Deep Roots

A synopsis of days 54 to 57, including a strange psychological phenomenon of having no pressure after the sleep of 53; conditions becoming "pretty crazy"; Perching falling, sores and fingers; letting a wave penetrate the beautiful dry cabin at 4am; The Compass versus the GPS; Deepening one's character through suffering and space; screening sat. phone calls; Worsening conditions; A crazy finish?; S...

Values & voids; A desire to be always better; Being an inconsistent rugby player due to lack of mental control; A huge output of energy over the last 5 years to fill in my void; A "body first" method of mental prep; Between stimulus & response you have the freedom to choose; 'Everybody has a plan until you're punched in the face' - Mike Tyson; Learning your mental game through lived physic...

A panel in NUIG and a TedX Talk in Switzerland; An important practice in my life; Self-imposed barriers & untruthful perceptions; Discovering "false walls" on the Atlantic; Disturbing one's conditioning; A healthy, educational practice that does my head in at times; Why? Why? Why?   Day 51:  A good day, 45NM; Rowing 12hrs a day now seems easy; My daily rowing, fuelling and sleeping structure;...

In this episode Damian answer's listeners questions. Here's a favour of what you asked:  Why was it not acceptable, even necessary to 'horse' 3 Mars Bars into yourself considering the energy demands of what you were doing every day? Would love to hear more about your exact diet on the ocean? How did you prepare for the loneliness of it all or was the physical and mental challenge so great that it...

'Welcome to the real world'; Living in an avenue of life with, purpose, discomfort and lack of choice; Seeing the world differently because of the reality of a rugby life; Broadening my map of how I see the world; Grateful having walked in the gate of Galwegians RFC; Nervous system feedback at 11; Breaking conditioning & perceptions through the demands of professional rugby; My need for growth...

Let's visualise! Me vs. me and no getting away from that battle. Stumbling on an unseen solution to the constant battle.    Day 46:  40 miles; Tough finish to the morning working against Northerly winds; Doubling up on breakfast & lunch; No salt, pepper or hot sauce; Singing songs about grinding; The holes are growing wider on the perch.   Intra days: Singing the 'Ratlin Bog' and numerous othe...

Introduction:  I am desperate to live; Listening to my internal compass; Finding things very important during my search; The other side of the desperate coin = pain; Learning to listen to the feedback; Avoid, accept, change?; The need I value most in life is; An addiction on the truest level; Becoming good at finding a way to what's important to you   Day 44 :  A progressive degeneration off sores...

Introduction:  Visitors in their natural habitat on Day 40, visitors well distance from their natural habitat on Day 41.    Day 41 :  Delighted with an extra 3/4 miles in the last 24hrs; Deceptive conditions; A visit from Thor!; After 41 full days and thousands of sq miles of ocean, I'm 1 mile from another ocean rowing boat; I can see Remolon from time to time between the waves.   Intra days: How...

My adult life = an obsession to get better, a desperation to improve; The genesis of this was a decision, my decision; Pain inducing questions I posed to myself; Find what's valuable to me with a boot to the face; My love for rugby and how it fuelled the person I am today; layering and rewiring through actions and experience; The surpassing of rugby as a prioritised value; The importance of "Body...

Day 36:   A sleepless night with an unexpected GPS surprise at 4am; The hidden importance of a window of sleep; The absorption of some hard-fought miles; The real time reality of outcome focus versus process and a headspace treaty.  Day 37:  7 miles bringing mental deflation; Expectations are not my friend; Fighting winds but little mileage; The mindset that every moment counts. Day 38:  Obsessed...

One of my favourite moments from the Marathon des Sables; Dense & intense skies full of more stars than imaginable; Magical!; A beautiful compliment shimmering on the ocean's surface. Day 32:  Pain meds & ceasing up fingers; Long duration events and finding psychological battles; Is this programmed?; Resets, visualisation and perspective. A shooting star or the International Space Station?...

Sometime I feel like I don't belong in the modern world; Unleashing the wild man inside me; becoming uncomfortable in comfort; A coded deep communication I trust and listen too; Accepting my dark side; and feeding off actions that align with my values. Day 28-  Benign conditions; Hands flaring up dramatically overnight; This is exactly where I want to be, no complaints; Taking in as much as I can...

