What I learned about wellness at Burning Man
Group flow, self-reliance, awe and wonder, gifting, and living with intention.
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I was caught in a dust storm in the middle of the desert. White-out conditions. I couldn’t see a thing.
The year was 2013. It was my first time at Burning Man.
The dust looked like snow through my goggles. I got off my bike. I used a scarf to cover my face and mouth and waited for the storm to pass.
Burning Man begins next week. The weeklong arts festival gathers over 70,000 people who create a temporary city in the Black Rock Desert of Nevada.
I’ve gone three times. I won’t be going this year because of work obligations. I’ll be sending love to my friends on the playa and trying not to have FOMO.
As I speak with friends who are going to this year’s burn, I reflect on the lessons I’ve learned from my time there.
It might seem strange to associate Burning Man with health and wellness. Isn’t it a big party? Yes, it is that, but Burning Man is more than an arts festival in the desert. It’s a social experiment. It’s a movement. It suggests the possibility of a different kind of world.
Here are the top things I’ve learned from Burning Man about wellness and how to live a rich, fulfilling life.
Group flow
At my last burn I went to a “find your spirit animal” workshop where people take turns leaping into a huge pile of stuffed animals. Later, my friend Rana and I ended a long bike ride through deep playa with a watermelon carving and eating contest. (Q: What's better than watermelon on the playa? A: Nothing.)
There’s power in being silly and playful. Not just for kids, but for adults, too.
“Play is the portal to neuroplasticity.”
A neuroscience researcher told me this. Play allows us to explore different outcomes in a low-stakes environment. Research shows play can reduce stress levels, improve brain function, fuel creativity and even improve our relationships.
Humans are hardwired to share our happiness with others in group or village experiences—what sociologist Emile Durkheim called “collective effervescence.”
When Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin were looking for a new CEO, they went to Burning Man as a setting to test candidates. Why? Festivals like Burning Man have been shown to alter consciousness in a particular way that drops people into a state of group flow. Flow is an individual performing at his or her peak; group flow is a team performing at its peak.
When you bring people together in a special place with art, music, games, and the freedom to play and explore our curiosity—these are the portals to neuroplasticity. It’s no wonder Burning Man attracts so many artists, tech entrepreneurs and creative professionals looking to tap into that collective effervescence.
Acts of service
Burners create Black Rock City from the ground up. They build a real city with roads, sanitation, power, an airport, and a post office. They build it not for profit but for the pure enjoyment and mental stimulation of everyone in attendance.
Why do so many people choose to go into the desert to live in a harsh environment, committing days to manual labor by building yurts and art installations? Because hard work to serve others is rewarding.
Some of my best experiences at Burning Man were in the days leading up to the festival, when I worked side-by-side with my campmates to build showers and shade structures. You’re working as a team to solve problems.
You get to know people in a deeper way when you do physical labor together. And it makes the festival that much more rewarding, knowing you’ve done your small part to build a piece of the city for the enjoyment of others.
Gifting
Gifting at Burning Man is a custom that takes place in many forms. People there will gift you food and drink, clothes, bracelets and amulets. Some offer gifts of experience.
One day, on a blazing hot afternoon, a stranger offered me an icy cold washcloth soaked in aloe and lavender. I discovered a pickle bar that gave out free pickles if you tell a joke ("What did one pickle say to the other pickle? What’s the dill!").
A veteran burner in my camp gave me a playa name: Windwalker. Later, I met two women singing and playing guitar in the Disorient speakeasy, a secret bar hidden within our camp. I introduced myself as Daniel and said I’d just been given my playa name. I was Windwalker. Within seconds, they began strumming a tune and singing a fully improvised, Dylan-esque folk song about me.
By the song’s end, all I could do was applaud and grin. It was the best playa gift I’d ever received.
Why is gifting so powerful? Helping others makes us feel good. Research has shown the mental health benefits of service, helping others, spreading joy.
One of my favorite Burning Man sayings:
“Your greatest currency is the effect you have on those around you.”
Awe and wonder
In one afternoon at Burning Man, I saw the following: A giant polar bear made of used car panels. A brain-scan EEG where your brainwaves light up a house-size art display. A pair of 50-foot-tall, crane-operated marionettes dancing an operatic ballet. Giant Tesla coils playing electronic music with huge bolts of electricity zapping between them. A mechanical fire-breathing octopus that shoots flames from its tentacles.
It’s the world’s largest interactive display of art, set in a lunar landscape that makes you feel like you’re on another planet. Burning Man is a celebration of artistic self-expression. It highlights the life-affirming nature of the artistic spirit.
