September 24, 2023 • 10 mins
What if strength and flexibility weren't opposing forces, but instead the perfect blend to face life's challenges? Imagine a concept that allows you to maintain your tenacity while also giving you the space to grow and adapt. Join us as we unravel the power of 'rugged flexibility', a term eloquently explained by Brad Stahlberg, author of 'The Master of Change.'
In today's Walk with Wingman (#44), we delve into the nitty-gritty of rugged flexibility, an intriguing concept that fuses resilience and adaptability. This episode explores how possessing this quality can enable us to face challenges head-on, while empowering us to learn, adapt, and grow. We decipher homeostasis and allostatic load, and how they help us strike the right balance in life. The conversation offers fresh perspectives on managing change and facing adversity - lessons essential in today's uncertain times.
Wingman Wellness Blog Post
References
- Master of Change: https://www.bradstulberg.com/books
- Brad Stulberg: https://every.to/p/rugged-flexibility-a-new-theory-for-navigating-change
- The Ready State Podcast: https://thereadystate.com/trs_podcast/brad-stulberg-rugged-flexibility/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Daphne Bascom (00:03):
Greetings and welcome to another Walk with
Wingman.
Yes, I'm back and I'm walkingin a different location.
I am on the treadmill desk inmy home office and this is where
we're going to walk.
Today.
I'm in Virginia and we'reexperiencing some of the after
(00:24):
effects of the hurricane that'soff the coast and it was just a
hot mess out this morning.
So, although I went out and Idid my normal walk, I decided
not to bring you along and tospare you the wet and the cold
and the wind that would be inthe microphone.
So welcome, and I hope you'redoing well and I hope you're
(00:46):
getting ready for anotherwonderful week.
It's great to be back.
It's been a busy few weeks.
I know it's been a while sincewe've had a walk.
In that time, I have had thepleasure of going to the Vegan
Superhero Retreat.
For those of you listening whoattended, it was an amazing
(01:07):
event.
For those of you who were notable to join us.
I hope you're able to join usnext year because it's going to
be even better.
We've had the retreat alongwith doing some recording for
the Academy, and then it wasable to accompany Leif and
(01:27):
Robert Cheeke to the 2023International Plant-Based
Nutrition and HealthcareConference, which was also
amazing.
So it's been a busy August andSeptember and I am back home for
a while, glad to be back in myregular routine and glad to have
this opportunity to walk withyou again.
(01:48):
I hope that you have been well,that you've been striving to
meet your goals and that you'vebeen thinking about many of the
different topics that we've beendiscussing on our walks over
the past several months.
Today, what I wanted to do wasto recap my blog post from this
(02:09):
week, and it grew out of apodcast I was listening to and
as soon as I finished thepodcast, I knew I had to write
about it.
So on Friday morning, I waslistening to the Ready State
podcast and they were doing aninterview with Brad Stulberg.
(02:31):
Now, if you haven't read thebook the Master of Change I will
put a link in the show notes sothat you can link out to the
book and so you can link out tothe Ready State podcast.
And what was the topic of theconversation?
Rugged flexibility, and as soonas I finished listening, I just
(02:56):
thought yes, this is somethingthat I need to write about and I
hope you enjoy the rest of theconversation while we continue
to walk and talk.
So rugged flexibility it soundslike an oxymoron and it's an
interesting one, and Let mebreak it down a little bit and
(03:23):
I'll do it in the context ofwhat Brad Stulberg discusses in
his book.
So ruggedness refers tostrength and the ability to
endure and to face challengeshead on, and I think that's a
lot of us, that we are strong,you know, kind of the never let
them see you cry mentality, andwe just feel that we can do it
(03:44):
all.
And then you have flexibility,and flexibility you consider to
be adaptability, letting go ofresistance, avoiding being so
rigid that you can't change, andalso refraining from being
overly controlling, which I knowI can be.
But together these twocharacteristics can create a
(04:05):
holistic approach to life, tohealth, to fitness and to your
mindset.
And what it suggested to me isthat to truly thrive, you need
to have the tenacity to standfirm when necessary and the
wisdom to be flexible when thesituation demands it.
And I just go back to a phrasethat I keep using and I know you
(04:30):
probably get tired of hearingme say it, but weeble and wobble
, but we don't fall down, and itmeans that you know you need to
have that resilience to takethe punches and pop back up
again and you have to beflexible.
One of the things that alsofascinated me in listening to
(04:51):
Brad's interview and he's beeninterviewed on several podcasts
I listened to him yesterdayinterview on the Marathon
Training Academy.
I know that Rich Roll hasinterviewed him recently and I
would encourage you to go listento all of those.
The themes are the same butsome of the nuances of the
conversations are slightlydifferent.
(05:12):
But the other thing that reallyfascinated me was some of the
terms that Brad uses.
It reminded me of what Ilearned and what I taught when I
was a teaching assistant inevolutionary biology, and he
talks about the termshomeostasis and allostasis.
(05:34):
Now, homeostasis refers to theability of an organism or a
system to maintain equilibriumor stability within its internal
environment, even when theexternal conditions are changing
.
