From Start-ups to Stillness
Tell us a bit about yourself.
I grew up outside.
I didn't realize it was such a core part of who I was until I was in college.
I was drawn to study environmental studies, science and policy, and I was drawn to an outdoor program in college where I was trained in the backcountry to lead and facilitate trips for other students, faculty, staff, alumni, who were less experienced being out in the woods or on the water/. I would take people on day trips or multi-day trips. Backpacking, hiking, rock climbing, kayaking.
I got away from that work in my profession, ended up working a office job in startups that were mission aligned to protect the environment, but after almost 20 years, I started to feel that something was missing for me, something was off, and I needed to make a change.
Personally, I kept feeling drawn back to nature as a source of wisdom and guidance, and going outside brought me back to myself.
I also missed the work of bringing people outside and working with others to go into the woods, as a way to get quiet, which will allow them to really tune in, and tap into their own instinct…to find themselves again in an era when we all really need that.
“For me, it’s about helping people. feel comfortable spending more time outside”
The demands of everyday life and digital world has taken us so far away from who we are.
I believe we're on the cusp of this shift, a return to slower living. A return to being intentional.
It is a place where we can stop the noise. and sit with our own thoughts, to either tap back into, discover, or rediscover, our true values, what we're calling, what we're being called to now. And, if nothing else, find a sense of calm at a time where we all really need it.
Follow Along with Tess
What is current relationship with nature and your own practice?
Living in the city, if I don't get away from the city for three or four weeksI just feel off. I feel agitated and tightly wound, you know?
For me, it's the woods. That's the place where I feel most restored.
I'm regularly seeking the opportunity to get fresh air, be outside, and putting in the effort to leave the city, I'm lucky that we have a few places that we get to go to regularly for that.
That is something I want to help enable is helping others at the retreat and beyond.
Where is this work taking you?
I'm starting to picture what this new line of work looks like for me.
I really enjoy sharing simple ways for people to be able to go do this in their daily lives. in little bits and bursts.
You don't need to go spend a weekend away in order to get these benefits. You can go for an hour, even go for 10 minutes.
Maybe it's sitting outside in the sun in the morning. Maybe it's standing underneath a tree or sit on a bench underneath a tree.
Easy ways that people can reconnect with nature, in order to capture some of these benefits, both the kind of calmness, the health benefits, that are available to us and finding our own paths as well
I recently formed a new business, Quite Woods, and Im excited to start taking small groups out on experiences in the forest, and facilitating workshops with the exercises, breathing, and different prompts. Along with practical tips for ways to tap into nature and the benefits of it in everyday life.