🌿 My Story: Staying Stuck vs. Investing in My Mental Health 🌲✨

Why are nature retreats so powerful for your mental health? Because they offer what everyday life often can’t: a pause. A place to breathe. A moment to truly belong. An opportunity to transform your life.

Last week, I took a workshop on hosting retreats. I was reminded of something that stopped me in my tracks:

"The price of staying stuck is higher than the cost of the retreat."

It hit something deep in me. It made me reflect on my own healing journey. And I'm sharing that story with you now.

More than eight years ago, I struggled with mental health. I stayed within what was covered by my health insurance—therapy sessions. And for a long time, I thought that was enough. I would go to my appointments, talk through my struggles, do the "work." But still, something wasn’t shifting. I felt like I was walking in circles, trapped in a pattern I couldn’t name. I was "doing all the right things," yet still not moving forward. Still stuck.

I tried what so many of us do: I tried to heal on my own—taking myself into nature, camping, walking the woods, traveled, and reading self-help books. I bathed myself in forests and sunlight and slept under stars. Yes, those things nourished me… but the benefits were short-lived. These moments helped me breathe again—but their effects were fleeting. I would return to my routines, and the heaviness and loneliness would return too. That led to suicidal thoughts.

I realized that while talk therapy had its place, I needed something else. Something that my insurance wouldn’t pay for. Something that didn’t fit neatly into a 50-minute box. I needed connection. In a community where I could take off the masks and not have to explain myself. A place where I could move, cry, rest, and be witnessed.

What I truly craved was community. A place to belong. A place to laugh, cry, move, heal, and learn with others.

I wanted more than a solo walk in the woods. I wanted:

• Hands-on earth-based skills

• Wilderness survival guidance

• Laughing yoga and somatic movement

• Music, drums, and wild freedom—without judgment

• Deaf-led, ASL-accessible gatherings of people who get it

  
  

I was tired of learning from books written by people who didn’t understand the cultural or communication barriers I navigate every day and watching about holistic work through auto-captioned YouTube videos. Tired of being the only Deaf person at whatever retreats I attended.

I wanted a community of skilled Deaf practitioners, like myself, who could hold space for healing and connection in ways that honored who I am.  I wanted to feel what it’s like to be in circle with people who "speak" my language—not just linguistically, but energetically, too.

So I started building what I couldn’t find.

Wild Cypress was born out of this longing—not just mine, but the collective longing of many of us, especially in the Deaf and Disabled community, who have been searching for a healing space that honors our whole selves. A space where nature is not separate from the body, where accessibility isn’t an add-on, and where rest and liberation are central.

That’s part of why I chose to invest in myself through Nature and Forest Therapy guide training with ANFT. It was one of the first real investments I made in my mental health outside of the traditional system—and it changed everything. Now, I’m bringing that training to others through the Sea Turtle Cohort—a 6 month guide certification training in American Sign Language. If you’ve ever wanted to deepen your healing work, or bring nature-based wellness into your profession as a teacher, counselor, or community leader—this is for you.

And if you're tired of being stuck—or tired of being the only Deaf (or insert any marginalized identity) person in spaces meant for healing and growth, if you crave connection, earth-based wisdom, and a space to breathe and be—then our upcoming ReVitalize Retreat is for you.

Drumming and Dancing by the Fire at the first Nature Retreat

Join us in the mountains of Aspen, Colorado, for 5 days and try this:

🌿 Immerse in nature with a like-minded Deaf/signing community

🌿 Learn Earth-based skills like plant medicine, permaculture, homesteading, and off-grid living that I could use in everyday life

🌿 Regulate your nervous system through nature therapy, mindfulness, movement, and collective care

🌿 Sing or drum around a fire without judgement or needing to "fit in"—just be YOU…

🌿 Sit in silence with others and feel deeply connected

I don’t know of any other Nature retreat that offers all this in a fully accessible, Deaf-centered space. You simply can’t put a price on that. There is room for you here.

And if you’ve been telling yourself, "Now is not the right time" or "I can’t afford this" – I invite you to ask, what is the cost of staying stuck?

Because you deserve to feel held. Supported. Wild and Free.

And healing, my love, is your birthright.

With wild love and deep care,

Summer

ReVitalize Retreat – August 21–25, 2025 | Aspen, CO

Accessible in ASL | Deaf, DeafBlind, DeafDisabled, hard of hearing and signing allies welcome