In this episode I answer your questions sent in over the past few weeks, such as, what to do during a major storm in the middle of the Atlantic. And why would a man who has stated to 'not being a strong swimmer', decide to row a boat across the ocean? All that and more on the latest bonus episode. Produced  Niall Killeney-Taylor See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information. Hosted on...

One corner of the vast answer to the title question. Striping back the layers of protection and exposure to thyself; 3 choices available to me with the exposed information; The empowerment of choosing the brave option & having a bit of fun in the process. Day 26 : Ill-disciplined start; The daily battles especially night time rowing; The stark difference between two spaces separated by one met...

Day 24: An ocean rowing warning playing out, 'Everything breaks', My first video diary after 5 days of technical difficulties, Spares for spares, My one luxury on hold, 1000NM done, The story of a non-swimmers first plunge into the ocean and the reason behind why I had to do it, The electric blue of my first wash in 23 days, wearing something normally found on glaciers to keep me safe and alive &a...

Day 18: Surprise and disappointment in myself and my output; night rowing and the allure of the cabin lights; my race is over after 700 miles; conditions change and the daunting reality of the mammoth task ahead without a functioning steering system; getting spat out of wind tunnels and the exhausting process to try to get back in; the colossal upper body strength needed to realign the boat and th...

Day 15: Loss of memories and connection, issues and frustration with my steering and lack of control over the boat, getting weight into the stern of the boat, 3 Mars bars for breakfast, a gift from A-Team Adventures, a new waypoint 1350 nautical miles, a hopping mind and the focus shift from performance to survival.  Day 16: A large period of my morning taken away from rowing and progress trying t...

Day 14: Imagine being woken up as you are catapulted, face first, into the side of a solid wood cabin during a capsize as a ferocious wave turns your boat over 360 degrees in a raging storm. Welcome to Day 14 on the Atlantic, also known as the craziest day of my life. This was a day spent at the edges of life as I battled my wits, fears and mother nature. 2 full capsizes, one where I hung onto the...

Day 10: Lack of choice and its rewards, patterning habits & building associations, choosing the hard road and shitting into a bucket. Day 11: A close encounter with a tanker, a visit from a beautiful lady, the endearing story of Oliver Crane and the eve of the day I dreaded most. Day 12: A spectacular sunrise to welcome me to Christmas day, expectations vs. reality, "out of this world" rowing...

In this episode I answer listeners questions sent in over the first 5 weeks. Tune in to hear questions answered on goal setting, purifying water on the Atlantic, what I did with Darien (my boat) after finishing, daily routine & mindset practices on board, my thoughts on building mental toughness and getting out of a rut, sponsorship & personal investment in the project and some questions f...

Days 9 - The biggest conditions the TWAC has seen in 10 years, the battle with no moonlight, an overnight storm, waking up to find you are minus one oar, self-loathing, deep reflection and analysis with brutal honesty, lazy and sloppy standards, the uplifting process of holding myself accountable & to a higher standard, a tough lesson, the incredible stories of Team O2 and Team Tenzing, the be...

Days 5 - Dreaming awake, the pressures of time, foulies on and the cabin dry, arse dry battle, Denali journal, the interesting consequence of low-level discomfort, dropped standards. Day 6 - Wired to find solutions, the introduction of routine and structure = mental resolution, space and freedom popping the emotional cork, good mileage, rowing my little heart out, a pushing to my edges.  Day 7- On...

Days 2, 3 & 4 - What is in this week's episode? Mental redirects, clarity on what had gone wrong on Day 1, learning to live, the solo mistake, losing the fight to sleep, the mentality, "I want it to be as hard as it can possibly be" and why, not ungrateful but, the trade winds secret, a BGAN, and building an association between hard and it's rich rewards. Video Clips: Day 1 -   https://youtu.b...

Day 1, the day everything that could go wrong, went wrong. After 588 days of preparation, plus 2 extra days because the start of the race, the Talisker Whisky Atlantic Challenge, got put back due to weather conditions, I pushed my 7 metre (23 ft) ocean rowing boat away from the marina in La Gomera (Canary Islands) and rowed into the unknown. I felt prepared for many things, but I was not ready for...

Welcome to the Adventure, Welcome to Deep Roots The mission with Deep Roots is to share my journey to self realisation through the vehicle of extreme adventures and expeditions. The deepening of oneself through toil and hardship, dreams and purpose, and the pursuit of my physical, mental and emotional edges throughout the four corners of our incredible planet, surrounded and challenged by nature's...