CHRIS: Stress, it definitely affects my sleep.
And this is just going back a few years, you know.
This is not such a big issue these days. But, actually that's not true, it is.
(CHUCKLES)
Yeah, like I’ll go to sleep fine, and then at 2:30.
(IMITATES EXPLOSION) There’s a shot of adrenaline
and my brain will just start going through a checklist of things.
Be like, "Does that bother me? Does that... Oh, that one, yeah good,
"let’s think about that, let’s tear that apart."
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)
MALE VOICE: Are you getting nervous a bit now?
I have a little wave of nausea.
CHRIS: Sometimes, I don’t know even why.
And I wish I could deal with that stress better.
Just got a whole lot realer, didn't it?
CHRIS: Not just because it sucks...
MALE VOICE: Gotcha.
...but also, it could be killing me.
But it turns out, one of the best ways
to protect myself from the ravages of stress
is to confront it head on.
(MUSIC CONTINUES)
So, here goes.
(MUSIC ENDS)
So, tell me, what are some of the things that stress you out?
(SIGHS) My God, the usual stuff, I guess. And different things at different times.
-Like? -Um...
(CAR HORN HONKS)
-Sorry. -MODUPE: For goodness sake.
What makes me nervous is driving this... (BLEEP) ...car.
(CARS HONKING)
CHRIS: Stress can often be a big part of my life.
So, that's why I’m here with Dr. Modupe Akinola.
A renowned social psychologist with a ground-breaking approach to stress.
You had to have something that was stressful?
-Think of like your most stressful... -Yeah, I’ve got three kids,
-that’s pretty intense. -last week.
-You know. -Yeah. Yes, it is.
-You're trying to manage three kids... -Yeah.
-...keep them all happy, healthy. -MODUPE: Yep.
Then if I’m working
-on top of that and training. -Yeah.
(GRUNTS)
And then, like on the weekend I got, you know, incredibly overwhelmed
and the kids are losing it. We're in a restaurant,
people are watching, they're like, probably taking photos as well.
You have a short temper
-and you’re trying... -Okay.
...not to sort of get angry.
And I feel my heart rate go up, short of breath, that kind of thing.
MODUPE: It’s important for Chris to make a change,
because stress isn't just about feeling bad.
Over time, it can be a killer,
contributing to illnesses like cancer, diabetes, and heart disease.
One of the things we're gonna do is teach you some ways
to change your mindset in overcoming some of the stress that you feel.
-Yeah. -I call it, kind of dating your stress.
-Yeah. -You need to date your stress.
-I’ve got a really solid relationship... -See what it likes, Yeah?
-...with my stress. -Well, yeah.
Well, we need to make it a healthier relationship.
It’s a little dysfunctional.
MODUPE: All of us have the ability to control our stress.
But in order to do that, we need to face it head-on.
So, I'm going to teach Chris tools and techniques
to help him address the stress that’s unavoidable in life.
It might seem crazy, but to do that,
I’ll be asking Chris to put himself in an incredibly stressful situation.
Okay. In three days, you’ll be walking across that crane.
(CHUCKLES) Um...
MODUPE: That tower is 900 feet high, that's 275 meters.
Hang on. (CHUCKLES)
Yeah, that's high.
-You sound a little nervous right now. -I'm just kinda wonder...
No, the... I am nervous. Very nervous.
What’s making you nervous about that?
-Because part of this... -Death is usually a big role.
-Death is a little part of it? -Yeah, yeah. I don’t like heights, really.
This isn’t about the feat of it,
this is about preparing you to be able to manage and be present
with the emotions that you are feeling right now.
-It's kind of like... -Yep.
...training your mindset to be okay and embrace the stress,
-so that it doesn’t kill us later. -Yeah, right.
And by the time we do this, you’ll be ready.
I’m both curious, excited and scared... (BLEEP)
CHIRS: And at this point, I know what you're thinking.
What the hell am I doing this for?
Truth is, most days I feel pretty young.
But, the clock is ticking.
-(INHALES) -(GRUNTS)
CHRIS: Things that might shorten my life...
(EXHALES)
...are already at work within me.
The good news, there's something I can do about it.
(YELLS)
CHRIS: So, over the next year
I'm taking on six extraordinary challenges.
-Let's go! -CHRIS: Pushing myself to the very limit.
To discover how we can all unlock
the secrets of living a healthier, longer life.
