Mindful Vets, Cape Town (2026)

07/10/2026

Addo Lesson 10: Surround yourself with people who believe in you.

Following my recent post on completing the Addo 100 Miler — a 165 km ultra trail run — this is the tenth and final lesson from that journey.

During those 39 hours, especially when things became really tough, I kept hearing the voices of the people closest to me.

My wife: “Of course you can finish. I have no doubt you can. You prepared for this — physically, mentally, energetically — imagine yourself crossing that finish line. Imagine how good it will feel to know that you achieved it.”

My daughter: “You’ve got this, Dad. You can do it!”

And my son, three times before I left: “Run your own race, Dad.”

For hours, I repeated those words.

Again and again.

When my own reserves were running low, their belief became something I could draw on.

Energy. Determination. Grit.

We often think that perseverance comes entirely from within us. But our strength is also carried by the people around us.

The people who care for us.

Who believe in us.

Who remind us what we are capable of, when we begin to doubt ourselves.

Perhaps that is one of the greatest gifts we can give another person — to believe in them when they are struggling to believe in themselves.

And perhaps we should be more intentional about surrounding ourselves with the people who bring out the best in us.

Who are the people who genuinely care for you, believe in you, and want the best for you?

And perhaps more importantly — are you spending enough time with them?

26/08/2026

Lesson 9: Keep a narrow focus.

Following my recent post on completing the Addo 100 Miler — a 165 km ultra trail run — this is the ninth lesson from that journey.

After 30 hours without sleep, I had an important realisation.

Whenever my mind wandered, I slowed down.

I became less coordinated.

I stumbled on the trail.

The moment my attention returned to my body, the path beneath my feet, and the world around me, everything changed.

I ran more smoothly.

More confidently.

More purposefully.

That night, I realised how naturally the mind drifts away from the present moment.

And how essential it is to train it to come back.

Mindfulness is exactly that.

Learning to move from a scattered mind to a focused one.

From distraction to presence.

From confusion to clarity.

I was deeply grateful for that skill on the mountain that night.

In veterinary and animal care professions, our busy minds are constantly being pulled in different directions.

But the more present we become, the greater our focus, the clearer our minds, and the more intentional our responses.

It's like a new day has dawned.

Where in your life do you wish you were more focused?

And how might becoming more present change your experience?

19/08/2026

Lesson 8: We become stronger when our purpose is greater than ourselves.

Following my recent post on completing the Addo 100 Miler — a 165 km ultra trail run — this is the eighth lesson from that journey.

Around 140 km into the race, everything changed.

The pain was immense.

I wasn't sure I could run fast enough. It felt beyond my ability.

Then I realised - it could no longer be about me.

In that moment, my motivation changed to my children instead.

I wanted my daughter to know that if we dare to dream, work hard, and persevere, we can achieve far more than we imagine. I wanted my finish line to become part of her story too.

I thought about the weekends my son and I had missed together while I trained. I wanted to come home and tell him, "Even when we are apart, you are always with me." I wanted him to know those sacrifices had meaning.

In that moment, the pain didn't disappear.

But it became smaller than my purpose.

And somehow, I found the strength to run at an intensity I had never believed I could sustain for the final hours.

Sometimes, when we stop asking, "How am I going to get through this?" and begin asking, "Who am I doing this for?" everything changes.

Where in your life could a deeper purpose help you move through a challenge that feels impossible?

And how might you find that purpose?

17/06/2026

Lesson 7: Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional.

Following my recent post on completing the Addo 100 Miler — a 165 km ultra trail run — this is the seventh lesson from that journey.

During the race, there were times when the pain was intense.

The more I focused on it, the more it dominated my experience.

For a few hours, it felt like it was everything.

Then I remembered a simple teaching:

There is the first arrow — the pain itself.

And then there is the second arrow — our thoughts about the pain.

The resistance.
The frustration.
The wishing it were different.

That second arrow is where suffering begins.

This applies not only to physical pain, but also to painful memories, difficult emotions and feelings.

When we resist these experiences, they often grow stronger.

But when we acknowledge them, make space for them, and allow them to be there, something shifts..

The pain may remain.

But the suffering begins to loosen its grip.

In veterinary and animal care professions, we cannot avoid pain.

But we can learn to change our relationship with it.

Perhaps the question is:

Where is there pain in your life right now?

And is it possible to honour that pain, without the mind creating stories around it?

Without adding the second arrow?

Because that is where suffering begins.

03/06/2026

Lesson 6: The mind matters more than we think.

Following my recent post on completing the Addo 100 Miler — a 165 km ultra trail run — this is the sixth lesson from that journey.

At a certain point in an ultra-distance race, the challenge becomes as much mental as physical.

And eventually, the mental side begins to dominate.

The body is tired.
Everything hurts.
You want to stop.

Yet somehow, you keep moving.

That is when I realised something important:

We spend so much time training the body — yet so little time training the mind.

The ability to observe thoughts without being controlled by them.

The ability to allow difficult emotions to be present without becoming overwhelmed by them.

