Series One
There's a moment when the body stops pretending
When it can't outrun the ache anymore.
The series begins there, not in triumph, but in quiet defiance. A return to hiking not as therapy, but as survival. Not a guide to getting better, but a companion for being present. Each post captures micro-victories and the radical act of showing up when everything hurts.
Healing isn't about returning to who you were; it's about becoming who you are now. Wounds and all. You don't have to be better to begin.
The forest won't fix you, but it will reflect you — and sometimes, that's enough.
Act I: The Body in the Wild
This act centers on reclaiming the body through nature. Honoring chronic illness while making space for movement, even when it’s hard.
1.1 - Body in the Wild
We're not healed. But we're here. Moving like roots, slow and unseen. Still tired, still open. Still rolling.
1.2 - Cardio, Not Just Courage
Hiking isn't just a choice it's survival. A way to move even when the body falters.
1.3 - The Real Reason I'm Out Here
I'm not capturing nature. I'm surviving in it. This is proof I'm still here.
1.4 - Micro Wins, Real Progress
Healing isn't about milestones. It's about small victories, one step at a time.
Act II: The Forest Reflects
What if the wild could witness our wounds without trying to fix them? In Act II, the forest becomes mirror and medicine — not to change us, but to remind us that even the broken still belong.
1.5 - The Forrest Reflects
The forest doesn't fix you. It shows you what still breathes beneath the exhaustion.
1.6 - Silence is a Form of Safety
Silence isn't avoidance. It's presence. It's where my nervous system exhales.
1.7 - Grief Meets Grace
Grace is the quiet peace that opens when we stop demanding the impossible from ourselves.
Act III: Becoming / Returning
The final act isn’t arrival, it’s the practice of return. Healing means growing around our wounds, like trees that split and still reach for light.
1.8 - Becoming / Returning
A return to oneself through nature.
1.9 - Not Getting Better, Just Getting Free
Liberation through presence.
1.10 - Growing Around the Wound
Growing around our wounds, not erasing them.
Keep On Rolling
Out here, the forest doesn't promise healing. It offers something just as powerful: space. Space to feel, to move, to be.
The work isn't about overcoming or reaching a destination. It's about reclaiming the ground beneath our feet, however uneven. It's about becoming comfortable with the movement itself — with growth as process.
In that, we find the freedom we've been searching for. We keep rolling, even when we stumble.
Walking Beside, Not Ahead
These trails are stories, not instructions. I'm not here to tell you what you should do or how you ought to heal. You carry your own map. I carry mine.
We meet on the path, trade company, and keep moving in our own directions. If you find something here that makes your journey lighter, take it. If not, leave it on the trail for someone else.
*Still Rolling Outdoors is a blog of peer perspectives and reflections. Your healing journey is uniquely yours. Nothing here should be confused with medical or therapy advice. (More about this approach)*
Next Trail in Sight...
→ Series Two - The Body Keeps Walking: Exploring trauma’s physical residue. The nervous system speaks in breath patterns and startles. This isn't about "healing trauma" but about learning to coexist with a body that remembers what the mind tried to forget.