So you know, from a biologist'sperspective, you think of
homeostasis as, for example,maintaining a thermal set point.
(05:54):
So our body temperature is 98.6normally and we strive to
maintain that normal temperatureregardless of the external
temperature.
And yes, I have a jacket on asI am trying to maintain my
normal temperature.
But while homeostasis is aboutmaintaining stability.
(06:16):
Allostasis is about achievingstability through change, and
it's a process that we all haveto undergo when we are
responding to external stresses.
Now, the difference is that,when you think about allostasis,
you may not be returning tothat same baseline that you were
(06:37):
before, and which is why it'sdifferent than homeostasis and
why it's important to considerthis concept in the context of
rugged flexibility, because youmay not go back to what you
consider to be normal, or youmay not go back to exactly where
you were before, and I thinkthat was one of the things that
(06:59):
really caught my ear when I waslistening to what prompted Brad
to author this book, which islistening to people when we were
in the pandemic in early 2020,where they just wanted to go
back to normal.
We are always going to bechanging.
We are always going to beevolving.
There's going to be some partsof us, some parts of our being,
(07:24):
some parts of what we are, thatare going to be homeostatic, but
there's also this need totolerate an allostatic load and
be able to be flexible and adaptto change.
How does that all that fittogether?
So you need to have ruggednessalong with homeostasis.
(07:47):
So when you're faced withchallenges you need, a rugged
individual will have theendurance and the resilience to
keep going, but you'll alsoensure that that internal
balance isn't drasticallydisturbed.
Then there has to beflexibility in allostasis, and
flexibility is all aboutadaptability, and it represents
(08:09):
our ability to adapt to externalchanges.
So when there's a need to adapt, when there's a need to be
flexible, it ensures that youcan do so without causing harm
or lasting stress to your bodyor mind.
What that means is that whenyou're faced with unexpected
situations which we all are allthe time it means you can pivot,
(08:32):
you can adjust your approachand you can find a new
equilibrium.
So I hope you're enjoyingtoday's Walk from the Treadmill.
It's giving me a chance to lookat my notes while I'm talking
with you, but it also allows meto be present and not to be
(08:56):
distracted as I wrap up theconversation.
I really enjoy listening toBrad Stulberg talk about rugged
flexibility, and I enjoyedputting my pen to paper around
why it's important.
(09:18):
I just want to wrap up today'swalk by saying that the concept
of rugged flexibility is apowerful reminder that on this
journey, on our life's journey,we need both strength and
adaptability.
Just as our bodies naturallybalance the homeostasis and
(09:41):
different allostatic loads, wehave to find a balance between
ruggedness and flexibility, andour actions and our decisions
and our philosophies and mindset.
By embracing rugged flexibility, we empower ourselves to face
challenges with tenacity, butalso giving ourselves grace to
(10:03):
learn, to adapt and to grow.
So just some food for thoughtas you head into this week.
I would encourage you to listento the full interview, to
listen to or read a copy ofBrad's book and to think about
(10:23):
how this concept of ruggedflexibility applies in your life
.
Thanks again for joining me onthis walk.
I hope you have a wonderfulweek and I look forward to
talking with you again on afuture Walk with Wingman.
Be well.
Greetings and welcome to another Walk with
Wingman.
Yes, I'm back and I'm walkingin a different location.
I am on the treadmill desk inmy home office and this is where
we're going to walk.
Today.
I'm in Virginia and we'reexperiencing some of the after
(00:24):
effects of the hurricane that'soff the coast and it was just a
hot mess out this morning.
So, although I went out and Idid my normal walk, I decided
not to bring you along and tospare you the wet and the cold
and the wind that would be inthe microphone.
So welcome, and I hope you'redoing well and I hope you're
(00:46):
getting ready for anotherwonderful week.
It's great to be back.
It's been a busy few weeks.
I know it's been a while sincewe've had a walk.
In that time, I have had thepleasure of going to the Vegan
Superhero Retreat.
For those of you listening whoattended, it was an amazing
(01:07):
event.
For those of you who were notable to join us.
I hope you're able to join usnext year because it's going to
be even better.
We've had the retreat alongwith doing some recording for
the Academy, and then it wasable to accompany Leif and
(01:27):
Robert Cheeke to the 2023International Plant-Based
Nutrition and HealthcareConference, which was also
amazing.
So it's been a busy August andSeptember and I am back home for
a while, glad to be back in myregular routine and glad to have
this opportunity to walk withyou again.
(01:48):
I hope that you have been well,that you've been striving to
meet your goals and that you'vebeen thinking about many of the
different topics that we've beendiscussing on our walks over
the past several months.
Today, what I wanted to do wasto recap my blog post from this
(02:09):
week, and it grew out of apodcast I was listening to and
as soon as I finished thepodcast, I knew I had to write
about it.
So on Friday morning, I waslistening to the Ready State
podcast and they were doing aninterview with Brad Stulberg.
(02:31):
Now, if you haven't read thebook the Master of Change I will
put a link in the show notes sothat you can link out to the
book and so you can link out tothe Ready State podcast.
And what was the topic of theconversation?
