Welcome to

The Upward Slopes Blog

Join me on a new form of journey of ascension!

A journey to brighter, more beautiful places in life,

As we learn to take each step

Along our own, unique journeys through this wild human experience;

Asking more of ourselves as we step into truer alignment with what is called for here and now,

Receiving ever-more from each moment that we take steps through this wondrous human experience on this one wondrous Planet Earth.

What are we doing here, Chasing Upward Slopes?

I created Upward Slopes as a space to tell tales of an embodied journey through life, embracing each moment for all that it is:

Enjoying the ups and letting them fill my heart and soul with light;

Learning to be with the dark – that which clutches at my lungs and tears at my heart;

All-the-while, getting to live the human experience for the full, spectacular journey that it is.

Note: Much of my writing has moved to my We Are The Forest Substack, and I would LOVE to see you over in that space as I bring you frequent writings and embodied practice! Below you will find a small library of writings that came through as I created the Upward Slopes Platform.

The Demons Within Us

I’ve always held a deep curiosity for why it is that we have so much potential for great things in life; yet, us humans so often choose suffering through behaviors that keep ourselves small. The following is a look into how the universe answered this question in my own life.

Part 1 – Rock Climbing, Trauma Healing, and Awakening into the human body

Parts 2+ Are no longer coming to the blog because this series initiated the writing of my new book!!! Make sure you are subscribed to the Newsletter to hear more

On slowing down and new perspectives

Big Goals, Non-Attachment, and Being With Things As They Are

Healing Waters in The Adirondacks

Lessons from Burn Scars – Trail Running Stories from the Superstition Wilderness

Balancing Light and Dark – Lessons from burn scars

Healing from Burn Scars – Part 2

Yoga and Mindfulness Practices

Learning to tune in – lessons from yoga and the adventure life

Read the post

Creating Space – A short and simple practice for releasing pressure and creating space to make the next best decision

Go to the practice

Chasing Your Own Upward Slopes (a series on using embodiment practices to support your endeavors)

Part 1: A grounding Practice – Standing in Tadasana

Part 2: Using your breath to tap into your nervous system

Part 3: How to Breathe

More Practices

A Grounding Practice

A Practice for Balancing External Stresses with Personal Goals

Outdoor Adventures – Chasing Upward Slopes

A 100K San Juan Mountail Trailrunning Race Report

A tale of Chasing Upward Slopes – 60 miles of them! – across the San Juan Mountains, including how a particularly challenging section reveals an important lesson for all of us out here #ChasingUpwardSlopes

Read about it here

Setting Up For A Rim To Rim To Rim Adventure

On April 10th, 2021, I finally took on a long-time coming adventure and ran 50 miles back and forth across the Grand Canyon. The run, itself, was spectacular. The Big Ditch never fails to take my breath away (visually and because of those long climbs!)

What I wrote about – it’s not always so much about the event itself, but the journey there.

Read about it here.

Chasing The Needles and Grenadier Range – A San Juan Trail Running Adventure Series

Part 1 – My favorite place on Earth

Part 2 – Searching for Peaks

Part 3 – The Needles (and other mini adventures)

Other Mountain and Trail Running Adventures

A Spontaneous McDowell Mountain Marathon

A trip up a mountain – thoughts from the top of Arizona

Head Up North – A Spontaneous Fall Colors Trip Report

Lessons in health & life from a week-long trail-running vertical challenge

On Monday, March 22nd, I started a week-long trail running challenge to gain as much vert as possible! The following chronicles the journey, along with tales from the trail and lessons learned along the way.

Part 1 – Embracing the challenge to chase some upward slopes

Part 2 – Day 1, on enjoyment of the journey

Part 3 – Day 3+ on always moving forward (even when you don’t feel your greatest)

Making Progress

How to pause to create positive change (Step 1)

Facing Heart Break – (and a better world)

The Journey to Better Health:

Follow Through On Your New Year’s Resolutions

Looking forward to some fun and exciting adventures this new year? How are you going to ensure you stick to your promises so that you create that healthier version of yourself that you envision?

Balancing Stress and Rest – A framework for creating positive change

Calling upon principles from science & engineering, as well as yoga & Ayurveda, we can live life in a balanced state, understanding when it’s the right time to work hard, and when it’s time to let up, relax, and let change unfold.

Step 1 – Before You Begin Your Journey

Our current health and wellness paradigm looks like this: create a specific plan (based on a set of data or personal experience) and sell that plan to other individuals with the promise it will help them too. But that’s not our path forward, and this post explains why.

A Process for Moving Forward

Each of our own journeys is unique. This means that finding the next step can be challenging. Here, I outline my process for finding – and taking! – that next step, no matter where you are on your own health journey

A Look Into My Journey to Better Health

A fun post about my process for learning to make healthier decisions as you follow me on my journey to making healthier decisions for my own body – all through the lens of one particular subject: healthy eating. Plus a bit about my new favorite tea (with recipe included)

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