7 Days of Leadership Lessons from Mt Kilimanjaro (Day 4)

Day 4 on Mt Kilimanjaro was the day I learned to breathe.

The day before when we had arrived at Barranco Camp I hadn’t really taken the time to appreciate the challenge that lay before me. But on the morning of Day 4 looking at the Barranco Wall stole my breath away.

When we had started the trek, Kristen from K2 Adventures had explained to us that we needed to learn how to ‘Rest Step and Pressure Breathe’. What this entailed was taking a step, slightly lifting the foot of the other leg and resting it against the standing leg and then blowing out an explosive breath. The reason for this was as we climbed higher and the oxygen content in the air was lower, we needed to force our bodies to expel as much carbon dioxide as possible (which was accumulating at a faster rate than usual due to the lactic acid build up in our bodies from the physical exertion) and give ourselves every chance to take in as much oxygen as possible.

Rock climbing (which was another first for me) up the Barranco Wall, down the other side and up to Karanga Camp necessitated that I applied this lesson absolutely. And what I realised was that for the first time in my life, I had learned how to breathe properly using my whole body and the feeling was not only amazing but it got me to the top of the wall!

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Between learning on Day 3 how to silence my mind and on Day 4 how to breathe, the connection I felt to the mountain and the team around me was indescribable. At times I felt like laughing, other times crying and at other times jumping for joy!

Day 4 on the mountain taught me gratitude, grace and compassion. Gratitude for being able to overcome my fears. Grace through a quietness of mind and fully body breath. Compassion for the team supporting me and our planet.

And the view from Karanga Camp that night captured these feelings perfectly.