What's The Rusch

Episode Summary
In this episode, Rebecca welcomes Dr. Jaimie Lusk, a Marine Corps veteran, clinical psychologist, and endurance athlete, whose life’s work bridges the worlds of trauma recovery, adventure, and community healing. Their conversation moves beyond the surface of resilience, exploring what it means to truly thrive after survival. Together, they unpack the messy, beautiful process of listening to your inner wisdom, honoring the body’s need for rest, and finding clarity through movement and nature. This episode is a deep dive into the art of staying open, even after life cracks you wide open, and the power of community in the healing journey.
Show Notes
Rebecca and Dr. Lusk explore:
The difference between surviving and thriving and how to recognize when you’re ready for more than just getting by
How Jaimie’s experience as a Marine and psychologist shapes her approach to trauma, moral injury, and complex grief
The role of nature, movement, and adventure in building resilience and self-trust
Why healing is never a solo endeavor, and how community and purpose fuel recovery
The importance of tuning into your “inner knower” and honoring intuition, even when it runs counter to external expectations
Practical ways to integrate mind-body practices, from breathwork to outdoor experiences, into daily life

Transformative Insights
Healing is a practice, not a destination—one that requires both fierce compassion and honest self-reflection
Sometimes the nervous system needs space and movement before words can land
True resilience is about staying open and choosing connection, even after hardship
The “script” of toughness can drown out our real needs; learning to listen inward is a radical act

Vulnerable Moments
Jaimie shares her journey from the battlefield to the therapy room, and how her own healing informs her work
Rebecca and Jaimie reflect on the challenges of letting go of high-performance identities to embrace rest and recovery
Both discuss the ongoing process of moving from impenetrable strength to authentic vulnerability

Practical Wisdom
How to use nature as a co-therapist: simple ways to bring the outdoors into your healing process
Tools for checking in with your intuition and honoring what you need in the moment
The value of community, mentorship, and shared adventure in sustaining long-term growth

Personal Growth
Jaimie’s evolution from “mud-loving kid” to Marine, psychologist, and advocate for...

Kaya Turski’s story isn’t just about medals or firsts, it’s about what happens when the thing you love most gets taken away, and you’re forced to meet yourself without the helmet, goggles, and identity that once felt impenetrable. Kaya shares how pain shaped her from the very beginning, starting with a catastrophic crash at 18 that led to emergency pancreatic surgery, and how a lifetime of impact, whiplash, and chronic symptoms eventually pushed her out of competition before 2018, whether she was ready or not.
In this conversation, we explore what “Fly Always” really means when you can’t do your sport the way you used to, and how Kaya has rebuilt her life through honesty, values work, and learning to create space for herself and others. From the moment she told her coach, “I’m done…pull me out,” to the dark, quiet years of healing back home in Montreal, Kaya walks us through the hardest kind of courage: the kind that looks like surrender, asking for help, and choosing self-care on an 8/10 pain day.
Show Notes
In this episode, Rebecca and Kaya explore:
How rollerblading and skateparks became Kaya’s foundation for freestyle—and why she taught herself to ski at 17 by taking the Greyhound to Whistler every day
The misconception that elite freestyle athletes are fearless—and why fear is part of staying alive on “hundred-foot kickers”
The difference between chosen pain (growth) and unchosen pain (life, injury, heartbreak)—and why the second one is where “the real work” begins
The crash that sliced Kaya’s pancreas in half, the ICU in San Francisco, and being told to leave skiing behind before her career even began
How chronic headaches, cumulative impacts, and undiagnosed concussions became an invisible war that forced retirement a year before 2018
The moment at Worlds in Spain when Kaya finally said, “I surrender…this is enough,” and made the call to stop
Why identity can get dangerously fused to performance—and what it takes to become “more than one thing”
The question Dr. Mike Gervais asked that cracked Kaya open: “Why are you here on this earth?”
The real meaning of “Fly Always”: create space, take the leap, inspire—and why “creating space” starts with honesty
What “flying” looks like now: self-care, hard conversations, sitting with pain instead of escaping it, and “standing in the center of the fire” with yourself
How mindfulness “micro-breaks” and Rebecca’s “brain breaks” help regulate the nervous system and bring you back steadier, brighter, more present
The six-year healing chapter: moving back to Montreal, low capacity, and rebuilding from a dark period—one phone call at a time

Transformative Insights
Pain has layers. There’s pain that expands you (chosen) and pain that humbles you (unchosen)—and the second one asks for a different kind of strength.

