Light Bulbs Go Off on the Wall…

Met up with a good friend recently to work on my climbing technique. She's been coaching me, out of the kindness of her heart, for several months. We decided to use a bouldering route at our local climbing gym to focus on the following 3 things...

1. Use my legs and feet first.

2. Utilize my arms and hands, when appropriate, as a balance.

3. Climb slowly and methodically. My friend told me that, "Pace will improve as my technique gets better."

Here are my takeaways from our session...

With regards to my legs and feet...I learned to feel for the best placement of my feet on footholds. Specifically, I learned that toes facing the wall may not necessarily be the best option. My friend encouraged me to experiment with moving my feet from side to side on the footholds. I learned that moving my feet in this way would require moving my hips as well. My friend also showed me how to use my calves when lifting up with my legs. Finally, I learned that the more I trust my legs and feet the better that is for your arms and hands.

Speaking of my arms and hands...I learned that your arms will experience less strain if you can work to keep them close to the wall. My friend instructed me to try to use a light grip with my hands on the handholds for balance only. She added that by doing this in conjunction with keeping close to the wall I would also limit strain and save my arm strength throughout the climb. She encouraged me to be open to NOT climbing in a left, right, left, right manner (with both my arms, hands, legs, and feet). I learned that sometimes using one arm/hand/leg/foot multiple times is the better move.

I spent 54 minutes working on these techniques. I must have climbed and down-climbed that bouldering route at least a dozen times; many times without a break. The repetition was liberating. As the session progressed I started catching myself experimenting; trying different ways to get up and down the route while adhering to the 3 focus points mentioned at the beginning of this post. I noticed that I was moving my hips in a way that I had never done before. I was also able to carry on a conversation with my friend while climbing. My pace, unconsciously, picked up. I was even able to take one arm off the wall; balancing there on the strength of the other arm. It was as if a massive light bulb had turned on in my head. I could feel, throughout my entire body, all of the words and coaching from my friend. In the end, I felt that the workout was more intense than any climbing session I'd ever had. I felt fatigued but in a good way, if that makes any sense. I also experienced another feeling.

I'm reading a book by Dacher Keltner titled, Awe: The New Science of Everyday Wonder and How It Can Transform Your Life. In it, Keltner states...

"Fun, like awe, is one of several self-transcendent states, a space of emotions that transport us out of our self-focused, threat oriented, and status quo mindset to a realm where we connect to something larger than the self."

What I experienced the other day with my friend, for the first time since I started climbing a little more than a year ago was true fun; awe!