Growth begins where comfort ends. That’s the mantra behind Mammut’s Unwellness Retreat. In the new social media series, participants are stepping off the traditional wellness pathways of comfort, relaxation and control and blazing a new trail in the age of optimization.
High atop the snow-packed mountains of the Andes, we meet “unwellness guru” Spencer Harkins as he guides three wellness experts through a reinterpreted off-the-grid retreat. Those experts, Anabelle Lefevre, Mahinanani Alexander and Jonah Kest, take on challenges that push the boundaries of conventional wellness practices, from Finding Balance on a highline, Stretch & Recover in a first-ever ice climb followed by a snow plunge, and Trust Fall a high-intensity search-and-rescue scenario.
The outdoors cannot be scheduled, controlled, or optimized for personal growth. This makes them the perfect landscape for the unquantifiable lessons that the retreat aims to teach. Throughout the series participants come face to face with their vulnerability and resilience as they work with the elements and each other.*
The mission of the series is to challenge our conventional ideas surrounding wellness. So many parts of our daily lives have become quantified, from sleep scores to step counts to data, data, and more data. But when you’re deep in the backcountry facing down the barrel of a 10,000+ foot peak, the numbers fade away, and what you’re left with is a whole new understanding of yourself and your surroundings.
As the man at the helm of the unwellness ship, Harkins has spent many moments in the mountains gaining new insights and stretching his capacities. “The unexpected lesson is how much you can stand on your own shoulders by doing things that take you out of your comfort zone,” he says. “My perspective on what I was capable of changed when I went to Denali. It was a powerful experience that led me to go further in the mountains and do so much more. I think the yoga pose that this guru would leave you with is to stand on your own shoulders. It takes a lot of flexibility and a lot of stretching, but you have the power to do that.”
All episodes of the series are now available to watch on the Mammut Instagram and YouTube, and you can share your own unwellness practices with the #extremepose “Add Yours” challenge on Instagram Stories. Get out there, take a familiar wellness pose into the outdoors, share it to your Stories, and watch as selected entries pop up on Mammut channels.
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*Assessing risk and safety is paramount when adventuring in the mountains. Mammut had highly qualified mountain professionals lead the participants in in-depth instruction, equipment management and safety preparations before every event.
Founded in 1862, Mammut is a Swiss outdoor company providing high-quality products and unique brand experiences for mountain sports fans around the world. For more than 160 years, the brand has stood for safety and pioneering innovation, combining function, performance and contemporary design across hardware, footwear and apparel.
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