How Getting Back to Nature Can Help Heal Emotional Wounds.
So many of us- -especially now, in the midst of this crazy quarantine time, are dealing with some heavy issues. Job loss, stressful relationships, income issues, feelings of despair, worry, fear, frustration etc. In addition to that, many of us have trauma that occured in our lives well before coronavirus hit- and we’ve never really dealt with it.
In this interview, I talk with Sydney Williams. She’s founded an organization that helps men and women heal trauma from throughout their lives by getting outside- immersing themselves in nature, and getting in touch with their emotions. It works.
This 3-part interview with Sydney Williams will wake you up for certain. She and her husband Barry are on a mission to get folks off the couch and onto the HIKING trail. Their work explores how trauma manifests in our minds and bodies, and how the outdoors can help us heal. As an organization (Hiking My Feelings), they strive to improve community health by creating opportunities for people to experience the healing power of nature for themselves. Enjoy this 3-part interview with an amazing woman who just might change your life. This is part one. When you are ready to listen to part 2, CLICK HERE.
About Sydney Williams
From Sydney’s online background:
“On May 21, 2018, I (Sydney) found myself training for a second thru-hike of the Trans-Catalina Trail. I had just left my post as CMO at an early-stage startup, I had no other jobs lined up. I should be freaking out. At the summit of Stonewall Peak near San Diego, I realized that in this time of stress, I wasn’t deploying my usual coping mechanisms. It was in that moment that I connected the dots – after being diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes in September 2017, I had replaced eating or drinking my feelings with hiking my feelings. And thus, a hashtag was born. Not one to be satisfied with just one answer, I wanted to know why I started eating and drinking my feelings to begin with. The second hike across Catalina Island would answer that question for me.
Shortly after completing the Trans-Catalina Trail the second time, I gushed about how much the trail had changed my life to the Catalina Island Conservancy. A few emails later, a speaking tour was born. We started with three test dates in SoCal REI stores, speaking on Friday night and hosting hikes on Saturday morning. After the first talk, we knew this is what we wanted to do for the foreseeable future. The first tour was a great success, and over the course of the following month, we sold all of our prized possessions and bought a camper van. We named our van Ruby and we’ve been calling her our full-time home since November 2018. She’s ruby red and since #homeiswhereyouparkit, with a click of our heels, Ruby takes us anywhere we want to go.
In January 2019, we hit the road for the US tour, sharing the story of how two thru-hikes across Catalina Island helped me heal my mind and body for 64 audiences around the country, as well as hosting 69 hikes to encourage folks to get off the couch and onto the trail.
Hiking My Feelings is the name of our organization, title of my memoir, and with your help, a movement highlighting how spending time outside can help us heal our minds and bodies and empower us to step into the lives we’ve always dreamed of living.”
You can find all the info about Hiking My Feelings and their future events by CLICKING HERE. You can buy the book, Hiking My Feelings, by CLICKING HERE. You can follow their adventures on instagram by CLICKING HERE.
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