The sun actually felt warm today, first time since November. Marking the moment with a squinty selfie and an IG post for future dark times when it’s hard to remember that it will get better. 1.19.21. We’ve been through some hard times, friends... including the last four years of a presidency I hope our country never has to repeat. Here’s to making it through a cycle of darkness— and bring on the light! 🌞🌞🌞🌞🌞 
Starting up a new session of Ski Babes today! This is our training mountain map - for this session, we've got people on all three mountains. Ski Babes is a periodized training program that gets progressively more challenging as we go. Folks joining up now for the first time will start with Round One workouts, where we build the foundation, check form & alignment a LOT. We're strengthening big muscles here, yes, but we're also re-training movement patterns, teaching the glutes to engage, building body balance & self-awareness, and strengthening the stabilizer muscles & connective tissue that contribute to our stability & injury prevention. Folks who have been training all winter or have trained with me before might jump into a different Round -- in Round Two we add more intensity and some brain games to help us be able to move with integrity AND think at the same time. Then in Round Three we keep practicing & putting it all together. There's a place for you here! Sometimes people worry if it's going to be too hard or too easy for their level, and the cool thing about the Ski Babe approach is that you get to adapt the challenge to meet your body, your goals, and your energy on that particular day. Uplevel on the good days, and take Mobility Track on the days you're not really feeling up for it but know it will be good for you to move. And THEN we do the work on mindset that helps it be okay to listen to your body and not have to go 110% all the time... that's part of the magic of sustainable & mental health-informed fitness. First workout is today & you get immediate access so follow that link in my bio if you're interested! #SkiBabesTraining #MindAndMountain #SMHTraining #SkiBabes #MentalHealthMatters #SheJumps #BackcountyBabes #SkiingIsLive #OptOutside #YouGotThis 
Who belongs in the mountains? Check out the images that show up when I search for "ski woman" in Canva. Spoiler -- there's basically NO diversity. Or even women who look like they know what they're doing and belong on skis - other than to pose with them look good. Now I want to make sure it's super clear that you don't have to be an amazing athlete or skier to recreate outside, or to be in Ski Babes (you don't even have to ski at all, actually -- we're about functionality & energy that reverberates to all parts of life). But it really does give me pause to realize how few visuals & role models we have of women -- especially women of color and women with bigger bodies -- actually OWNING their skills on the slopes. Taking up space in the outdoors. Teaching us. Modeling what's possible. If you struggle with imposter syndrome, feeling like you're not good enough, or that you don't belong in the outdoor rec world -- this is part of why. It's not just in your head -- there is a real lack of representation & acceptance of diverse ways of being outside. And systems that keep it that way (though these are changing 🤞🏼 ). I know it's just a collection of cartoon images but this is a demonstration of the larger issue. What we see shapes what we believe is possible. To end on a hopeful note: we can change this! Share your pictures, take up space, and support other women doing the same. We are the culture-makers, and the change starts with us. #mindandmountain #skibabestraining #smhtraining #backcountrybabes #shejumps #backcountryskiing #splitboarding #skibabes #diversifyoutdoors shout out to @kelly.diels for culture making language 
Ski Babes Jan/Feb Session starts on MONDAY! Check this out & see if it might be a fit you: 🔥Ski Babes: Online Training for Winter🔥 ➡️ Train from your living room ➡️ Get strong & prevent injuries ➡️ Discharge stress ➡️ Improve mood & energy ➡️ Have as much fun as possible this winter! 🤍 Online video workouts ⭐️ 3 workouts each week, all pre-recorded so you can access them anytime 🎁 Optional (but we'd love it if you could make it) LIVE ZOOM WORKOUTS 2x weekly ⏱ 35-45 minute each 🏂 Specific exercises for strength & injury prevention for outdoorsy folks 💝 Mental health-informed workouts help build nervous system capacity, grow self-awareness, & heal your relationship with your body. 🌱 Bi-weekly mindset & nutrition practices 👋🏼 My style is down-to-earth, body-positive, and mental health-informed. 👉🏼Check out the Complete the Stress Cycle Workout on my website to see if it resonates with you. 🐆 We start training Monday! Head to the link in my bio to sign up— when you do we’ll send you one of these stickers in the mail with your star chart! If you’re already signed up I’m curious, which of these components 👆🏼 was the big draw for you?? 💃🏼🍓❄️🖤🏂🤩⛸ #skibabestraining #readyforwinter #backcountryskiing #outdoorrecreation #winteriscoming #skiseason #backcountrybabes #mindandmountain #smhtraining #mentalhealthmatters #yougotthis 
