I have found a level of healing in Mother Nature, the outdoors and the trail that I feel I must give back. As a child, I naturally gravitated towards the outdoors and I loved adventuring. I grew up playing pretend world in my backyard. My world came crashing down when my family suffered a massive period of trauma. I forgot my true self and wandered in the dark for a long time, feeling lost, helpless in the grips of PTSD and the addiction cycle.

My life changed the minute I reached out for help and was surrounded with love and healing. I dove into a new community of like minded people and began a new adventure. one of healing, growth, empowerment and learning from others who inspire me. Change did not come naturally or quickly for me, it took a ton of time, effort, massive inner strength, and willingness. I had to begin the path of looking at my old beliefs and inner dialogue and how they were once saving my life but have now turned into destroying my life. I keep learning new ways to take action to create new beliefs that I chose that are loving and supportive.

After 5 years of diving into counseling and my social work degree, I hit a wall. I had forgotten what really mattered in life. So I began another adventure to get back to my true self and find myself again. I took a giant leap of faith to solo hike the Pacific Crest Trail in 2017 and completed the 2,650 mile trail in 2018.

The trail provided a natural environment that fostered a loving inner voice that empowered me to get to my destination despite what my other inner voices said. I embraced these new beliefs and self-love practices back into my daily life. I have created a path to help foster others to have similar experiences. Trail Based Healing and My Life Lessons Learned on the Trail -my gift back to you.