Rugged flexibility, and as soonas I finished listening, I just
(02:56):
thought yes, this is somethingthat I need to write about and I
hope you enjoy the rest of theconversation while we continue
to walk and talk.
So rugged flexibility it soundslike an oxymoron and it's an
interesting one, and Let mebreak it down a little bit and
(03:23):
I'll do it in the context ofwhat Brad Stulberg discusses in
his book.
So ruggedness refers tostrength and the ability to
endure and to face challengeshead on, and I think that's a
lot of us, that we are strong,you know, kind of the never let
them see you cry mentality, andwe just feel that we can do it
(03:44):
all.
And then you have flexibility,and flexibility you consider to
be adaptability, letting go ofresistance, avoiding being so
rigid that you can't change, andalso refraining from being
overly controlling, which I knowI can be.
But together these twocharacteristics can create a
(04:05):
holistic approach to life, tohealth, to fitness and to your
mindset.
And what it suggested to me isthat to truly thrive, you need
to have the tenacity to standfirm when necessary and the
wisdom to be flexible when thesituation demands it.
And I just go back to a phrasethat I keep using and I know you
(04:30):
probably get tired of hearingme say it, but weeble and wobble
, but we don't fall down, and itmeans that you know you need to
have that resilience to takethe punches and pop back up
again and you have to beflexible.
One of the things that alsofascinated me in listening to
(04:51):
Brad's interview and he's beeninterviewed on several podcasts
I listened to him yesterdayinterview on the Marathon
Training Academy.
I know that Rich Roll hasinterviewed him recently and I
would encourage you to go listento all of those.
The themes are the same butsome of the nuances of the
conversations are slightlydifferent.
(05:12):
But the other thing that reallyfascinated me was some of the
terms that Brad uses.
It reminded me of what Ilearned and what I taught when I
was a teaching assistant inevolutionary biology, and he
talks about the termshomeostasis and allostasis.
(05:34):
Now, homeostasis refers to theability of an organism or a
system to maintain equilibriumor stability within its internal
environment, even when theexternal conditions are changing
.
So you know, from a biologist'sperspective, you think of
homeostasis as, for example,maintaining a thermal set point.
(05:54):
So our body temperature is 98.6normally and we strive to
maintain that normal temperatureregardless of the external
temperature.
And yes, I have a jacket on asI am trying to maintain my
normal temperature.
But while homeostasis is aboutmaintaining stability.
(06:16):
Allostasis is about achievingstability through change, and
it's a process that we all haveto undergo when we are
responding to external stresses.
Now, the difference is that,when you think about allostasis,
you may not be returning tothat same baseline that you were
(06:37):
before, and which is why it'sdifferent than homeostasis and
why it's important to considerthis concept in the context of
rugged flexibility, because youmay not go back to what you
consider to be normal, or youmay not go back to exactly where
you were before, and I thinkthat was one of the things that
(06:59):
really caught my ear when I waslistening to what prompted Brad
to author this book, which islistening to people when we were
in the pandemic in early 2020,where they just wanted to go
back to normal.
We are always going to bechanging.
We are always going to beevolving.
There's going to be some partsof us, some parts of our being,
(07:24):
some parts of what we are, thatare going to be homeostatic, but
there's also this need totolerate an allostatic load and
be able to be flexible and adaptto change.
How does that all that fittogether?
So you need to have ruggednessalong with homeostasis.
(07:47):
So when you're faced withchallenges you need, a rugged
individual will have theendurance and the resilience to
keep going, but you'll alsoensure that that internal
balance isn't drasticallydisturbed.
Then there has to beflexibility in allostasis, and
flexibility is all aboutadaptability, and it represents
(08:09):
our ability to adapt to externalchanges.
So when there's a need to adapt, when there's a need to be
flexible, it ensures that youcan do so without causing harm
or lasting stress to your bodyor mind.
What that means is that whenyou're faced with unexpected
situations which we all are allthe time it means you can pivot,
(08:32):
you can adjust your approachand you can find a new
equilibrium.
So I hope you're enjoyingtoday's Walk from the Treadmill.
It's giving me a chance to lookat my notes while I'm talking
with you, but it also allows meto be present and not to be
(08:56):
distracted as I wrap up theconversation.
I really enjoy listening toBrad Stulberg talk about rugged
flexibility, and I enjoyedputting my pen to paper around
why it's important.
(09:18):
I just want to wrap up today'swalk by saying that the concept
of rugged flexibility is apowerful reminder that on this
journey, on our life's journey,we need both strength and
adaptability.
Just as our bodies naturallybalance the homeostasis and
(09:41):
different allostatic loads, wehave to find a balance between
ruggedness and flexibility, andour actions and our decisions
and our philosophies and mindset.
By embracing rugged flexibility, we empower ourselves to face
challenges with tenacity, butalso giving ourselves grace to
(10:03):
learn, to adapt and to grow.
So just some food for thoughtas you head into this week.
I would encourage you to listento the full interview, to
listen to or read a copy ofBrad's book and to think about
(10:23):
how this concept of ruggedflexibility applies in your life
.
Thanks again for joining me onthis walk.
I hope you have a wonderfulweek and I look forward to
talking with you again on afuture Walk with Wingman.
Be well.
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