New free workout for you! I've been feeling the stress in the collective these days -- and feeling it in my body too. How about you?? This ish is intense! Yesterday I got into action and recorded a new free workout that's designed to help move those damn stress chemicals out of our bodies! It's the combination of the Ski Babes/Summer Strong workout style + nervous system capacity building techniques I've been studying & incorporating into my life over the past year. These strategies have been critical for my sanity in 2020/21 and I'm excited to share them with you. After recording this I had such a buzz last night -- honestly, I hadn't fully realized how badly my system needed to dump those stress chemicals. And if that's the case for me -- and I'm studying & teaching this on a daily basis -- I'm gonna guess that it's the case for many of you too. I hope you give it a try this week & let me know how it lands in your body! If you have any amount of that full-body-energy-buzz that I had yesterday I bet you'll be psyched! Also, know this -- I'm incorporating these strategies into the live Zoom workouts that are a part of Ski Babes this winter, so if want more please consider joining up for the next session -- we start on Monday 1/18. ➡️ Link in my bio to grab this "Complete the Stress Cycle" workout for free -- and tag a friend or co-worker who might benefit from some stress relief these days (can't we all??) 🙏🏼✨⛸🖤❄️ #mentalhealthmatters #mindandmountain #skibabestraining #smhtraining #completethestresscycle #backcountrybabes #shejumps #nervoussystemhealth #yougotthis 
What a year it's been already! So the next Ski Babes session starts on Monday, and while it feels strange to talk about it in the midst of so much other urgent stuff in our world these days I’m doing it because: -- this sh*t is stressful and it can help SO MUCH to complete your stress cycles with exercise. Exercise is the most effective way to move stress chemicals out of your body so you can get out of fight/flight/freeze and back to thinking clearly about the situation. -- we need strength, resilience, AND self-awareness to be okay these challenging times. This is what Ski Babes is all about, y'all! Not the "no pain, no gain" push-through kind of strength, but grounded, aware, listening, agile strength. PS this is the kind of strength we need for mountain sports! -- outdoor time is the other balm for wild times, and it's way easier to enjoy your time outside (& not get injured) if you've been cross-training. Living room workouts FTW! -- we have an incredible community of folks who are sweating it out, sharing our struggles & wins, working to build the world we want to see, and supporting each other through this time. If loneliness or disconnection is a painful part of this winter, come do Jan & Feb with us! The video cut me off at the end but the final message is this: We're starting up the last session of Ski Babes for this winter on Monday, January 18 & would love to have you. Link in my bio! #mindandmountain #smhtraining #skibabestraining #backcountryskiing #backcountrybabes #shejumps #splitboardbabes #skibabes 
In Ski Babes right now, it's Active Recovery Week. We're between sessions (next one starts Jan 18), and the timing of ARW feels perfect given how stressful & disturbing last week was. So I want to offer ARW to you all this week if you're in a similar place. It feels like we could all use an Active Recovery Week (from life!) this week. In Ski Babes & Summer Strong we take an Active Recovery Week at the end of every 6-week build cycle. We've been training, building intensity, adding challenge, getting stronger for six weeks and it's time to chill for a bit. Integrate the lessons, let the body & mind rest & recover without taking on more challenges for the moment. (Does that not map almost too perfectly onto the experience of last week in the US too? And/or the last chunk of weeks since the election??) So the goal of Active Recovery Week to R E C O V E R. And while recovery might (does) certainly include deep rest (rest is resistance, thank you @thenapministry), 2020/21 has made it abundantly clear that there is also an ACTIVE part to most complete recovery. Especially when our stressors are ones we can't directly, physically fight or run from. And if our stress responses tend toward freeze, even more so. We have to move the stress out of our bodies. And movement can help us feel our resilience, our sturdiness, and our joy. So this week I invite you into Active Recovery with me. Anything that feels good in your body counts. Some ideas that I'll be partaking in: ⛸play outside 💜do an embodiment practice like yoga or #wildsoulmovement 💃🏼dance it out 🍓eat amazing food & savor it You could even do a Ski Babes workout (I'll put a couple replays up for you to try at the link in my bio) with the intention of completing a stress cycle. There’s really no need to add more stress & challenge these days, BUT letting your body sweat & move through intensity can help us get to the other side. Keep me posted on how Active Recovery Week goes for you! And drop other favorite active recovery activities here so we can all be inspired 👇🏼 #mentalhealthmatters #skibabestraining #skibabes #summerstrong #yougotthis #mindandmountain 