The ability to recognise that we are not our thoughts, and we are not our feelings.

These are skills.

And like any skill, they can be cultivated.

For me, mindfulness is not about escaping reality.

It is about developing the capacity to remain steady within it.

To hold a space of calm, clarity, and compassion — even when everything around us feels chaotic.

Mindfulness creates a space between what happens and how we respond.

A space in which we can choose our next move.

To become the even keel.

The stable mountain.

The quiet place within that remains undisturbed by the storm.

In veterinary and animal care professions, we cannot always control what happens around us.

But we can learn to change how we respond to what happens within us.

And that makes all the difference.

20/05/2026

Lesson 5: To truly achieve greatness, our “why” must extend beyond ourselves.

Following my recent post on completing the Addo 100 Miler — a 165 km ultra trail run — this is the fifth lesson from that journey.

Deep into the race, alone on the mountain in the dark, running through rain and storm, difficult thoughts dominated my mind.

Frustration.
Judgement.
The need for recognition.

But over time, I stopped resisting the thoughts and allowed them to just be there.

And slowly, I realised:

They are just thoughts.
Nothing physical.
Nothing I could touch.
Nothing that could hurt me.

And once they were allowed to be there, they slowly began to pass by.

Then came a deeper realisation:

Much of my own suffering came from making myself the centre of everything.

And somewhere in that long stretch of darkness, something became clear:

This journey was no longer about me — “Bert, The Mindful Vet”.

It became about "Mindful Vets".

Not about me —
but about the wellbeing of animal care professionals more broadly.

About sharing what I have learnt about reclaiming calm, clarity, compassion, and peace of mind in demanding professions.

Sometimes the greatest freedom comes not from becoming more of a somebody —
but from letting go of needing to be one.

15/05/2026

love this! veterinary heroes

06/05/2026

Lesson 4: Our imagination becomes the limit to what we can achieve.

Following my recent post on completing the Addo 100 Miler — a 165 km ultra trail run — this is the fourth lesson from that journey.

A year ago, I ran my first 80 km ultra.

At the time, it was the furthest I had ever run — and honestly, I wasn’t sure if I was capable of it.

When I finished after 17 hours, I felt completely spent.
Certain I had reached my limit.

Later that year, I completed my first 100 km race.

Again, it felt impossible beforehand.
And again, at the finish line, after 24 hours, I felt there was nothing left to give.

This year, I set my intent on 160 km.

And something remarkable happened.

At the 80 km mark — what had once been my absolute limit — I felt fresh, knowing it was only halfway.

And by the 100 km mark, I barely noticed it, since it was just around 60% of the journey.

That was the breakthrough realisation:

The only reason those distances felt different — was because my mind had already accepted something bigger.

It’s all relative.

So often, the limits we experience in life are not physical — they are shaped by our imagination, our beliefs, and what we tell ourselves is possible.

The size of the game we play, the goals we pursue, and the life we allow ourselves to imagine are deeply influenced by intention.

In veterinary and animal care professions, it is easy to become shaped by pressure, overwhelm, fatigue, and the expectations of others.

Over time, we can begin to keep ourselves — and our experience of life — small.

But growth begins the moment we step beyond our comfort zone and allow ourselves to imagine something more — something bigger.

Perhaps the life we long for, the impact we hope to make, or the person we are capable of becoming, lies just beyond the limits of what we have accepted as real.

How are you keeping yourself small?

And what might become possible if you allowed yourself to think bigger, dream further, and step beyond the boundaries of what you currently believe you can achieve?

22/04/2026

Lesson 3: Run your own race.

Following my recent post on completing the Addo 100 Miler — a 165 km ultra trail run — this is the third lesson from that journey.

“Run your own race, dad.”

My son said it to me three times before I left.

At around 60 km — with another 24 hours still to go — those words came back.

I realised I needed to move ahead of my running partner through the night.
I run faster at night — and if I didn’t use that window, I wouldn’t finish in time.

But leaving her there, in the darkness, in what runners call the “valley of tears”, was not easy.

In the distance, I could see headlights — other runners would reach her.
But I didn’t know how the race would unfold for her.
And still, in that moment, it felt like I was letting someone down.

Still, I knew this:
if I didn’t run my own race at that point, I would not have the reserve to complete the journey.

So I moved ahead.

Hours later, she caught up again.
We ran together for a while, and then she moved ahead to finish strong.

The race unfolded as it needed to.

But that moment stayed with me.

How often do we look to others to decide what we should do —
how we should do it,
or when we should move?

Social expectations.
Professional pressure.
Comparison.

And in doing so, we drift away from what we know, quietly, is right for us.

Running your own race is not about separation —
it is about alignment.

Trusting your pace.
Your timing.
Your way forward.

And in that, there is immense freedom.

Which part of your life are you navigating by someone else’s pace?

What would it look like to trust your own?

Mindful Vets

07/10/2026

26/08/2026

19/08/2026

17/06/2026

03/06/2026

20/05/2026

15/05/2026

06/05/2026

22/04/2026

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