"Movement is a medicine for creating change in a person's physical, emotional, and mental states." ~Carol Welch

To be honest, I have no idea who Carol Welch is, but I think her quote represents well the spirit at last Sunday’s Strides for Epilepsy event. With over 2,000 people registered for the 5K run/walk, City Park in Denver buzzed with energy despite the almost constant downpour. People diagnosed with epilepsy and their friends, family, and health care providers came together to not only support the efforts of Epilepsy Foundation – Colorado, but to laugh together and feed the mind, body and soul through movement.

Outdoor Mindset is grateful for the opportunity (thank you, thank you Epilepsy Foundation-Colorado and Gail Pundsack) to outreach to folks at the event. After all – we believe in connecting people through a bond of shared diagnosis and outdoor adventure. Lucky for us, the cold, wet weather did not deter those supporting Epilepsy Foundation-Colorado.
We chatted with lots of people, made plenty of friends, gave away over 500 stickers and business cards, and cheered on our own Team OM (the brave Kellyn Glynn and Kyle Martin).

According to http://www.epilepsycolorado.org, epilepsy affects people of all ages and races, and represents one percent of the population in this state—over 43,000 people. Three million people in this country and 50 million people worldwide have epilepsy. While epilepsy is not the only neurological diagnosis that Outdoor Mindset embraces, it certainly hits home with many of our friends and family members.

Our first debut to the public went well and we look forward to many more outreach and partnership opportunities. Please let us know on Facebook if you met us at the Strides for Epilepsy event. We want to hear from everyone as we build our online community and shape the programs of Outdoor Mindset. Summer will officially begin soon and we hope to see you out on the trails, on the water or wherever adventure may take you. Keep on movin’ and may the outdoors be your medicine!

Connecting to Connect

On Monday afternoon I was lucky enough to meet Rebekah Koenigbauer, director of marketing for First Descents. We enjoyed some patio time and shared tips on marketing for rapidly growing non-profit organizations.

First Descents is committed to curing young adults of the emotional effects of cancer and empowering them to regain control of their lives by experiencing whitewater kayaking and other challenging adventure sports in a safe, fun and supportive environment. This inspires us at Outdoor Mindset because we hope to accomplish the same - We unite and inspire people affected by neurological challenges to live big through a common passion for outdoor adventure.

Rebekah and I discussed the possibilty of having a First Descents past-participant write for our blog or serve as a mentor in our program. To us, this would be huge. In a sense, our organization is connecting to other organizations in order to connect people affected by neurological challenges with one another.

Learn more about First Descents.

Check Us Out at Strides for Epilepsy in Denver!!

Come check us out at the Annual Strides for Epilepsy on Sunday June 13 sponsored by the National Epilepsy Foundation, Colorado chapter. It kicks off at 8:30 am at City Park in Denver. Details can be found at: http://www.epilepsycolorado.org/

We're psyched at the opportunity to have a presence at such a big event. Lots of fun for a great cause! Special thanks go out to Peret and Gail at the foundation for hosting us!!

We're new, we're bold, and we want you involved in our community of catalysts that LIVE BIG with neurological diagnosis! Stop by our table at the event to learn more about us, and our gang (which is getting bigger and bigger every day). We hope to see you there.

What do Everest, a rattlesnake and the IRS have in common?

Yesterday while mountain biking, we almost ran over a rattlesnake sunning itself on the trail. Later on, we would come across another rattler, except this time, he was curled, hogging the singletrack, and in the perfect position to strike. We had to wait. We had to practice patience.

What a timely lesson since less than 24 hours ago we mailed our 501(c)(3) application to the IRS. Yes! We have taken yet another step to becoming official, or at least recognized by the federal government as a tax-exempt charitable organization. Of course, who knows how long it will take the IRS to send us that official letter of determination (could be months). The good news is we can operate as an official nonprofit organization and our tax-exempt status will retro to our born on date (April 15, 2010)!

The OM crew came together as a group to unite and inspire people affected by neurological challenges to LIVE BIG through a common passion for outdoor adventure. Now, everyone has the opportunity to support this incredible cause.As Jake (Leader of Organizational Development) says, “We are changing the face of diagnosis one outdoor adventure at a time.” That is the hope!

As we journey, we know we may encounter the rainy day, the rattlesnake or the false summit. These make the journey that much more interesting. We at Outdoor Mindset will be celebrating the baby steps and small successes…and practicing patience. This will get us over even the tallest of mountains. After all, as Jordan Romero, the 13-year-old who recently climbed Everest can attest, “I know it requires a lot of patience. I will remain patient.”

Challenge and Optimism

Meeting challenges we set for ourselves can bring great satisfaction and sense of accomplishment. Some challenges we don't see coming, and hit us broadside without warning. Each of them have one thing in common, which is the choice of how we plan to approach them. I am continually amazed at the incredible individuals I meet, inspirational stories I hear, and the power of optimism amidst adversity and perceived limitation!

Outdoor Mindset celebrates optimism in meeting challenge. Their mission of uniting and inspiring folks to live big through a common passion for outdoor adventure poses a new way of looking at things. Pretty cool stuff!

Strength To The Body And Soul

“Everybody needs beauty as well as bread, places to play in and pray in where nature may heal and cheer and give strength to the body and soul.” - John Muir

A common passion for the outdoors is a thriving element in the mind of the Outdoor Mindset folks. I know I can speak for all of us when I say that John Muir could not have been more spot on.

Last week, Outdoor Mindset held our second “official” board meeting in a local office boardroom downtown Boulder. The meeting kicked off with each of us sharing our most memorable outdoor experience. I don’t know about the rest of our group, but I had a pretty difficult time narrowing it down to just one story. Somehow, each of us managed to tell one of the amazing experiences we’ve had throughout our lives. As our stories circulated the room, I began to notice a similar theme in each. Whether it was my own personal story of hiking Yellowstone’s pristine backcountry, with 3 people I had met a week prior, and experiencing a full on charge from a grizzly; or Jake’s experience in the Wrangell-St. Elias Wilderness of Alaska for 12 days carving fresh telemark lines into the mountain every day, we each gained a sense of therapy, healing, or strength from the experience while connecting with relatives, friends, or people we had met only days earlier.

I wonder if John Muir could amend his quotes, he would mention the connection he also made with the individuals with whom he shared his experiences.

With three board members currently affected (or have been affected) by neurological challenges, each of us were able to see our mission of “uniting and inspiring individuals affected by neurological challenges to live big through a common passion for outdoor adventure” actually come to life. Our goal is to take individuals like these three, and match them with similar individuals where the same experiences can be shared. Our hope is while these individuals connect with the outdoors, they also have someone to connect with on the same neurological level….someone who’s been through or is going through a similar situation. As we’ve mentioned in prior posts, it’s great to have the love and support from family, but it would be nice to speak with someone who’s been there and done that….case in point, Jake and Diane Van Deren. This element of a similar diagnosis connection was missing from each story told last week, which in turn gives each of us more drive and determination to make OM a success for all affected by neurological challenges with a passion for the outdoors.

As summer begins to shed it’s light on The Rocky Mountains, the variety of outdoor activity only increases so stay tuned for more exciting news to come from the OM crew.