In this episode of What’s the Rusch, Rebecca welcomes explorer-author Craig Childs, a man whose life is spent listening deeply to the land. Known for tracing ancient migration routes, following water across vast deserts, flying through curtains of Virga, and biking into the darkest sky in America, Craig’s work reveals a world still full of mystery for those willing to pay attention.
This conversation moves through ghost-lit writing rooms, ritual landscapes, long bike journeys, serendipity, and the internal shifts that only happen when we slow down enough to let the world permeate us. Together Craig and Rebecca explore why immersion, not arrival, is what transforms us.
Show Notes:
Immersion as the Pathway to Truth
Why Craig must be in a place—feeling the ground, light, wind—for the story to reveal itself
How walking ancient routes or biking across deserts becomes a form of listening
The difference between reading landscape through photographs vs. letting it enter your body

Hemingway’s House & the Ghost of Influence
Craig’s three-week writing residency in Ernest Hemingway’s preserved home in Idaho
The strange, creative tension of living where Hemingway lived—and even feeling watched
How inhabiting another writer’s space reshaped Craig’s awareness of language and simplicity

Energy, Memory & Mystery in the Natural World
The ineffable sensations some landscapes hold—ritual sites, ancient paths, places marked by loss
How intention sharpens awareness of what we cannot explain
Rebecca’s story of biking 1,200 miles along the Ho Chi Minh Trail to reach her father’s crash site, and the unexpected peace found there

The Wild Dark: Riding Into the Night
Craig’s decision to bike—not hike or drive—from the brightest sky (Las Vegas) to the darkest sky in Nevada
Understanding the Bortle Scale, and how each night revealed an entirely different sky
What humanity loses when we stop looking upward—and the questions the night sky asks of us

Creative Curiosity & How Stories Choose Us
How Craig selects each new book subject: serendipity, timing, emotional bandwidth, personal readiness
Why some stories (such as those rooted in trauma) demand discernment, and why he sometimes says no
Moving from archaeology, to animals, to geology, and now to mountain lions

Internal Exploration & the Dialogue Within
The constant internal conversations that unfold when moving across landscapes

In this episode, Rebecca welcomes her friend, author, and legendary peak-performance researcher Steven Kotler for a conversation that weaves together science, sport, creativity, and the deeper human quest for what’s possible. Steven has spent decades decoding flow, the neurobiological state where we feel our best and perform our best, but this conversation goes far beyond definitions.
Together, Rebecca and Steven explore why flow is accessible to everyone, what happens when you chase it too hard, and why recovery is a form of grit. Steven also opens up about the period of his life when Lyme disease left him bedridden, suicidal, and stripped of his identity, and how an unexpected moment in the ocean became the spark that rebuilt everything.
This is a conversation about curiosity, resilience, and how the smallest actions, walking the dog, doodling on a page, stepping outside, can literally help us find our way back to ourselves.
Show Notes
In this episode, Rebecca and Steven explore:
Understanding Flow & Peak Performance
What flow actually is from a neurobiological perspective
Why flow follows focus—and the 28 triggers that bring us into the present moment
The different forms of flow: individual, interpersonal, group, and communitas
Why flow operates on a four-stage cycle (and why you can’t be in flow all the time)

Chasing Flow vs. Working With It
The danger of using risk as a flow trigger
How novelty and creativity create safer, more sustainable pathways into flow
Why action sports athletes often “break things” chasing that feeling
How micro-changes—like interpreting terrain creatively—can upgrade performance without increasing danger

Recovery, Afterglow & the Science of the Come-Down
What happens in the brain after a massive flow state
Why a big flow day almost guarantees a low-performance day right after
The neurochemical crash that mimics the comedown of recreational drugs
How to use healthy recovery habits to shorten the “cost of flow”