Arctic Refuge solidarity + Stickers for Conservation — take an action in solidarity with Gwich’in & Inupiat leaders today & earn a sticker (swipe to see sticker draft by Gwich’in artist Amaya Kahlo). Claim your sticker at the link in my bio! Anchorage folks if you need a printer lmk, we can print extras. @silainuat @defendthesacredak @ourarcticrefuge @native_mvmt #standwiththegwichin #inupiatgwichinsolidarity #defendthesacredak #protectthearctic 
International Day of Solidarity! Banner drop on ice ✨⛸ Iizhik Gwats’an Gwandii Goodlit, “the sacred place where life begins” went up for sale today against the wishes of Gwich’in & Inupiat land & water defenders @native_mvmt @ourarcticrefuge @defendthesacredak @silainuat It’s not too late to add your voice to support these Indigenous leaders & protect this land for future generations. Print a banner at the link in my bio and/or share the image directly. We’ll send you a sticker as a thank you (link to claim your sticker is also at link in bio) 
Today, as the Trump administration sells off the sacred coastal plain to Big Oil, I act in solidarity with @defendthesacredak @native_mvmt @ourarcticrefuge @silainuat . Photo taken outside of Alaska BLM HQ where they announced lease sales this morning. 😢 the fight is not over! #standwiththegwichin #inupiatgwichinsolidarity #defendthesacredak #protectthearctic 
I’ve been working on this deltoid all winter, mostly for this pic! Covid vaccine today 👍🏼👍🏼 I work part time at a residential home for teen girls struggling with mental health & safety. We’ve been lucky to be Covid-free so far (knock on wood). I feel really lucky to be on the early vaccination list. Tbh my skeptical self was initially wary of the speed at which the vaccine was approved, but via a @thisamerlife episode (Boulder vs Hill) I learned they’ve actually been working on this vaccine for a long while. It was confidence inspiring & made me excited to get it. I know we’ve heard lots of different opinions about the vaccine; happy to answer questions about my experience if you have any. 
We live in a weird & wonderful world. ❄️✨ 
Come skate with me! 
Happy New Year, y’all! My Colombian friends taught me a New Years tradition in which first 12 days of the year set the scene for the next 12 months — if it’s true yesterday was for February and will include cold, new moves, new places, joy, and beauty... as well as some crappy conditions & a couple falls that I didn’t get on video but are also part of life, outdoor adventure, and probably February. 🤷🏼♀️ 
I did not fully realize how heavy my heart was wrapping up 2020 last night. Turns out (no surprise, actually) there was a lot to let go of. I sweated it out, danced it out, and cried it out in the company of fireworks & the moon. Today the weight off is palpable. Here’s to leaving behind what we no longer need and starting 2021 with less on our shoulders & an open heart 💜 
Watching the sun set on 2020 with all the feelings! This year has been a mix of everything for me -- easy at times (my introverted self kind of loves the lack of pressure to socialize), enraging at times (so many injustices in our world!), & empowering at times (sharing my work in a bigger way this year brought me much growth, healing, & purpose). As I wrote down these feeling reflections last night it was interesting to notice the presence of pairs of "opposites" -- patient/impatient, worried/hopeful, ready/tired, angry/peaceful/joyful. And truth is that's been a big piece of my work this year-- building relationships with many different parts of myself, welcoming them all, and allowing them to coexist. In 2020 I started to unlearn binary thinking. With gender, race, and feelings. Instead, nuance. We can be multiple things at once. We can experience multiple, even contradictory feelings at the same time. In fact, we need this both/and. To feel the pain and notice the beauty. The fear and the hope. Not to bypass the tough stuff, but to dose it out. And to help us be with it all, sustainably. It's one of the reasons community & connections are so powerful, even for those of us who really like the quiet alone time. When we're heavy into one feeling experience, the web of people we're connected to can help us remember that other experiences are possible too. And that we're not in this alone. I'm truly grateful to be connected to you, for getting through this year, and for what we can create together in the future. 🙏🏼 Thanks for being a part of my web! If you want to fill out your own feelings person, the original pic is here (📷: @lucmehl , swipe left). It was a fun & useful exercise for me! Would love to hear what you're finishing the year with if you want to share too. 👇🏼 #mentalhealthmatters #smhtraining #mindandmountain #goodbye2020 #wegotthis 
Happy Solstice, friends. There is light in the darkness & beauty everywhere we look. If you’re in pain, lonely, or hopeless, I’m sending you love. Spend the time you need in darkness, but don’t forget about the light. Together we can create the world we dream about. ✨❄️💗 
We had an early holiday family time the 2020-way : hotdog roast in the (dumping!) snow. So grateful for my family! 
