Hiking My Feelings

04/26/2026

I didn’t have language for this when it started.

I just knew that being outside was changing me.

What began as daily walks turned into time on trail, then into stewardship, then into something deeper. Paying attention. Noticing more. Feeling more connected to the places I was in… and to myself.

Along the way, we met Indigenous leaders and community members who spoke about relationship with the land in a way that stopped me in my tracks. Not as a place you visit, but as something you’re in relationship with. Something you care for, and something that cares for you.

It wasn’t new. It was remembering.

For years through Hiking My Feelings, we’ve been creating spaces for people to experience that for themselves. Through stewardship projects, mindful movement, reflection, and coming back to the same places again and again. Watching what shifts when you slow down long enough to notice.

Then last year at the Public Lands Alliance conference, I heard Dr. Thomas Bryer share his research on volunteerism in our national parks.

And it was one of those full-body “ohhh, that’s it” moments.

He put language and data to what we had been experiencing all along. That people don’t just volunteer to help. They come to understand. They leave feeling more connected, more purposeful, more themselves. And that this kind of work doesn’t just support the land, it strengthens how we show up for each other.

Now, we’re working together to study this more intentionally. Looking at how stewardship, self-discovery, and mindful movement in nature support creativity and nature connectedness, and how those shifts ripple out into the way people live, work, and care for the places around them.

It feels like a continuation of something that’s always been there.

We’re just learning how to name it, measure it, and share it in ways that help more people find their way back to it.

More to come as this unfolds 💚

📸 A volunteer at George Washington Birthplace National Monument teaching Bryer’s son, Edward, about colonial-era gardens

💚 Stewardship projects from Grand Staircase Escalante, Sequoia, Yellowstone, Yosemite, Redwood, Glacier, Biscayne, and Virgin Islands National Parks

04/22/2026

Allow us to reintroduce ourselves. 👋

If you’ve been here for a while, you might remember Hiking My Feelings as a wild idea that turned into a cross-country tour after we sold everything we owned and hit the road to share how hiking helped me heal my mind and body. If you joined us along the way, you were part of something that started as a personal story and slowly became something much bigger.

What began on a trail in Catalina Island turned into 140 stops around the country, a community that hiked more than 54,000 miles together for diabetes awareness, and a growing body of work rooted in the idea that time outside can change the way we live, feel, and show up for ourselves.

And then something else happened.

We started giving back to the places that gave so much to us.

From removing invasive species in Sequoia to restoring trails, remediating graffiti in Grand Staircase-Escalante, learning from the seasons in Glacier, and experiencing interdependence in the redwoods, our work evolved from personal healing into something more relational. We started to remember that caring for ourselves and caring for the Earth are not separate practices. They are part of the same cycle.

So here we are.

What we’re building now is called Reciprocity Rx™, and it’s rooted in a simple truth: time outside helps us heal, and giving back helps the planet heal.

The Reciprocity Rx™ Community Challenge is our way of putting that into practice together.

It’s not about doing it perfectly. It’s about choosing to participate.

Spend time outside in whatever way you can. Volunteer where it feels meaningful. Pay attention to what shifts. Track your impact if you want to. Invite someone to join you.

We’re starting this grassroots, just us and the community, sharing our own hours and inviting you to be part of it.

If you’ve ever felt like you wanted to do something that actually makes a difference, something that feels good and does good at the same time, this is for you.

Join us at hikingmyfeelings.org/community

Let’s see what we can build together.

💚 Sydney + Barry

2026 COMMUNITY IMPACT (so far):
🌲 3,128 hours spent outside
🫶 618 hours volunteered
🙏 49 participants

04/15/2026

🌎 We are stoked to share that Hiking My Feelings is now an official environmental partner with 1% for the Planet!

This is a big one for us.

Because at the heart of our work is a simple belief: when people feel connected to the land, they’re more likely to care for it. This partnership helps us create more opportunities for that connection to happen — on trails, in communities, and through hands-on stewardship experiences that give back to the places we love.

If you’re new to 1% for the Planet, they’re a global network of businesses committed to giving 1% of their annual sales to environmental organizations doing the work. Since 2002, they’ve helped direct hundreds of millions of dollars to nonprofits protecting people + planet.

We’re so honored to be part of this community. Check out our profile (link in the comments) and see what we’re building!

