The Ultimate Human with Gary Brecka
119. Devon Lévesque: What Facing Death on Everest Taught Me about Living
Tue, 03 Dec 2024
“The closest a man comes to a calm mind, the nearer he is to real strength.” This profound insight from Devon Lévesque’s journey might just change how you think about personal growth forever. In this episode, Gary Brecka sits down with Devon Lévesque who reveals the raw, unfiltered truth about what it takes to summit Mount Everest and bear crawl an entire marathon. But this isn’t just another adventure story – it’s a masterclass in understanding how pushing your limits can transform your approach to business, success, and life! What’s the hardest thing you’ve ever done, and how did it change you? Share your story in the comments below – let’s learn from each other’s experiences! Special citation from Joe Rogan’s podcast on the impact of physical conditioning on mental health: https://bit.ly/4ik6plQ Connect with Devon Lévesque: Website: https://bit.ly/3AZjaBR YouTube: https://bit.ly/4g0n6RV Instagram: https://bit.ly/3B0DYca Facebook: https://bit.ly/4eXhqXB TikTok: https://bit.ly/3BbCFHq LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/49gEAH2 00:00 Intro of Show and Guest 03:05 Who is Devon Lévesque? 07:03 Three Words that Changed His Life 08:34 The Bear Crawl Marathon Story 12:53 Importance of Community 17:50 Going Back to the Basics with Nature 20:47 Partnership with Jesse Itzler 23:38 Impact of Physical Conditioning on Mental Health 24:10 Hormesis & Types of Fun 28:27 How to Wake Up & Feel Content 32:20 Preparations & Climbing of Mt. Everest 50:51 Reaching the Top of Mt. Everest 54:00 Debacle between Nepalese & Westerners 56:15 Lessons Learned from Pushing to the Absolute Limit 1:03:30 Why Should You Do Hard Stuff? 1:16:49 Final Question: What does it mean to you to be an “Ultimate Human?” GET GARY’S WEEKLY TIPS ON HEALTH AND LIFESTYLE OPTIMIZATION: https://bit.ly/4eLDbdU EIGHT SLEEP - SAVE $350 ON THE POD 4 ULTRA WITH CODE “GARY”: https://bit.ly/3WkLd6E BODY HEALTH - USE CODE “ULTIMATE20” FOR 20% OFF YOUR ORDER: http://bit.ly/4e5IjsV BAJA GOLD - 91 ESSENTIAL MINERALS PER PINCH! 10% OFF USE CODE "ULTIMATE10": https://bit.ly/3WSBqUa ELEVATE YOUR WORKOUTS WITH THE ULTIMATE HUMAN STRENGTH TRAINING EQUIPMENT: https://bit.ly/3zYwtSl THE COLD LIFE - BOOST RECOVERY & WELL-BEING WITH THE ULTIMATE HUMAN PLUNGE: https://bit.ly/4eULUKp MASA CHIPS - GET 20% OFF YOUR FIRST $50+ ORDER: https://bit.ly/40LVY4y PARKER PASTURES - GET PREMIUM GRASS-FED MEATS TODAY: https://bit.ly/4hHcbhc SHOP GARY’S TOP-RATED PRODUCTS & EXCLUSIVE DEALS: https://theultimatehuman.com/amazon-recs Watch the “Ultimate Human Podcast” every Tuesday & Thursday at 9AM EST on YouTube: https://bit.ly/3RPQYX8 Connect with Gary Brecka: Website: https://bit.ly/4eLDbdU Instagram: https://bit.ly/3RPpnFs TikTok: https://bit.ly/4coJ8fo Facebook: https://bit.ly/464VA1H X.com: https://bit.ly/3Opc8tf LinkedIn: https://bit.ly/4hH7Ri2 SUBSCRIBE TO: https://www.youtube.com/@ultimatehumanpodcast https://www.youtube.com/@garybrecka Download the “Ultimate Human Podcast” on all your favorite podcast platforms: https://bit.ly/3RQftU0 The Ultimate Human with Gary Brecka Podcast is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice, and no doctor/patient relationship is formed. The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast is at the user’s own risk. The Content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard or delay in obtaining medical advice for any medical condition they may have and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Chapter 1: Who is Devon Lévesque?
It's very impactful to know what someone's driving force is. And it's not that somebody has to have that major of a catastrophic event in their life, but we don't have a lot of time to waste.
Chapter 2: What are the three words that changed Devon's life?
I realized my why is I want to live my life without my hands in my pocket. Everyone on this earth is going to go through transitions. The best way I've found for people to transition is to have a good community around them. And that's all I'm trying to foster. I feel like a lot of people are just disconnected from the basics, mother nature, community.
