transfixed that I forget to try and record their visit until they had nearly gone; Greedy for all the experience an Atlantic row can bring. Videos: Day 39:  https://youtu.be/ajVhOuC-PesDay 40:  https://youtu.be/_pqEQPhe9Ss  Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/DamianBrowne  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Introduction: Visitors in their natural habitat on Day 40, visitors well distance from their natural habitat on Day 41.  Day 41 :  Delighted with an extra 3/4 miles in the last 24hrs; Deceptive conditions; A visit from Thor!; After 41 full days and thousands of sq miles of ocean, I'm 1 mile from another ocean rowing boat; I can see Remolon from time to time between the waves. Intra days: How I knew my race status; Welcome positive feedback for the hard graft being put down everyday; 18th or 19th of 21 at this point; The story of the support boat Suntiki, Remolon and my wild imagination; Along came Jorge! Who was also having an incredible crossing after his partner had had enough during the 1st week and pulled plant; Working harder now than at any time previously in the race and being the person I wanted to be on the oars.  Day 42 : Perplexed & Frustrated; Not anywhere near as competitive as I imagined; Some physical indications of my effort; Arse sore, a slow form of torture and needing 6 hours of sleep to help the discomfort the next day; Questioning absolutely everything after Remolon makes up 40NM on me in 4 days; getting no answers; "this isn't exactly the Isle of Man TT" Intra days: Demoralised & dejected: Both of us experiencing the exact same conditions and Jorge disappears into the horizon! It rocked me! Day 43 : The nightmare worsens as the arse sores become too painful; Who would have guessed ignoring the signals all the way back to Day 19 would lead to this; WORRIED; Sitting down is now agony; searching for solutions; rowing naked; Compromise, 20 mins on/off for 20 hours? "I want to be tearing into it and now it's like I'm on the bloody lake in Versailles"; Perspective on what's most important.  Closing: The 2 hardest parts of my crossing, Day 1 and The Sores and the crescendo of them on Day 43. The story of how I had let it get to this point.   Note: I am going to record a new outro tomorrow and add it to the Drive. So the audio from 3.27 on Part 7 will be taken out. Videos:  Day 41 : https://youtu.be/Vz68urA8MSE Day 42 :  https://youtu.be/3jtmK7V6-WoDay 43 : https://youtu.be/WpfgNJknb_c   Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/DamianBrowne With gratitude, Damian Browne  See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Introduction: I am desperate to live; Listening to my internal compass; Finding things very important during my search; The other side of the desperate coin = pain; Learning to listen to the feedback; Avoid, accept, change?; The need I value most in life is; An addiction on the truest level; Becoming good at finding a way to what's important to you Day 44 : A progressive degeneration off sores over 3 weeks; 10 minutes on, 10 off for 800 miles?; Advice from Mr Ian Couch brought a solution; two 39-mile days which were huge for my psychological state; Adapted, kept grinding and found a way; Happy out.  Intra days: Atlantic Campaigns support; They've seen everything through experience and leading the safety of the race for many years; cutting up a spare seat I had put together made up of yoga matts into bits to raise the sores off the fixed seat; Talc clouds in the cabin and every other attempt at a solution; the importance of hitting those 39 mile days and continue to fight despite the situation; the power of the decision to take the hard option; build your relationship with yourself; Why I put myself in situations like these; the decision tightrope on the edges; Know thyself, Be thyself, Love thyself.  Day 45  : Best days mileage in a long time; Working hard for my miles and dodging squalls at 3am; Sores are finally less sensitive thanks to the perch; Psychological pressure point unveiled; Very sore fingers in the mornings before the blood gets flowing into them; Goodbye to my beloved nut butter combos; Loving it and having ideas for another ocean rows; Mimicking Russell Crowe in Gladiator while naked.  Closing: An indescribable adventure & challenge; exploring the amazing facets of the Atlantic and exploring your internal world; the manifestation of Project Empower; Stumbling on a concoction of super fuel; Claws in the morning are not conducive to untying and rowing; counting down the first 10 strokes each morning; The epic story continues.Keep striving for more from yourself.   Videos:  Day 44 : https://youtu.be/OW_-GR0lttU Day 45 :  https://youtu.be/Yabdg117ctI Patreon:  https://www.patreon.com/DamianBrowne With gratitude, Damian See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.