Norm Hann is a professional stand-up paddleboarder, wilderness guide and expedition leader who has spent more than two decades exploring some of the world’s most remote coastlines. Much of his life and work has been shaped by British Columbia’s Great Bear Rainforest and his relationship with the Gitga’at community there. His conservation work is featured in the award-winning documentary STAND.

Summary

Norm and I talk about the unlikely series of decisions that took him from teaching high school in Ontario to guiding in the Great Bear Rainforest, where a place and its people gradually changed the direction of his life.

We talk about his adoption into the Gitga’at Raven Clan, the 400-kilometre paddle he undertook to help protect the coast from a proposed oil tanker route, the people who have influenced him, and what decades spent outside have taught him about how he wants to live.

Episode Links

https://www.normhann.com/

Instagram @instagram.com/normhann

Watch STAND, the award-winning documentary featuring Norm and the Great Bear Rainforest

Chapters

00:00 Introduction and Norm Hann's Background

02:10 Norm's Childhood and Love for Outdoors

03:58 Journey from Ontario to the West Coast

09:11 Connection with First Nations and the Great Bear Rainforest

14:58 Decisions, Challenges, and Personal Growth

21:56 The Healing Power of Nature and Awe

30:04 Norm's Guiding Philosophy and Mentorship

40:03 Expeditions, Paddleboarding, and Environmental Advocacy

50:10 Living a Seamless Life of Connection and Purpose

01:00:10 Future Plans and How to Connect with Norm

Traver Boehm is the author of the books Today I Rise, Man UNcivilized and 28 Days In Darkness. He’s a two-time TEDx speaker, men’s coach, and the founder of the UNcivilized Men’s Movement. He’s helped men all over the world to become UNcivilized as they wake up to the power of their hearts, the brilliance of their bodies, and the wisdom of their souls so they can blaze their own path by uniquely blending both the primal and the divine within them.

Most recently, Traver completed an extraordinary 49-day dark retreat and released his latest book chronicling his first such journey, 28 Days In Darkness.

He is dedicated to doing his part to help end the suffering in men, and the suffering caused by men, by guiding them through their own journey into an actualized version of masculinity.

Summary

Of course, I wanted to know what happens to a person in 49 days without light. What comes up when so much of the outside world disappears.

But I was just as interested in what happened when he came back out.

We talk about what Traver encountered in the darkness, the fears and old pain that surfaced, and what the experience showed him about identity, relationships, and our need for one another.

We also get into the ache we so often try to get rid of, what happens when the person we’ve known ourselves to be starts to fall away, and learning to live without needing to know exactly what comes next.

Here’s my conversation with Traver Boehm.

Episode Links

https://traverboehm.com/

https://www.manuncivilized.com/

Instagram @traverboehm

And all podcast platforms: The UNcivilized Podcast with Traver Boehm

Chapters

00:00 Introduction to Traver Boehm and His Journey

03:03 Facing Fears and Life Transformations

06:01 The Dark Night of the Soul

09:07 The Power of Choice and Responsibility

12:04 The Dark Retreat Experience

15:06 The Importance of Human Connection

17:51 Lessons from the Dark Retreat

21:09 Emerging from Darkness and New Beginnings

38:15 The Epidemic of Loneliness

46:17 Facing Darkness: A Personal Journey

52:19 The Weight of Time in Solitude

01:00:28 Emerging from Darkness: Transformation and Growth

01:08:17 The Holy Ache: Connection and Authenticity