-CHRIS: There it is! -MALE VOICE: Yeah. Let's go.
-There she is, mate. -That big tall skinny thing.
And this big tall skinny thing is gonna be taking the walk of doom!
It doesn’t look any smaller from over here!
CHRIS: With just three days till I'm meant to be doing this crazy challenge,
I'm hoping that I can lean on my good friends,
Aaron Grist and Luke Zocchi, for a bit of moral support.
-CHRIS: Looking at it again makes me sick. -ZOC: I can see the crane up there dude,
-it’s up there already, it’s ready to go! -Looks like it's kinda wobbling a bit.
Well, looks so sketchy!
-That is huge. -AARON: Yeah, mate, have fun.
Hopefully, the wind dies down but generally through the day
it gets windier so...
CHRIS: Come to think of it, I'm not sure why I've brought them along.
Especially as the plan for today is
for Modupe to give me my first lesson in dealing with stress.
Okay, so, here's what I need you to do. I need you to take your shirt off.
-Woah! -MODUPE: Yeah.
And what we’re gonna do is, I'm gonna put that shirt on you
because that allows me to measure your physiological responses.
Looks like a dress. Mini skirt, what is this?
-MODUPE: No, it’s like a singlet and... -Okay.
...these are worn by NASA astronauts, actually.
-Are they? -So, just gonna take off your shirt!
Guys, give me a hand.
-Okay. -MODUPE: Okay, here we go.
AARON: He’s definitely done push-ups before he's done this.
ZOC: He’s definitely flexing. He’s holding his breath.
I’m not flexing at all!
It needs to be tight enough, so that we get the signal
but that feels good?
-Just to relax posture as well. -Look at you showing off.
And what I also need you to do is to put this over your head...
-All right. -...and this part
should be right around there.
And that's going to measure your blood pressure.
MODUPE: To prepare Chris for the crane walk,
I want to start by making him experience a stressful situation
designed to help him get a better understanding
of how his mind affects his body.
MODUPE; So, you see your blood pressure...
Blood pressure, huh?
...we see your breathing rate, your heart rate here.
-Got it. -You know, right now,
you're at 65 beats per minute.
So, this is going to be what I consider your baseline
and then compare everything to that.
So, I've checked Chris’s heart rate when he's relaxed,
and I'm gonna see how it changes
when he's doing something that's stressful for him.
-That's... I can see that hand. -Yeah?
MODUPE: So, I want him to experience
a virtual reality version of the crane walk.
Okay, so, all I want you to do is walk across that plank.
And off you go.
CHRIS: Woah! See you guys.
(CHUCKLES)
-It’s a long way up, huh? -MODUPE: Yep.
The VR experience is fascinating.
Whoa.
Wow.
CHRIS: One part of my brain is very aware that it’s not real.
The other part of it is screaming, "This is crazy! What are we doing?
"We’re gonna die!” I feel it in my stomach.
The same nervous energy that I’d have if I was actually standing on a building.
MODUPE: So, his heart rate was at like 65 and it’s definitely going up.
His breathing rate is going up, it was around 12 before.
There’s definitely some fear.
It feels super unsteady now!
This is... I can’t do it! (CHUCKLES)
MODUPE: Even though there’s no real danger to Chris
his brain is perceiving threat, his stress is kicking in.
It’s the classic fight-or-flight response.
(CHUCKLES)
CHRIS: When my brain senses something stressful,
it’s like a switch is flipped.
My nerves send my whole system into overdrive...
triggering a flood of hormones into my bloodstream.
My breathing speeds up, my heart starts racing, I feel wired.
In moments of danger, that energy surge would help me fight or run away.
Then when it's over, my stress circuit should switch off. No harm done.
But when our stress doesn't go away,
one of those hormones, cortisol, keeps on flowing...
and our fight or flight circuit can’t fully shut down.
Over time, we get burnt out, which can lead to high blood pressure,
a misfiring immune system, and elevated blood sugar.
All increasing the risk of deadly disease.
(SIGHS) So weird.
How did my heart rate increase?
So, here’s what’s really interesting is that you... it was...
as you were going up, it increased to give you the energy
and mobilize you to do what you need to do.
The problem is, if you end up having that elevated level like,
throughout the day, that’s when things become,
um, less healthy, less functional.
Because that would mean that your body is not shutting down
and turning off, and resting the way it needs to.
What it made me think was, like, "This is gonna suck when I really do it."
