Last December, I completed my Wilderness First Responder certification with
@backcountrymed : five days camping at Big Creek Reserve in Big Sur, right next to the active landslide repair. 72 hours of patient assessment, medical and environmental emergencies, improvised rescue, and evacuation planning, all of it practiced in the field. We even had access to a stretch of Hwy 1 while it was still closed to the public. The land was beautiful and alive and humbling.
This training had been on my list for almost a decade. I first started building toward it in Palm Springs, drawing up plans for yoga hikes in the desert. Then the pandemic hit and life shifted completely. I fell in love, moved to Northern California, and spent several years putting down roots in a new place. New land, a new community, business partnerships and adventures. December was the moment the original dream and the life I’ve built here finally met.
When I take people outside, onto trails, into nature, away from the familiar, I carry a responsibility I take seriously. Yoga off the mat means being present not just for the practice, but for the person. Knowing how to respond when something unexpected happens, knowing how to stay calm and capable when help is far away. That’s part of what it means to guide responsibly.
This certification sits alongside my California Naturalist training, my herbalism work, my thousands of hours teaching. Not as a badge, but as a foundation, so that when you come on a yoga hike with me, you’re held. Fully.
Big Sur, December 2025. Grateful for the land, the community, our teachers, and the reminder that preparation is a form of love.
📍Big Sur, Ancestral and present-day territory of the Esselen people
🥾🌿 #WildernessFirstResponder #WFR #YogaHike #CommonThreadYoga #BackcountryMedicalGuides OutdoorYoga TrailGuide ResponsibleGuiding TrailYoga CaliforniaNaturalist BananaSlugsForever
Thanks to our cohort and all the shared photos! Following up with tags in the comments!