I met a female science professor in my camp. I asked why she comes to Burning Man. She said:
“We’re looking to recreate that sense of childlike wonder. It’s about recapturing the awe of discovering the world through new eyes.”
Awe is more than a cool feeling you get watching a solar eclipse. It’s good for our mental health. Research suggests that awe can make you happier, healthier, more humble, and more connected to the people around you.
We as humans have an innate drive for self-actualization, aesthetics and transcendence. We want to experience art that transcends cultural barriers and makes us feel like part of something bigger than ourselves.
Self-reliance
I became more resourceful, more resilient.
A week at Burning Man is physically demanding. It’s an extreme environment that forces you to engage all of your senses. It requires shifts in diet and lifestyle. If you don’t take care of yourself, you may end up exhausted, sick, and depleted. Having a good self-care protocol is essential.
Dehydration is one of the main health risks in Black Rock City. It’s a harsh, dry desert environment. Most people bike around with CamelBaks or water bottles.
Radical self-reliance means you’re encouraged to rely on your inner resources. When you’re forced out of your comfort zone, you discover what you’re really capable of.
Leave no trace
I became more conscious of my impact on the environment.
At Burning Man, you’re responsible for cleaning up your own garbage and leaving the natural environment in pristine condition. People carry around bags to scoop up MOOP (matter out of place). I’ve done MOOP sweeps where I’m down on my hands and knees scooping out sequins, feathers and other tiny objects buried in the ground.
The festival is a model of sustainability and environmental health.
I wondered: How can this principle be translated to the broader world? How can we create a new civilization quickly, from the ground up, with minimal impact on the environment?
Burning Man Project published a 10-year environmental sustainability roadmap with 2030 goals to handle waste ecologically, be ecologically regenerative, and be carbon negative. The dusty grounds of the playa are a fertile space for testing new approaches to sustainable living.
Living with intention
Impermanence is a major theme of Burning Man. The temporary civilization serves as a reminder of the transience of life. I reflected on the importance of setting my intentions and allocating my energy accordingly. You can’t do and see it all. Within a few days, the entire city is gone, like dust in the wind.
Leo Villareal, one of my camp’s leaders, said:
“We all need to ask ourselves, how do we allocate our energy over the week? You only have limited days here in the desert, and you have to decide what you’re going to do each day. You don’t want to expend all your energy on the wrong things.”
The playa is an overwhelming place to be. With so much stimulation all around you, it’s nice to be able to drop into one of the festival’s meditation and mindfulness workshops. I kept a journal with me to write down my reflections at the end of each day.
Emotion and vulnerability
“You’ll experience the highest highs and the lowest lows at Burning Man.”
Someone told me this before my first burn. And it’s true: Burning Man is a place where you feel the full range of human emotions. It’s a harsh, punishing desert environment. I’ve had times when I was miserable, lonely, and couldn’t wait to get out of there.
Then, minutes later, something always snapped me out of it: A stranger offered me a beautiful amulet as a gift, and I felt gratitude. Then I biked out to the deep playa, with its otherworldly art installations, and felt a sense of awe. I visited the temple, a shrine to those who have passed away, and had feelings of grief for people I’ve lost.
In everyday life, we don’t always have space to share our emotions with anyone but our closest friends and family. This can lead to repressed anger, fear, shame. Depression and anxiety.
It’s healthy to have a safe place to get in touch with your emotions. Supportive environments like Burning Man give people room to express how they’re feeling. I’ve seen it happen on the playa—people having intense, cathartic experiences: Forgiveness, acceptance. It’s inspiring to see people have breakthroughs.
Transformative experiences
Spending time in a radically different environment can stimulate you to grow as a person. Like the best travel experiences, it brings you fresh perspective.
When I came home from the burn, I looked for ways to incorporate the Burning Man principles into my everyday life (the so-called default world). What does this look like? Bringing gifts to my neighbors. Hosting picnics and inclusive community events. Spending more time engaging with the arts.
I look back at my old pictures from Burning Man and the feelings come flooding back in a wave of emotions—both the good and the bad—exhilaration, anxiety, awe and wonder, unbridled joy.
Burning Man offers hope that we can let go of the past, put it behind us and welcome in fresh ideas and new ways of living. For those of you going this year: I’ll be living vicariously through your adventures in the dust. Have a good burn.
Thank you for reading this week’s edition of Vitamin Z.
Until next time,
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