New: The Four Friends Practice Companion — deeper stories, practices, and a 30-Day Return Path. Explore it →

All practices
Pain and grief
·
5+ minutes

Walk Into the Storm

WHEN TO USE IT

When you keep avoiding something — a conversation, a task, a feeling — and the avoidance is costing you more than facing it would.

WHAT TRICKSTER DOES

Trickster says avoidance is safety. It says if you do not look at the storm, it is not there. But the storm follows you anyway. Running costs more energy than walking.

WHAT BUFFALO REMEMBERS

You do not have to fix the storm. You have to stop running from it. Turning toward it is not the same as solving it. It is just standing in honest weather.

THE PRACTICE
  1. Name one thing you have been avoiding.
  2. Do not fix it yet. Just look at it.
  3. Say: "This is the storm I have been running from."
  4. Take one breath.
  5. Ask: "What is one small step toward it — not to solve it, just to stop running?"
  6. Take that step. Just that one.
TRY THIS TODAY

Name the storm you are avoiding. You do not have to walk all the way in. Just stop running. Turn toward it. One step.

IF THIS DIDN'T HELP

Some storms are too big to walk into alone. If the thing you are avoiding involves harm, fear, or danger, do not force it. Get support. Ask someone to walk in with you.

GO DEEPER

Want to go deeper?

This free practice is one small place to stand.

If you want to learn the Friends' stories, practise with them across real-life hard weather, and build a return path you can keep close, visit The Four Friends Practice Companion.

Frog. Tree. Eagle. Buffalo.

Tales from the Trail, guided practices, reflection tools, and a 30-Day Return Path.

$9.99 · One-time access

If this practice gave you a little more ground beneath your feet, you may want to keep a few more nearby.

STAY WITH THE HERD

Stay with the herd

RECEIVE FIELD NOTES

Use the Whole Buffalo is still taking shape as a book, but the practices are already here for ordinary hard weather. If this language is useful to you, you can join a small early community and receive occasional field notes: new practices, sample material, and first word when the book's ready. No pressure. No performance. Just something steady to return to when the mind starts making the weather worse.

Receive occasional Field Notes, free practices, book updates, and news from the Four Friends practice companion.

Occasional notes only. You can leave whenever you need to.

Use the Whole Buffalo
How to Meet What Hurts Without Wasting the Pain.
Use what helps. Leave what doesn't.
A note on the ground

This site can't provide crisis support, therapy, or emergency help. If you're in immediate danger or need urgent support, contact local emergency services or a crisis resource where you live.

Stay with the herd

Occasional practices, book news, and notes for hard weather.

Stay in touch
© 2026 Matthew J. Dyck. Use the Whole Buffalo.
Mind is the buffalo that bolts, and mind is the buffalo that stands.
Find a practice