And that is what we’re gonna be working on!
Yeah. Zoc. You've got to have a go!
My buddy, Zoc really doesn’t like heights...
-Now, here we go. -Oh, my God.
...so I figure this is a chance to push his fight or flight to the max.
ZOC: Oh, what the... (BLEEP)
(SHUDDERS) Oh, boy.
-No. No. -(MODUPE CHUCKLES)
-Go. Let's go. Go. -Oh, man. I'm full shaking, dude.
-AARON: Look at his legs. -CHRIS: Go.
-I can't do it. -Do it.
-AARON: Come on, Zoc.
-CHRIS: Go, go, go. -Come on, come on, come on.
I can't do it.
Go, go, go. Just take three, four steps, go.
-MODUPE: Nice. -Go, go, go.
-Come on, Zoochie. -AARON: Come on, Zoc.
MODUPE: Keep talking to yourself, it's helping.
I've got this, Luke. I've got this.
(BLEEP) I'm full sh... (BLEEP)
-(YELPS) -(ALL CHUCKLE)
It's so real! That is so real. I felt like I was falling.
-You don't understand how real that is. -What do you mean?
(ALL LAUGHING)
-Dude, that is so... -CHRIS: Okay, I may not be as bad as Zoc,
but to be honest, I'm really not that keen on heights,
and the VR has made me feel
a little more intimidated about the crane walk than I was before.
But if Modupe's training can help me control my stress response
and lower my risk of disease, then, hey, I'm up for it.
MODUPE: I want to show Chris that he can reduce the risk to his health
if he dials down his reaction to stress by taking control of his mind and body.
So, that even when he's walking across the crane, he can do it calmly.
To prepare him for this challenge, over the next two days,
my plan is for Chris to work with people who deal with extreme stress
on a regular basis.
Right.
I’m going to actually introduce you to two Special Forces officers.
-Harry and Justin. -G'day, Chris, how are ya?
-Good, thanks. -G'day, Chris.
Hey, Chris, welcome to Special Forces Resilience Training, mate.
-Thank you. -MODPUE: So, your gonna engage
in a drown-proofing exercise
which is some of what the Special Forces do.
It's designed to overload you with stress,
but I'm going to show you some tips
-and tools to help you get through it. -Yeah.
This activity is designed to build mental toughness
in our men and women in Special Forces.
Throughout the activity, your feet and hands will be bound at all times.
I think I find myself being stressed in situations
that I haven’t been able to prepare for.
There’s all sorts of stupid stuff going through my head at this point.
Now, I start to think, what if I actually drown?
If while you are underwater you have any sensations of blackout,
then just return to the surface and we’ll rescue you from there.
If you contravene any of the instructions we give you,
if you pass out or drown, it’s a fail.
-Okay, you ready? -CHRIS: Yeah.
HARRY: On with the first task, bobbing. Go!
CHRIS: The aim is to kick off the bottom 20 times,
giving me just a split second to take in enough air.
Into a rhythm! Breathing! Rhythm!
Of course, I know I’ve got enough oxygen,
and I know these guys aren’t gonna let me drown.
But I can feel my heartbeat racing.
The stress rising.
Underwater summersaults, when you're ready.
I can feel my lungs starting to burn.
Okay, that's a fail. Swim two laps.
It's brutal,
and it's getting harder and harder.
That's two fails.
How’s he doing?
-He's a sinker. -Yeah.
Okay, go into floating!
I can’t even get my head up enough to catch a breath.
That’s when the panic begins.
(MUFFLED GRUNTING)
So, Chris wasn't exactly a successful outing, apart from the...
Well, nothing, you failed everything.
How you doing?
It was hard work and there was just so much technique
I think and... and also just...
(PANTING)
...just not getting into a situation
-where you panic, you know? -Right.
MODUPE: Not many of us will be subjected to drown proofing,
but we all find ourselves out of our depth.
We experience situations where we are not prepared
and we tell ourselves, "I’m a loser, I can't do this."
One thing is to use positive self-talk.
This is about reframing how you think when you think negatively.
Right.
Can I actually do this to a more positive way of thinking of something?
How can I do this differently? So, what will I gain out of this experience?
Positive self-talk will help Chris realize that our fight or flight system
doesn't just respond to the outside world.
Our own thoughts and emotions can also influence that circuit.
