What's Up with All the Hiking?

Many years ago, when I first started doing The Work,

I noticed that revisiting stressful memories often left me feeling completely shut down—like a garage door had dropped over my body and emotions. Answering the question, “How do you react when you believe that thought?” sometimes felt impossible.

I wasn’t a hiker, but something told me to get moving. 

On the trails, I noticed that when I felt stress, I clenched my jaw and held my breath, the first step to shutting down — but hiking kept me breathing deeply and staying present. Slowly, I began to reconnect with my body, and my Work became life-changing. I can see now that movement was simply an intuitive form of walking meditation, helping me process my stressful thoughts and beliefs in an accessible way.

A couple of years ago, I was diagnosed with an aggressive form of leukemia. 

The treatment saved my life, but the side effects left my mind foggy and disorganized. For over a year, I couldn’t access Inquiry, and for the first time, I experienced deep depression. I felt completely disconnected and didn’t care if I lived or died. Nothing seemed to help.

So, I hiked. On the trails, I let myself feel everything. 

I cried, raged, judged, and compared myself to the “pre-cancer and better me.” I suffered. Thoughts of being trapped and severely diminished hounded me. At first, Inquiry again felt impossible. But as my body released stress and the effects of treatment faded, I found a tiny foothold. And that’s all it took. As Inquiry became possible again, hiking helped me process my trauma, and to my surprise, I bounced back quickly.

I now know that there is a large body of research that specifically identifies hiking in nature as a support...

in alleviating stress, interrupting the rumination cycle, and opening our minds to other possibilities. It's a support to Inquiry, especially when things are hard. Many in the cancer world struggle with lasting depression and anxiety, I found stability. Not because I’m special, but because I have a powerful set of tools.

The Work is the most transformative tool I’ve ever used, and pairing it with movement has been a game-changer.

It helped me process emotions without shutting down. It quite literally saved my life. Which is why I'm so excited to launch Take Your Mind Outdoors, so I can share this empowering experience with others.