05/31/2026
Redefining "The Trail”:
One of the Pillars of Hike Like a Yogi
You very likely have heard of the life-altering story of Cheryl Strayed, whose book and then movie Wild chronicles her 1,100-mile journey on the Pacific Crest Trail, which brought healing after her mother’s death, trauma, and addictions.
Perhaps you’ve heard her story (or Akuna’s, or Grandma Gatewood’s on the Appalachian Trail), but thought, “Well, that’s great for them, but I don’t have six or nine months to take a leave of absence from my job, my family, my life…”
What if we redefined “the trail”? What if your trail and opportunity for transformation was closer to home, but just as potent? The streets around your house or apartment. The county park. Your backyard. The parking lot of the big box store (yep, there’s possibilities even there!). The dirt road by your house. The greenway trail in your city. What if your epic walk is the one around your block?
Walking provides a connecting point. Walking can change your life. This simple act that able-bodied people take for granted. There is so much transformation that is possible.
Walking and connecting with ourselves, our spirits, our higher truth. Connecting with the natural world. Connecting with our bodies. Each other. Our communities.
Walking can meet us where we are. Yoga meets us where we are. They have this in common. We don’t have to have it all together. To be flexible. To be “zen” about life. We bring our faith and willingness to the trail.
I’d like to think that “the trail” is both a literal place, but also a metaphor for life. Taking to the trail, be it the 2,190-mile journey of the Appalachian Trail, or the half-mile walk around your neighborhood, requires an act of faith. Trust that when you put one foot in front of the other, you’ll eventually get to your destination. Sure, there could be fear. Sure, there could be obstacles. But under the fear lies a deep trust in the process of putting one shaky foot in front of the other.
When my husband and I embarked on our 2019 John Muir Trail adventure, I had a list of my fears in my journal that was a mile long. Everything from the trivial (will I p*e my pants?) to the life-altering (will I blow out my knee and have to be evacuated? Will our marriage falter from all of this intense time on the trail? Will my new business be able to handle my 3-week absence? Will we be able to afford it? Will bears eat us alive?)
But under all of those fears, many of which seem funny now, there was a deeper trust. A trust in the journey. That if I kept putting one foot in front of the other, I would eventually arrive at my destination. And that Life would provide the guidance and support I needed along the way, if I did my part of showing up.
As the Latin saying goes, Solvitur Ambulando: It is solved in walking.
Further Exploration:
Explore your "trail" by jumping in for the Hike Like a Yogi Summer Immersion, which you can (imagine that!) participate in from anywhere! I'll support you over the course of 8 weeks this summer, and you'll have a supportive community to explore all this and more, at your own pace.
See the comments below for links--or comment "explore" and I'll send you the info!