CHRIS: If I'm under pressure and I believe I can't cope...
my brain hits the panic button...
telling my fight or flight circuit to shift gear
and prepare for the very worst.
Anticipating injury, arteries and veins tighten,
sending blood in toward my core.
So, there's less chance I'll bleed to death.
The problem is, with less blood now reaching my muscles and brain,
my mental and physical strength starts to flag.
But, just by thinking more positively,
I can flip this physical response.
Opening my blood vessels back up, so I can find the energy to power through.
I'm still wired, but my stress is no longer working against me.
Chris, we’re gonna go back into the pool, reassess you on floating again.
Off you go.
(GASPS)
He's going to hate this!
CHRIS: Back in the water, I can feel the same pressure taking hold.
And then I do what Modupe told me.
I shut out all the negative thoughts, and I just keep telling myself,
"I can do this, I have enough oxygen. I’m not gonna drown, I'm not gonna drown."
Come on, come on, come on.
And now, I feel a sense of calm.
I focus on my rhythm and I know, I can get the job done.
-This is better. -Yeah.
You can get into a really nice rhythm
-with the bob. -MODUPE: Yeah, a good rhythm.
HARRY: And I think the key here is, he’s relaxing,
-he's thinking through it... -Yeah.
...he's applying some of the tools you’ve given him.
Yeah. Yep.
So, the last activity we’ll go on with is the mask retrieval.
Come on, big dog. Find it.
I'm feeling more positive, confident, stronger in the water.
It's like my stress is no longer holding me back.
Yep. Come on.
-MODUPE: Yes! -HARRY: Now, bring it over here.
Okay, turn with your back to the wall.
-Yeah, okay. -Yep, like that. Ready? One, two, three.
MODUPE: All right.
Okay, so how did that feel?
That was... that was a bit more intense.
Yeah. You did much better the second time in the float.
-That’s the positive self-talk. -Yeah. Yeah.
So, going forward, learning how to incorporate
some of these psychological tools to your everyday life.
Even if it’s a script or, you know, filming something.
What are some of the negative things that come in your head?
Like if I feel like I haven’t prepped enough
or I feel like, I don’t quite know the script as well.
Do you ever catastrophize though?
-It used to be crazy. -Right, right.
It used to, like, be debilitating. And, yeah, I couldn't speak
and I would think, "If I screw this up, I won't sell the movie properly,
-"the movie will tank." -Right. Right.
-All of that, you know? -You know you want it to go perfectly
but it's not going to.
Nothing’s going to go perfectly, so you convert that to positive self-talk
by saying, "I do this all the time, I can start again."
Yeah, right.
CHRIS: Today, I worked with the soldiers in the pool.
A lot of pool work and it was incredibly exhausting and taxing,
particularly on the lungs.
Yeah, it’s really interesting, kind of exposing myself to stressful situations
and becoming comfortable in uncomfortable environments,
and that’s what this is all about,
and hopefully adapting that into my regular life.
So, I think it’s about perspective,
this is what I’m absorbing through this experience.
Too often, our fight or flight is in constant fluctuation
due to things that just aren't important, you know.
My eyes are really sore from all the chlorine.
But, that’s the least of my problems, isn’t it?
I’m about to walk off the edge of a building. (EXCLAIMS)
MODUPE: The crane challenge is extremely intimidating for Chris.
But I want him to realize, these techniques aren't just
going to help reduce the risk of stress damaging his health.
They can also help us perform at our best when we're under intense pressure.
CHRIS: After an accident, in 2013,
Faith Dickey completely changed the way she thinks about stress.
FAITH: I was driving home to visit family for the holidays
and my car hit a patch of black ice
and I guess in that moment I realized,
I was completely at peace with my potential death.
After that accident, I just realized, making stress your friend,
you learn ways to channel it.
(PANTING)
FAITH: I believe if you avoid all risk...
you never learn what you're capable of.
Loosen up.
-How does the tension look to you? -MALE VOICE: I think it looks good.
CHRIS: Since her crash, Faith has gone on to break
multiple world records in highlining.
A discipline that requires absolute control over the mind and body.
It's easy for my mind to start filling with fears or stresses.
Because it’s a natural response to get scared
when you're super high off the ground on a wobbly line stretched over a void.
I have an arsenal of tools to get myself across high lines.
Breathe.
FAITH: And sometimes all I need is that small bit of positive thinking
that I can take one step.
You've got this.
That might look like yelling at myself. "Come on.