Steven's Journey Through Illness
Steven recounts the years when Lyme disease left him unable to walk across a room
The suicidal moment when he believed he’d become a lifelong burden
The friend who insisted he go surfing—and the wave that triggered a full-blown, mystical macro-flow state
How repeated exposure to flow helped reboot his immune system and rebuild his life
What neuro-immunology reveals about the connection between flow, healing, and homeostasis

Flow, Longevity & Life Design
Why immersion in nature is one of the most potent flow triggers
The role of action sports and outdoor movement in mental health and aging
Why walking—even slowly—is medicine for the nervous system and the brain
How Steven teaches older adults to park-ski using creativity instead of risk

Transformative Insights
Flow is trainable. With the right structure, most people can increase flow by 70–80% within eight weeks.
Recovery is a grit skill. High performers burn out not from doing too much—but from never shutting down.
Creativity microdosing between tasks keeps you in flow and prevents ego spikes that knock you out of it.
Tragedy can be a teleportation chamber. Sometimes the hardest experiences become the doorway to the life we wanted but couldn’t reach on our own.
Movement + nature = neurobiological reset. Just 20 minutes outdoors begins to flush stress hormones and restore baseline...

This conversation with Cam Wurf is a deep dive into the mindset, curiosity, and longevity of one of the most relentlessly adaptable athletes on the planet. Instead of simply talking results, Cam opens the door to the many evolutions of his career, from Olympic rowing to WorldTour cycling to Ironman racing, and the mindset that’s allowed him to thrive for decades. What emerges is a portrait of someone who never stops learning, never stops playing, and never stops believing there’s always another layer to uncover.
We explore how setbacks nudged him toward new paths, why versatility keeps him alive in sport, and what it really takes to keep showing up at the highest level in your 40s with joy, grit, and childlike enthusiasm. It’s a masterclass in reinvention, resilience, and refusing to stay in any lane someone else draws for you.
Show Notes
In this episode, Rebecca and Cam explore:
Growing up in Tasmania and the importance of showing younger athletes what’s possible when you come from a small place
The mentorship moments that shaped his Olympic debut — including the mindset shift that changed everything
How injuries became directional markers rather than derailments
The surprising twists from rowing → pro cycling → finance → back to cycling → Ironman
Why variety has been the secret weapon behind his longevity
The psychology of coming back stronger after disappointment
What it takes to recover from one World Championship and qualify for Kona two weeks later
His love of training, playfulness, and why he still feels lucky every day he gets to move

Transformative Insights:
Longevity isn’t about pushing harder, it’s about changing stimulus. Cam attributes his decades of elite performance to switching disciplines before burnout ever set in.
Your physiology stays; your ability to use it evolves. Cam’s VO₂ max hasn’t changed in 20+ years, but how he optimizes it has.
Belief is a skill. Cam shares how early wins cemented a lifelong ability to trust his capacity to come back from anything.
Transitions often follow hard moments. But instead of retreating, Cam uses setbacks as invitations to grow.
Curiosity is a performance multiplier. Training with boxers, triathletes, and cyclists expands what he thinks is possible.

Vulnerable Moments:
Reflecting on not being fully present before the World Championship in Nice, and how family stress impacted performance
Opening up about the emotional weight of disappointing results and the phone calls that follow
Discussing fatherhood, the shift in priorities, and what “winning” looks like at home
His young son’s broken collarbone — and how watching his resilience mirrored Cam’s own approach to setbacks

Practical Wisdom:
“If you’re going to beat me, you’re going to work for it.” The mantra that carried him through a brutal qualification race
Why technique, mobility, and efficiency now matter more than simply training harder
How to recover fast enough to race again within 14 days
The importance of believing in your coach and your process — otherwise the work doesn’t matter
A reminder that positivity costs nothing, but negativity costs everything

Personal Growth Themes:
The shift from doing three sports to mastering the details within each
Learning to chip away the unnecessary — using Michelangelo’s “David” as a metaphor for athletic evolution
Building a life outside of endurance identity: partnership, fatherhood, stability
Finding joy again through play, humor, community, and mentorship
Seeing possibility in every next chapter —...