CURIOSITY: We believe in approaching nature with a sense of wonder and awe. This is something that we often lose as we get older and so has to be intentionally re-ignited. We do this through nature mindfulness exercises, stopping to watercolor, teaching facts about wildlife, and stopping to notice something interesting on the trial…even if we don’t ever figure out what it is. This curiosity in nature helps us learn to be curious about people and situations in our real life. We celebrate not knowing.

PLAY: When we were little, we spun in circles, made mud pies, laughed without covering mouths, and were silly without fear. We love to channel those little seven year old versions of the women that go on trips with us. We like to incorporate at least one big playful moment a trip. We have cold plunged in mountain lakes, reenacted Sound of Music, collected bits for fairy jars, and more. Tap into your own sense of play, and it becomes contagious to everyone else.

GROWTH: We don’t tell people to grow. We provide experiences for them that allow them to naturally grow. Nature is the best teacher of all, we simply facilitate experiences in it. We try to find that sweet spot between challenge and fun; that flow state where people are pushed to do more than they thought they could, but not pushed to the point of discouragement. This is a hard balance to strike but we find people are more capable than they ever give themselves credit for.

CONNECTION: Nature brings us back to our most basic and pure version of self, and is the perfect place for these women to come back to their “most them” version of themselves. Sharing an experience in the outdoors also bonds us to those we experience it with. Nature tends to speed up the bonding process–it strips us down to an unfiltered version of ourselves and allows us to connect with others on a deeper level.