"Come on. Come on."
"Relax, you've got this."
And it’s so funny how self-talk can be so rewarding.
If I’m on the middle of a highline and a huge gust of wind comes...
Whoa! Come on.
FAITH: I just pull from my toolbelt another technique I know to deal with it.
Some people call it segmentation.
I try not to think about the whole challenge.
Instead, I break it down into little chunks.
I’m able to just focus on one step at a time.
Breathe.
One foot in front of the other.
And that one step can propel me all the way across.
I walk through fear.
I don’t try to make it go away.
And that has been really powerful in other realms of my life
where I go in for a job interview, an everyday stressful situation,
I can really transfer what I’ve learned on the highline...
And so, things that used to stress me out a lot
no longer affect me in the same way.
CHRIS: When I think about it,
I know I don't have too much that should stress me out.
My family are healthy and happy, I've got a career I'm proud of.
But I can still feel that stress eating away at me.
So, for the sake of my long-term health, I really want to try to get on top of it.
What is something that gives me huge anxiety and... and evokes stress
is when I'm trying to take care of too many things.
-Yes. -You know, when I've got...
-Yes. -I've got too many projects I'm working on
and too many emails and phone calls to respond to.
It's, like... just becomes a little overwhelming.
I think the key step in that is diagnosing
why do I feel like I need to say yes to all these things?
Yeah. I mean, when I first started acting,
you know, my parents had very little money growing up
-and... -Yeah. Yeah.
And talking about to my dad one day
about when he's going to be able to pay the bank off.
-And him just saying, you know... -Yeah.
-"Never, we'll... -Yeah.
"we'll die having to pay it off."
And that kind of really bothering me from a very young age.
You know.
Taking it upon myself just to say,
I don't want that that for them, I don’t want it for me and my family.
-Yeah. -And,
if I'm totally honest. I did acting to get my parents out of debt,
but I still have that thing of, like, it's all gonna go away.
-So, it's all going to run away... -Yeah.
...if I don't say yes to these things,
but then there is just this momentum that occurs and things...
-Yeah. -...just kind of pile
-on top of each other, and... -Yeah.
It just kicks you in the gut, you know?
MODUPE: Chris gets overwhelmed
when the pressures in his life become too much.
But I have a technique I can show him to help with those intense feelings.
So, I’m going to put him to the test in a training exercise
where stress is at its peak.
(DISTANT SIRENS)
MODUPE: Today, what I wanted to do is expose you to...
a different type of extreme stress.
-And... -I'm tipping it has something
-to do with fire. -Yes, it does.
(SIRENS WAILING)
So, yesterday, I nearly got drowned and today,
I’m going to be burnt to a crisp.
This isn’t stress exposure, this is medieval torture.
-There's a fire, boys. Let's go. -(ALL CHUCKLE)
CHRIS: Since Zoc did so well during the VR test,
I thought he could also use some of Modupe’s tips.
So, yesterday, we did the self-talk but there are times
when you’re just in the middle of the action
and we feel that rush of adrenaline, when you feel that heart rate increasing.
One of the key things is to just breathe.
This is what first responders do and it’s called box breathing.
-Breathe, hold, exhale, hold. -Okay.
So, imagine four sides of a box.
What you’re going to do is
inhale for four seconds, hold it for four seconds,
exhale for four seconds, hold it for four seconds.
So, that is the process. Four seconds for each. Breathe, hold, exhale, hold.
Breathe, one, two, three, four. Pause, one, two, three, four.
This is an extreme situation here, but you can imagine how,
in any circumstance in your life when you feel that heart rate increasing,
-you can use this technique. -Breathe.
-MODUPE: Breathe. Breathe through it. -ZOC: Got it.
This simple breathing technique demonstrates that the stress signals
connecting our brain and body aren't just one way,
the body can send signals back.
CHRIS: The more stressed I am, the faster I breathe,
and the faster I breathe, the more stressed I become.
It’s a vicious circle.
But if I can breathe slowly and deeply,
the nerve fibers in my chest
will detect the change in movement
and flood my brain with signals to chill out,
short-circuiting my fight or flight system.
Throughout my body, everything is dialed down.
From heart rate, to stress hormones, to anxiety.
(SIREN WAILING)
This is a simulation of a residential fire.
Tara, Chris, you’ll be crew one.
CHRIS: To help me through the training exercise,
Modupe has teamed me up with Tara Lowe.