04/13/2026

When was the last time you saw the Milky Way? How about a shooting star? 🌠

What is it about a starry sky that makes our problems feel… more survivable?Maybe it’s the quiet.Maybe it’s the way the world finally stops asking us to perf...

03/25/2026

We came to the Virgin Islands to give back to the trails, and the trails gave us something back, too.

For a week, we worked across Virgin Islands National Park with - Cinnamon Bay, Annaberg, Reef Bay, Europa Point - clearing brush, maintaining trails and cultural sites, moving through heat and humidity that asked us to slow down whether we wanted to or not.

This wasn’t a highlight reel kind of trip. This was hands in the dirt, sweat in your eyes, muscles talking back the next morning. And somewhere in the middle of all that effort… something softened.

Because this is the thing about stewardship: When we care for the land, the land has a way of caring for us.

There’s science behind that - lower stress, improved mood, stronger immune function - but you don’t need a study to feel it when you’re out there.

You feel it in the rhythm of working side by side, in the quiet moments between tasks, in the way the ocean resets your nervous system without asking permission.

We spent long days doing physical labor. We spent early mornings and late afternoons in and around crystal clear blue water. We spent time together, and time alone. And in that mix of effort, environment, and community - something clicked.

We shifted from healing in nature, to healing *with* nature.

That’s what Reciprocity Rx™ looks like in practice.

Huge thank you to everyone who showed up, rolled up their sleeves, and said yes to the work, seen and unseen.

And to the island… we’ll be back. 🌊

💚 2026 RECIPROCITY RETREATS
June 3-5: Yosemite National Park
June 24-28: North Cascades National Park (one spot left!)
July 9-12: Redwood National Park
July 24-26: Sequoia National Park
July 29-August 8: Trek to Tumanguya (Mt Whitney) - 75 mile backpacking retreat with .challenge
September 17-22: Glacier National Park

🌌 DIG DEEPER
Want to bring the 4Rs of Reciprocity Rx into your life and work? The Foundations program kicks off this week and runs through October, learn more at https://reciprocityrx.com/online-certification-program

03/22/2026

UPDATE: ONE spot left to spend five days in North Cascades letting the land love you back!

June 24–28, we’re gathering in one of the most awe-inspiring landscapes in the country to explore how different landscapes support healing in different ways.

Through Reciprocity Rx, we’ll experience the medicine of mountains, forests, water, and dark sky, give back to the park through a stewardship project, and gather in community around the practices, perspectives, and conversations that help us reconnect to the land, ourselves, and each other.

In North Cascades, we’ll experience:

🏔️ Mountains
Mountains teach pacing, perspective, and perseverance. They remind us that steady effort matters, and that clarity often comes from the climb.

🌲 Forests
Forests remind us that healing is layered, relational, and rooted in connection. Every step is part of something larger.

💧 Water
Water teaches flow, release, and resilience. It shows us how to soften, shift, and carry what matters without holding everything at once.

🌌 Dark Sky
Under the stars, the noise quiets. Dark sky invites wonder, reverence, and the kind of rest that helps us return to ourselves.

Registration includes:
- Airport transfers from Sea-Tac + transportation within the park
- All meals from dinner on June 24 through breakfast on June 28
- Double-occupancy lodging at North Cascades Institute
- Reciprocity Rx workshops in Water, Forest, Mountain, + Dark Sky
- Stewardship project supplies
- Optional add-on: Reciprocity Rx Foundations Certification Program

If this is calling to you, fill out the application and we’ll follow up to finalize your registration.

02/28/2026

Thank you !

We had an absolute blast sharing the 1-hour Mindful Morning format at the Public Lands Alliance Convention and Trade Show this week, taking folks through the 4Rs (Receive, Reflect, Return, Reconnect) on the beach each morning before spending all day inside the convention center.

An extra special thank you to everyone who braved unseasonably frigid temperatures on Tuesday morning - it was a brisk 36 degrees when we started but we warmed up quite nicely!

Safe travels, and don't forget to add a delulu walk to your team meetings and keep the good vibes flowing when you get back!

02/23/2026

We’re proud to be part of the Outdoor Girlboss Gear Giveaway 🥾

Hosted by Symbiosis Gear, this giveaway brings together women-owned outdoor brands supporting each other and the people who use our gear.