Chapter 3: What was the bear crawl marathon story?
You're meeting people where they are and giving them a space. That's my goal is to calm people's tension in the world by providing these communities. When you sat down, you were telling me a Saved by Everest story for this podcast.
Chapter 4: Why is community important?
Tell me about that. We go up out of nowhere. You're in this blizzard. You're like, holy shit, I might actually die right now. And how are the guys that were with you? People are dying. People literally in that condition. It was terrifying. Get to the top. You could hear a pin drop at the top. Perfect weather. It's so next level. It's a feeling of this crazy energy.
I'm happy I did it, but I would never do it again.
Grinding through the pain of Everest, pushing your body to the absolute limit. You call it do hard shit. Why should people do hard shit?
The thing with the brain, bigger is better. And I'll tell you one thing.
Today on The Ultimate Human, we're honored to have Devin LeVake. He's an extraordinary individual. He's hilarious. He's one whose life exemplifies resilience, endurance, and dedication to mental health advocacy. He's known for bear crawling an entire New York City marathon, which set a world record, and backflipping on top of Mount Everest.
He pushes his physical and mental limits, and Devin's journey is so inspiring and so transformative. He's a very successful entrepreneur. He's the founder of Sweet Honey Farm, which I love, and an advocate for sustainable family-centered wellness. Devin's here to share his philosophies on building resilience, supporting mental health, and his vision for holistic health.
We are so excited to dive into the powerful stories and insights that define his approach to life and wellness. Hey guys, welcome back to the Ultimate Human Podcast. I'm your host, human biologist, Gary Brekka, where we go down the road of everything anti-aging, biohacking, longevity, and everything in between.
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Chapter 5: What lessons did Devon learn from climbing Mount Everest?
Chapter 6: How can we find contentment in life?
Chapter 7: What is the significance of doing hard things?
Today on The Ultimate Human, we're honored to have Devin LeVake. He's an extraordinary individual. He's hilarious. He's one whose life exemplifies resilience, endurance, and dedication to mental health advocacy. He's known for bear crawling an entire New York City marathon, which set a world record, and backflipping on top of Mount Everest.
He pushes his physical and mental limits, and Devin's journey is so inspiring and so transformative. He's a very successful entrepreneur. He's the founder of Sweet Honey Farm, which I love, and an advocate for sustainable family-centered wellness. Devin's here to share his philosophies on building resilience, supporting mental health, and his vision for holistic health.
Chapter 8: How can we maximize our time and happiness?
We are so excited to dive into the powerful stories and insights that define his approach to life and wellness. Hey guys, welcome back to the Ultimate Human Podcast. I'm your host, human biologist, Gary Brekka, where we go down the road of everything anti-aging, biohacking, longevity, and everything in between.
And today's guest is a guest, dude, I've been wanting to have you on here for a long time. And we narrowly missed each other. He was actually on the summit down here on a cruise ship and I narrowly missed him, but I got him, captured him. He's on the podcast today. Guys, welcome Devin Levesque. Or no, it's fine. No, not Levesque. You said it, Love... Ake. Love Ake. Love Ake. I love it.
Devin Love Ake. That's it. Hey, man. I memorized it differently. Love Ake. Devin Love Ake. You know, I was... First of all, man, I'm super pumped about the message that you're putting out in the world.
We ran a whole podcast before we got on the podcast, you know, talking about your regenerative farm and, you know, some of just the amazingly phenomenal physical feats that you've accomplished, climbing Mount Everest, bear crawling an entire... marathon. But there was something about that marathon bear crawl.
When I was actually really figuring out who Devin LeVake was and I went down the Devin LeVake rabbit hole, I stumbled on a talk you did and it actually just really hit my heart because I feel like very often on this podcast, the most impactful people in the world that are really making great change and really affecting a lot of lives have solved the problem in their life.
Maybe it was drug addiction. Maybe it was the loss of a loved one. Maybe it was a bad breakup. Whatever it was. Lyme disease. They solved the problem. And they basically turned that into the most impactful message ever. And you were doing a talk on stage and I heard you say, and I want to dig into this, but I heard you talking about, you know, you're going to bear call a marathon.
You set a world record for it. And the two questions were how and why.
Mm-hmm.
It was your explanation for the why that really brought things home for me because I like to know what's the driving force behind people. And now I know why you're so inspired. You're so passionate. You're so purpose-driven. But if you wouldn't mind, share that with us. I mean, not just the overwhelming physical feat to bear crawl a marathon.
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