She's a firefighter with sixteen years’ experience.
TARA: Chris and I need to locate where the fire is.
And then just pop your neck strap right over here
so you can pull your flashlight off.
Obviously, we need to get that fire out as quickly as possible,
but also then to rescue any casualties that may be in that building.
(SIREN WAILING)
TARA: And it will be overwhelming for him
because it’s that really acute sudden stress.
You've got to bring three pretty heavy dummies out.
I want CAN reports telling me exactly how much air you’ve got left,
and I want you to get everybody out of that structure
before you run out of that air.
Okay, so control your breathing.
I don't want you using all your air supply.
Get to work!
CHRIS: With limited air and three bodies to find
I’m going to have to breathe slowly but still work as fast as I can.
Okay. We have crew one entering now.
TARA: Okay, forwards.
(BOTH BREATHING RAPIDLY)
TARA: Okay, see the door at the end, make your way towards that.
-Locate the fire. -CHRIS: I can't see the door.
TARA: Keep going forward.
CHRIS: It's completely dark, it's very unsettling.
It’s hard, hard work and I’m struggling to even get my breath.
(BREATHING RAPIDLY)
TARA: Stop. We're gonna take a look inside, see what's there.
Ready? Go.
(FIRE RUMBLES)
TARA: We have a working fire.
I'm trying to remember everything I've been taught.
CHRIS: What do I do, hit it?
TARA: Okay, direct it straight onto the fire.
I’m tryna sort of listen. It's loud, it's hot, it’s uncomfortable.
I'm exhausted. My lungs are burning,
trying to, you know, pull in enough oxygen.
(BREATHING RAPIDLY)
TARA: I want you to do a search, Chris, of the whole area.
You're looking for a casualty, okay?
Okay.
He's breathing super hard. It's fast.
Oh, my gosh, it's so much faster than when he started.
He's puffing. (CHUCKLES)
(BREATHING RAPIDLY)
CHRIS: I've got a casualty.
Pulling the extra weight is making it even harder to breathe.
-I see one coming out. Okay, okay. -Yeah, we're winning.
There's one coming out.
What’s your air? One hundred. You don't have much air,
but we haven't got an all clear on the upstairs level yet,
but we do need to make sure that it's all clear.
-Can you do that for me? -CHRIS: Okay.
Yeah.
I can't see.
CHRIS: I know I’m breathing too fast,
and I'll need to slow it down if I’m gonna search the upper floors.
MALE VOICE: (OVER RADIO) Crew one, get a quick all clear.
CHRIS: Can't see from here. It's just a door.
(FIRE RUMBLES)
MALE VOICE: Crew one, how's your air?
TARA: Chris, how much air do you have?
We are at 70 bar, over.
Received, crew one, you've got 70.
I need you to withdraw from the structure.
TARA: Chris, we need to get out. We need to get out now, withdrawing.
CHRIS: With my air running low, the chief aborts the mission.
MALE VOICE: Let's go. Come on, Chris, come on...
I found, in the fire, the box breathing sort of went out the window
because the breathing technique I was using was just getting
as much oxygen as I could, you know.
When you’re in the thick of it...
you’re kind of just
in survival mode, I guess.
I feel very flat and sort of empty and disappointed in myself
that I've let that stress control me in that situation.
I can't imagine if it was for real.
What that would be like.
I’ve seen many firefighters who've perhaps divorced or separated
from their partners, and actually when you look at it,
it’s that underlying build-up of stress that they weren’t aware of.
-Okay... -It plays out in that gradual breakdown
of people's lives, really, and their physical health
and their emotional and mental health.
Okay, so I'm just going to invite everyone to close their eyes.
MODUPE: An hour after the training, Chris’s stress response is still high.
So, I’m going to monitor his breathing rate
in a mindful meditation session.
Firefighters regularly use this practice
to reduce long term stress by focusing on what they are sensing
and feeling in the moment.
FEMALE VOICE: Be aware of all of the cells,
moving through the physical body from head to toe.
CHRIS: Even though I'm familiar with mindful meditation,
I still don't find it that easy just to relax on command...
especially since my mind is racing and turning over the events of the day.
And then, I pull myself back into this state of focus.
And I start to feel lot more peaceful.
MODUPE: Mindful meditation is an extremely powerful technique.
Not only does it make us feel less stressed in the moment,
if we do it regularly, it can alter our stress response.
