Deep Dive With Dr. Carrie

Hey, Cadre family doctor Carrie here. m. In the desert. And today we have this, like, really perfect temperature. So I thought I'd sit outside and take a nod from Katie's beautiful outdoor landscape and her live stream today and just do this outside on my patio because it's actually bearable to sit outside right now. And that's not the norm in June. Yesterday at this hour, I think it was already 97 degrees. So I'm just still getting used to it. Minnesota. Here, girl, here. Like, my blood is thick, this heat is hard, but I'm getting used to it.

So anyway, loved sitting outside today. It's just been a beautiful day here, and I'm gonna share a story about my morning. I normally go live on Wednesdays, but I had a pertinent story that I wanna share with you guys today, and I have conflict tomorrow. So it was perfect timing. So I went this morning early cause it was perfect temperatures outside. I took my dog and we drove to Joshua Tree, which is really close to where I live. And, like, let's go for a trail run. It is so perfect. Temperature out it is.

The sky is blue. Like, I just love being out in nature and looking at, like, God's creation. Let's go for a trail run. So I was gonna set out for like, 2 miles, like, something pretty manageable. I also, as a Minnesota native, struggle with the altitude, and in this particular area, it's like 3800ft. So, like, I. I'm struggling a bit to breathe when I'm running at this altitude. So I'm like, I'm gonna just do 2 miles of this out and back trail. And lo and behold, I end up getting a little lost when I hike because I just kind of, like, start looking around and taking in the landscape and I'm like, oh, my gosh, this is so beautiful.

And then I don't realize I'm on a trail. I have no self service either, but I'm like, ah, no worries. Like, I always find my way back. I have kind of some landmarks, so I end up just going way off. Then I, like longer than I wanted to. Did some hiking of rocks. My dog and I were climbing rocks and we just had a grand old time. And did forget, though, if I was gonna be out more than 2 miles that I probably should have brought water. It's really dry here. And so that was, that was my first miss. But I just was so amazed at how beautiful it was.

And I wanted to talk today about instincts because this is what came up for me on my hike jog this morning. All of a sudden, my dog, who's just very carefree, looking around, like the only thing in my Head is rattlesnakes. Keep an eye out for rattlesnakes. There's been snake sightings all over the place. Like, I don't have headphones in. Like, keep an eye out for rattlesnakes. That's the only real danger I'm assuming I'm going to see out here. And all of a sudden, I see my dog just stop and she puts one paw up like she's ready to, like, pounce.

And I see the biggest rabbit I've ever seen. Like, I mean, massive, with these ears that are, like, eight inches tall. It was beautiful and it was just totally blending in with the background. But my dog's instinct in that moment was prey drive. My dog loves things that go fast and it's just an instinct, prey drive, for her to want to immediately, like, chase it. And in her mind, she's not thinking about the dangers that are out there in all of the brush and hidden in the rocks. And I'm trying to keep her safe from the rattlesnakes.

So I immediately have to, like, calm her down and tell her to leave it alone. Don't go after the bunny. Let the bunny live today because she has killed a bunny before. But it was just like, her immediate instinct kicked in of, like, I need to go kill that thing. So we keep hiking and then I experience my human instinct on this little hike jog this morning. So at this point I'm like, gosh, I'm really dehydrated. Like, I should have brought water. I'm a little bit off the trail, but I know I'm, like, close because the road is, like, over there.

I'm like, I know I need to get down to that road, but whatever, I'll just keep climbing some rocks. And I then see out of the corner of my eye the most massive coyote I have ever, ever seen. Like, it is three times the size of my dog. My dog is 50 pounds. She's a large dog. And this thing, I looked like three and a half, 4ft tall. It was the most massive thing I've ever seen. And I'm like, oh, boy, now what do I do? Because here I am just looking for rattlesnakes, not other critters. And I am probably, like, 20 yards from this thing.

Like, it is huge and it could probably run fast. And I see it's not staring at me. It's staring at my dog like it wants to, like, chase my dog, kill my dog. I don't know what it wants to do with my dog, but it is not concerned about me. It is concerned about my dog. And you're really probably not even supposed to have dogs on this trail. So I should have put, put that disclaimer out there, but I immediately am calculating in my head how fast this thing can probably run, how quickly it can get to me and kill my dog.

