Just Breathe

Our Just Breathe Day Journeys focus on—you guessed it—your breath. Our journeys reconnect you with nature in the hills of Northern California. The day journeys allow you to take a little break, to reflect, to soften the internal dialog, and to direct love and compassion toward yourself. Our hour-long hikes have a water destination and are designed to support a state of relaxation and internal serenity. Nature does the hard work for us by enhancing a state of mindfulness and helping us understand that we are all interconnected. This unique combination of mountains, trees, water, and conversation with our Blue Life Navigator, Anneli Collins, works harmoniously to achieve presence. With practice, you will soon begin to find opportunities throughout the day for mini-breath breaks, keeping the mind in a state of calm and becoming less reactive to everyday stressors. 

Hiking has always been more than exercise for me.  Walking through the Redwoods and Manzanitas, climbing up ravines to vistas of hidden lakes, babbling creeks, the ocean, or bays, has given me that precious time to release, reflect, and think creatively.  My mind shuts down, my breathing takes over and I begin my walking meditation.  Sometimes, I start my hike with the intention of figuring out an issue, a conflict I’m having, a problem I need to solve, or words I’m looking for to finish a story I’m writing.  I remember a few years ago, my direct reports at work had given me some tough feedback that completely set me off balance and triggered my ego.  I hiked the whole weekend for hours, trying to work out my feelings and how I was going to respond.  I must have covered over 30 miles of Mount Tam before I settled in, reframing the feedback as an opportunity to learn and discover something new about myself.  I turned my anger into gratitude.  Their feedback was giving me the opportunity to understand the impact I had on others, which at times can come across as too assertive.  It was shutting communication down and not allowing for other perspectives. I use hiking in my coaching practice.   What a better way to have a conversation while walking and breathing!

Program content

One hour of guided hiking meditation by our Blue Life Navigator Anneli Collins

Essential oils to clear your breathing pathways

Breathing Techniques to enhance awareness

Educational discussion and navigation on where and how to further advance your  knowledge and understanding of the powerful effects of hiking mindfulness.   

What to Bring

• Good Walking Shoes

• Water

• Some snacks

• A Hat

or whatever you need to keep you comfortable!

Destination

The hikes are easy to moderate and will cover Mt. Tam, the Headlands, and Point Reyes Station.  Each hike will have a water destination: a lake, creek, waterfall, ocean, or bay.  

I will post the location a week in advance. Hikes are Saturday or Sunday and mid-week if possible.

Costs

There is no fee or payment required but we do ask for a kind donation. At the end of each month, we will pull a name from the registered attendees and ask you where you want the collected kindness donation to go. It can be a charity of choice or even a friend that may be in need of a little pick me up—a gentle act of collective kindness—just to let them know it’s going to be alright.

Find out more about Anneli

You can find Anneli walking the hills of Mt. Tam when she isn’t Executive Coaching her clients or Navigating one of our on the water Blue Life Journeys in Greece.

Anneli is passionate about knowledge. She is curious about how our internal dialog triggers our emotions and where our biases originated from.