CHRIS: The network in our brain that fires off our fight or flight circuit
needs to be hypersensitive to keep you safe.
Trouble is, all kinds of everyday pressures can set it off.
(CAR HORNS HONKING)
CHRIS: But scientists believe that as little as eight weeks of
regular mindful meditation can rewire connections
in key parts of the brain...
making us less likely to overreact to things that could stress us out.
How did my stats look? Did they change, fluctuate?
When you came in, they were higher and then there was a really, really
a marked decrease and change in what I saw when your breathing rate
went to something like four.
So, even just this 15 minutes, the difference that that makes,
what if you add to that over time or just, it becomes a practice
that's a regular thing that not only helps you
in being a firefighter for longer, but living longer and healthier.
CHRIS: I can see how these techniques will help me if I use them
when I'm stressed out in daily life.
But hacking my stress response
when I’m 900 feet up, trying to get across a narrow crane.
I really don’t know if I’m ready for that.
(DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING)
Go, mate.
Feel like a UFC fighter. We've arrived.
The nerves are definitely up there this morning.
It's making me feel sick for you.
If I look calm, this is some of the best acting I’ve ever done.
-Yeah. -You don't.
My legs are feeling like jelly...
but I'm just trying to keep my focus forward.
Oh, yuck, dude.
Just look out there. That’s disgusting! There's no way!
CHRIS: Hopefully, when I get up there to do the crane walk,
I can tell myself that this is gonna be a thrill.
This is exciting.
Instead of telling myself how scared and terrified I am.
(CHUCKLES, GROANS) Okay.
MODUPE: How are you feeling?
Yeah, I keep having moments where my brain goes,
"Oh, no, what the hell am I doing?"
And I gotta kinda reel it back and go, "No, no, I can see myself
"doing it successfully."
But I do... There's that other voice that goes, "No, no, no, no, no,
"this is not gonna work, you're gonna fail,
"you're gonna..." And I think it's just about
who you give more attention to.
It’s your mindset about that stress that can dictate whether or not
the outcome is positive or not.
I didn't sleep great last night.
I feel this weird sort of, like, vertigo feeling.
I had this image of the crane falling, smashing through a window
and me hanging in the room below.
And the crane about to tumble and having to get my harness off.
That scenario is kinda, would be interesting, wouldn’t it?
MODUPE: I'm worried Chris' head isn't in the right place.
He's got to acknowledge those negative thoughts
and move past them.
Because the real challenge today isn't just walking across the crane...
it's doing the walk calmly,
using the techniques he’s learned to keep his heart rate
and breathing under control.
How are you feeling? Are you nervous?
You keep asking me that so I’m starting to feel it a bit, yeah.
CHRIS: The moment's arrived and I'm heading up to the rooftop.
(BREATHES DEEPLY)
And I can feel my heart rate increasing.
And I just keep reminding myself why I'm doing this.
I don’t want stress to rule my life.
Or take a toll on my health.
(VOCALIZES)
-See you guys. It was fun. It was fun. -Good luck out there, mate.
-It was a fun thirty years. -You're gonna be fine.
-Giving love to you, mate. -I love you.
MODUPE: And I’ll talk to you from up there too,
-every now and then. -Yeah.
So... But you’ve got this.
See you on the other side.
(EXHALES DEEPLY)
It's windy up here.
My legs are shaking.
-Yeah, you're nervous, huh? -I'm nervous.
Step in there and just look out across. Now, you can reach these, can't you?
(GRUNTS)
Yeah. So, my feet feel incredibly heavy.
-You’re looking good up there. -He's got the arms out.
-He's ready to do it. -Don’t forget to breathe!
-(CHUCKLES) -What are you thinking?
Nothing. Just trying to enjoy the view and be comfortable
in a very uncomfortable situation.
Chris’s metrics are already well above his baseline.
I’m hoping he can keep his heart rate under a hundred beats per minute.
But right now it’s at 118 and that number is rising quickly.
I’m well aware that my brain’s saying, "What are we doing?"
It’s...
it's about... I think about thinking less, you know?
At the moment, I try to sort of think of all the things that could go wrong.
At the moment I, you know...
I just haven’t let that come into my head for a few days now.
But it's... Even now, my brain is going, "Woah, what are we doing up here?"
You know?
So, I'm standing up there, I’m looking down.
It's a long, long way. The wind’s blowing.
I think, I’ve got my friends here for support.