And then the mama bear instinct kicked in. In, like, I saw it lift one of its paws like it was ready to, like, pounce like my dog was doing, and I was like, uh uh, no, no, no. You are not killing my dog today. And I, my instincts just kicked right in, and we start just booking it off this trail. I'm like, where's the road? How do I get to the road? There's campers on the road. It probably won't come there. And so I'm, like, bushwhacking through. I mean, these, like, bushes are super sharp. I've got scratches all over my arms, but I'm like, I need to get to the road.

Like, I don't know how fast this thing's gonna come after me and how quickly it could kill my dog, but I know that I will probably manhandle it to death if it comes after my little girl. And I was just, like, reflecting after my heart rate calmed down in that moment. Like, wow. Like, our bodies are fascinating. We have these human instincts, and even dogs and animals have these human, like, animalistic, not even human animalistic instincts in our body. And we just react like, we have reactions to things.

And oftentimes it has to do with some sort of threat in our life. And as a trauma specialist, expert, whatever you want to call me, I forgot in that moment that I could choose to let my fight or flight kick in. And I just went because my brain was saying, there's a danger, there's a threat. And my instinct kicked in, and I just was reflecting throughout the rest of my hike as I'm, like, super parched, dehydrated, like, should have brought water as I'm getting my way back to my car. How often do we let this kind of happen to us throughout our days where we, we just let our instincts take over because it may be, like, pokes at something inside of us.

And I didn't even know I had such a strong mama bear instinct because I don't have kids yet. But dang, it kicked in really hard today and had that thing come after my little girl, I literally probably would have killed it with my bare hands. Like, that's how much I was willing to protect my dog. And had my, like, husband been with me, I would have probably had the same, like, instinct of, like, I am protecting my family. But so we have these instincts, and they serve us so well at times, but they also serve us so poorly because we give in to those instincts really easily.

We give in to them. When somebody says something that hits a nerve, like, somebody recently said to me, um, I don't think you're really very good at what you do. It was a really hard thing for me to swallow. And I remember that being, like, one of the hardest instincts for me as a nurse in the hospital, because that was kind of, like, my trigger point. If somebody says, you suck at your job, and I just immediately react. And so we all have these triggers that live inside of us, good, bad, and different.

They're who we are. They are shaped based on our experience in life. And then the instincts that kick in is usually a fight or flight response. And oftentimes in life, they don't serve us very well. So I want you to just think about maybe some of the things that are, like, kind of pain points or triggers for you. And it doesn't have to be an earth shattering trauma that you've been through to have triggers. It can just be, like, one phrase. My husband and I were dissecting this the other day, and there's, like, one phrase that one of his friends says often to him that he's like, oh, it just makes me want to punch him in the face.

And my husband is, like, the most docile person. But, like, that one trigger phrase just gets to him and not much gets to him in life. And so there's just. There's those things, right, that people say to us. There's those comments. There's things that just make our. Our instinct, kind of our animalistic tendencies come out. And I just want you to sit down and brainstorm. What are those? What are my little trigger points? What is it that somebody could say to me that I would be like, oh, I immediately want to punch you in the face, or I immediately want to run, or I immediately want to shut down and go lay in my bed and hide under the covers?

Because all of those are reactions, the fight, flight, or freeze. So think about that, and think about just honoring your body, too, in these moments where your instincts kick in. I was really grateful that my instincts kicked in today, and I was able to get us off that path because I don't even know how I really figured out how to do it. And I was also really glad that I didn't let my dog kill that bunny because she could have possibly been trampled by a rattlesnake or killed by a coyote in that moment, too.

So there are times when it's okay to not give in to our instincts, and there's times when it's okay to. But just having an awareness and checking in with your body as far as what's happening inside of you, I think, is just the best, the best place we can go to as far as being healthy and understanding that we all have triggers and we all have these things, and just recognizing that it's okay, it's part of who we are, but how can we manage them to the best of our abilities and to the most effectiveness, I guess, in our day?

So hope this was helpful for you guys today. I hope you learned something from my little lesson this morning. Always bring water when you hike in the desert and at altitude, and just keeping an eye out for those snakes and things that could potentially distract your path. So have a great day. Enjoy the weather, wherever you are in the world. If it's not this beautiful where you are, I'm sorry. But just know that through the storms, God always brings the sun, so you will see the son again. God bless.