We love the Arctic Refuge! And all the cool rocks & bugs & beauty you can find there. @lucmehl, @beyondcrowds, and I spent two weeks walking & boating in the refuge last summer, and then crossed out of the boundary for our final week— we started finding oil drums & seismic testing imprints & all sorts of impacts of oil development (pics in my story today) as soon as we crossed the boundary. The contrast was striking. Gwich’in land protectors say that the Arctic Refuge as the sacred land where life begins. These sacred lands should not be for sale. Protecting the refuge from development is not just an economic & environmental cause (though it is both of those as well) — it is a human rights cause. Today is the last day to submit public comments— deadline is 4pm AK. Check my story for the email address & details if you’re seeing this in real time. If you missed the deadline, no worries, there is still plenty to be done. Follow @defendthesacred ‘s 30 Days of Action, link in their bio, culminating in the International Day of Solidarity on 1/6. If you’re taking action or plan to lmk, the accountability of community in these efforts is helpful! #defendthesacred #nativemovement #arcticrefuge #protectthearctic #anwr #alaskalove #followindigenousleadership 
Short, steep climbs vs long, sustained climbs. Do you have a strong preference? I sure do -- I'll take a short steep climb any day. Let me work hard, bust it out, get it over with, and get back to the easy glide of the flats and downhills. But there's a skate ski loop I've been doing lately that has this one long, long, LONG steady climb on it... and that hill has helped me notice a few things -- and see how they apply to the sustained challenges we're living these days too: ⭐When I try to rush the climb & get it over with, I burn out. When I slow down a notch or two, I find I can do it -- maybe even with ease. ⭐There are micro-changes in the steepness of a long climb. And there's potential for a little recovery when the steepness lessens-- even though the incline is still there ⭐It's a great place to practice finding a calm mind, body, & breath under stress. On the short climbs, I almost don't even have to be present to the challenge. I can just grit my teeth and get it over with. But the long ones require presence, feeling the discomfort. Can't escape it. With practice, the ability to be with the discomfort & calm my body & mind when it's challenged is coming more easily. I can feel the shifts from my relationship to this long, steady hill seeping their way into my life too. Recognizing areas where I can slow down, find recovery even in the middle of a tough year, and being (more) okay with not being able to fix everything right away & okay in spite of the discomfort of that reality. So now I'm appreciating that long steady climb as an embodied practice of the skills we need for these times. How about you? What are you learning on the uphills these days? #mindandmountain #SkiBabesTraining #skibabes #mentalhealthmatters #outdoormetaphors #mothernatureteachesmethings #nordicskiing #yougotthis 
#FeelGoodFriday : What’s the silliest thing about your Covid-life these days? Other than twinning with @lucmehl, our small house + work-from-home life has created a couple good ones lately: 1) last week I was leading a Zoom Q&A session for Ski Babes, and in the middle of things we started hearing a loud & strange noise in the background... Afterwards I figured out that Luc had been de-seeding a pomegranate by thunking it with a wooden spoon 😂😂 great technique btw but also pretty noisy! 2) Luc works in our office which is just off from the living room, where I record the Ski Babes workouts. We have to negotiate timing so that if he needs snacks or a bathroom break he can get them & get shut in while I’m recording! The other day he needed to get out mid-workout & climbed out the window 😅 Sharing small space is working pretty well, considering! And I’m so glad we can laugh when it goes wrong 🤣 What are yours?? Would love to know we’re not alone & laugh about it together