I’m doing my box breathing.
(BREATHES DEEPLY)
One step, just one step, one step, one step.
One step, one foot, one moment, one breath.
CHRIS: And I take one more big breath.
And I start walking.
I feel like I can’t walk properly.
MODUPE: (OVER RADIO) You're breathing really well.
This is so much better than yesterday.
My legs have gone all funky.
-(CHUCKLES) Feel super unsteady now. -ZOC: (OVER RADIO) Mind the step, dude.
(SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY)
-Oh, God. -Yeah.
I keep trying to tell myself, “It’s okay, we got this. It’s what we’ve trained for.
"Keep breathing. Stay calm."
It’s very windy up here now. And it's... it starts to feel very... Woah!
AARON: Oh. Wow!
MODUPE: His heart rate is going down a little bit.
(OVER RADIO) Nice job.
I’ve done it. This is beautiful. Look where I am, look at the view.
Soak it in. This is what I’ve been training for.
Then I realize I’ve gotta go all the way back!
I want to look down but I don’t want to look down.
But I just wanna kinda get it done.
Why did I do that? No.
And I look down and... (IMITATES SLOW MOTION)
...everything starts to kinda...
(CHUCKLES) I feel I have vertigo and huge rush of adrenaline.
Brief moments of, "Uh-oh, I can't do this."
And I can feel my heart rate increasing.
You good?
I’m just trying to lower my heart rate a bit.
-ZOC: How are the stats looking? -His heart rate, he's at 145.
-This is double his rate at rest. -AARON: Yeah.
CHRIS: Yeah, looking down is gross.
Chris, jump on the chopper mate. You’re gonna make it!
CHRIS: I really wanna focus now on the breathing techniques
and all the strategies she’s taught me to see if I can lower my heart rate,
and so I just stand there for a moment and look out.
I pull myself back into the focus state and be present in the moment.
Mindful and present.
CHRIS: And I block out any thoughts of doubt.
I just keep telling myself there’s no possibility of me not doing it.
-And I take my first step. -ZOC: There he goes.
How’s my heart rate? Has it lowered?
MODUPE: (OVER RADIO) Yeah, it’s down to 103.
It had gone up to 145, so...
-CHRIS: Yeah. -ZOC: He's got this.
CHRIS: With every step, l seem to grow more confident.
I know the techniques are working so I let myself just enjoy the experience.
I feel like I’m in control.
MODUPE: (OVER RADIO) And your heart rate is down to 90, 88, 87!
It keeps on going down, so... Look at you using those tools!
-He's giving us a bit of karate! -Now we are getting cocky here.
Confident, isn't he?
-MODUPE: (CHUCKLES) Karate kid up in here! -Yes.
-That's extremely intense. Wow. -Good job, Chris. Good job.
-Well done, mate, I’m proud of you. -MODUPE: Love it. That's great.
Was that harder than the VR?
-Insanely harder. -It is?
-It's gnarly. -Yeah.
Like, it's right there, it's right at the door,
-like, the fear. -ZOC: Yeah.
So, what level of stress was that for you?
If you had put me in that situation with no prior conversation or training
or what have you... I think I would have just gone,
"No. No way." You know.
So, this experience is not just about these acutely stressful moments like this,
but it's about the long term, the longevity,
I mean, that’s a piece of why you wanted to do this.
Every step where you focus, every moment that you breathe,
that is allowing you to live longer
because you’re not having that chronic stress response.
-Yeah. -And you’re allowing yourself
to go back to baseline naturally and when you do that,
that means you're at less risk of cardiovascular disease,
you're at less risk of not recovering when you’re sick.
So, it’s not just this moment, it’s about the long term.
Hopefully, next time the kids are having a tantrum in a restaurant
and people are filming it,
I’m trying to smile through it, be relaxed, huh?
-Yeah. -It'll be real. It won't be a performance.
I think what I’ve taken away from this experience is that...
the story you tell yourself becomes your reality.
If I told myself prior to walking out on the crane
that I wasn’t going to be able to do it or what if I fall or whatever,
then I probably would have failed, I probably wouldn’t have done it.
It really is mind over matter.
So, you don't have to be ruled by those fearful emotions.
Do we have a harness for Zoc?
Have to get a small one.
Turn that camera off.
-Yeah. -MALE VOICE: Cut it.
(UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYING)
(INHALES)
Yeah!
(MUSIC ENDS)