5 Lessons I Learned from Otters

So all last week I was in California to work on the upcoming Metabolic Aftershock 2.0, “Metabolic Prime”, workout series. Some of you may have the first series. If not, you can check it out here. Just like the first series, the second will also contain short, intense workouts for any fitness level. What I love about them is they are short (15-20 mins), intense and great for healthy aging.

Anyway, it was a super fun couple of days filming all the workouts and meeting the crew and other actors. I am feeling overwhelmed with gratitude for the opportunity to have been a part of both series!

During the last part of my trip, I traveled down to San Diego to fulfill a bucket list item…

A couple months ago, I learned of a non-profit organization called Nurtured By Nature, where you can get up close and personal with otters, a porcupine, lemurs, kangaroos and more. They do a lot work with organizations like Make-a-Wish, which just further solidified my desire to visit.

The only time slot that coordinated with my travel was full, but Wendy Yates, the owner, graciously squeezed me in, and I’m so grateful she did. It was a truly magical experience that I will never forget, and it was quite possibly the happiest I’ve ever been. Best 3 hours EVER!

The highlight (though everything was amazing) was getting to play and swim with baby and adult otters. As I was riding back to San Diego afterward, it dawned on me that we could learn a lot from these cute little critters (who are extremely smart, BTW).

So, without further adieu, 5 lessons they taught me and hopefully you as well :-).

1. Stop taking yourself so seriously
   Seriously! One thing is for sure, otters know how to have FUN! They are ALL about it. As a matter of fact, before they even saw us, they HEARD us and that was all they needed to get super excited and happy to play with us. I’ll never forget their squeals of joy when they were let out to see us…amazing. So this forces the question, how can we STOP taking ourselves so seriously? For me personally, that is tough. But scheduling in fun activities is key, and not being afraid of acting goofy and bringing out your inner child!
2. Be in the moment
   Another thing about being with the otters, is they aren’t thinking about what happened 2 weeks, 2 days or even 2 minutes ago; nor are they stressed about what’s going to happen tomorrow. They are truly living in the moment – going from one playful experience to the other. Wendy says they have ADD, but I prefer to think of them as perpetual joy seekers :-).
3. Challenge your brain
   Otters are smart little things. They love figuring out how to get into stuff or getting toys out of a box. It was fascinating to watch how they would keep persevering until they figured it out. I think as we get older, this is super important…continuing to keep our brains challenged and stimulated. Reading books that are outside our realm of knowledge, taking classes, etc. are great ways to keep the creative juices flowing.
4. Push hard / rest hard
   Of course I couldn’t leave out an exercise-related observation! Otters know two speeds: all-out play mode, or all-out crash mode. They don’t spend a lot of time in that in-between, long, slow phase. Hmmm…wonder if that’s how they stay so lean? 🙂 🙂 🙂 Seriously though, if you’ve followed me for any length of time, then you know that this “two speeds” way of exercise is exactly what leads to body change (along with strength training of course), especially as we age.
5. You know those things you want to do? Do them.
   While I didn’t learn this directly from the otters, I definitely got it from the experience. It would have been so easy to talk myself out of doing this thing I really wanted to do: I don’t have enough time, it’s too expensive, I should be doing something else, It’s probably not that great…etc. etc. etc.There is no time like the present. We are not guaranteed tomorrow. So yeah, those things you want to do, go do them. You won’t be sorry, I promise. I, for one, am still coming down from the high of being with my otter and other furry friends.

And if you’re an animal freak like me, definitely check out visiting Nurtured by Nature if you’re in the northern San Diego area!

xoxo,

Tara