Three winners. Gear valued at over $5,000. First prize from us is a scholarship to our Foundations Program and second prize is a complete collection of the Reciprocity Rx Guided Journals! Good luck everyone!

Enter via the link in bio.
apparel .sportco

02/19/2026

The Reciprocity Rx™ Guided Journals are now available for pre-order!

OKAY. HI. HELLO. I have been tinkering away on this project for a YEAR and I finally get to yell about it on the internet. 🎉 😭 💚

These beauties were born in the van when we lived in National Parks. In the shade of a 1,000-year-old juniper. In between wolf sightings in Yellowstone and meadow restoration days in Sequoia. They started as post-retreat “integration workbooks”… and quietly evolved into something bigger.

They are not homework.
They are not “fix yourself” worksheets.
They are not aesthetic coffee table props.

They are field companions.

The Reciprocity Rx guided journals are designed to help you:
• put language to why you feel different outside
• slow down long enough to actually integrate what a place is teaching you
• practice the 4Rs (Receive → Reflect → Return → Reconnect) in any landscape
• tap into the science of how these places can help us heal

Each journal is landscape-specific — mountain, desert, water, open space, forest, dark sky — because Different Landscapes, Different Medicines is real. The prompts, practices, and rituals are tuned to what that terrain tends to stir in us.

You can use them:
– after a 10-minute neighborhood walk
– on a national park road trip
– at the end of a hard season
– or when you feel the “I need to get outside but I don’t know why” itch

If you’ve ever come home from nature feeling changed… but struggled to hold onto it once emails and dishes and news cycles came rushing back in?

That’s why these exist.

I built the journal I wish I’d been handed after some of the most transformative seasons of my life. And now they’re yours.
You can grab one landscape. Or go full send and get the Complete Collection (highly recommend if you contain multitudes and seasonal moods).

Pre-orders are open until March 30.
Print + PDF options available.
First print run ships in early April.

✍️ Written by .stardust (and Mother Earth, of course)
📸 Photos by + Sydney
🎨 Designed with

Let us know which one is calling to you in the comments: ⛰️ 🏜️ 🌊 🌾 🌲 🌌

01/31/2026

Thank you to The San Diego Union-Tribune for this piece about how our work came to be!

If you're craving a new way to connect and heal, check out our new initiative, Reciprocity Rx! We have a free toolkit, self-guided resources as well as programs and immersive experiences in some of our most iconic wild places.

Read more here: https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/2026/01/31/healing-with-hiking/

01/17/2026

🔍 Zoom in, what can you see?

From the top, clockwise: Mountains with ungulates in the foothills, eagles soaring, wolves howling and bison roaming through wide open plains, Joshua Trees, a breaching whale, salmon returning to the Klamath, big big trees.

What do they all have in common? They represent the landscapes that have shaped our work since we started Hiking My Feelings in 2018:

🏔️ Mountains of all shapes and sizes in California, Montana, Wyoming, Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Idaho, New Hampshire, and Maine have helped us shift our perspective and get the long view on what we've been building.

🌾 Wide open spaces like Lamar Valley in Yellowstone National Park, where life moves at the speed of migration and the interconnectedness of all things permeates every breeze, every step, every breath.

🏜️ The expansive stretches of Joshua Tree National Park, our first park as a couple and the birthplace of our our Wilderness Wellness retreats, representing all of the desert landscapes that give our big ideas (and big feelings) room to breathe.

🌊 Up and down the west coast, out to Catalina Island and back, the Pacific Ocean has held some of our most transformational moments. The salmon returning to the Klamath River after more than 100 years show us how important it is to continue to fight for the right to clean water. The whale breaching models what quiet power looks like, and reminds us of all that lives beyond the surface.

🌲Our ancient tall friends in Sequoia, Yosemite, and Redwood National Park teach us about resilience, reciprocity, and what it means to be in community.

So yeah, it’s a design. And also a tiny field guide. A reminder that mountains, oceans, deserts, wide open spaces, and big old trees have been rooting for us the whole time.

If one of these landscapes tugged at you, trust that. That’s your nervous system remembering what support feels like.

If you want to wear the reminder, our Reciprocity Rx™ collection is available for pre-order until 1/19. is donating 40% of your purchase to us, so you're getting a cozy layer AND funding the work!