This blog post was inspired by two episodes of my podcast, Coregulation Conversations - Episodes 52 & 53. If you'd rather listen than read, you can find them here.

What Came After Letting Go 

I’m having an athletic breakthrough at 44.

Which is not necessarily where I thought this story was going.

If you’ve been around for a while, you know that for the past handful of years, I’ve been in a slower season. My priorities shifted through my fertility journey and a deep dive into somatic nervous system healing and studies. My body wanted to move slower, and instead of pushing, I listened. 

Indeed, letting go of the assumption that I would eventually get back to the athlete I had been was a very important part of that season.

From where I’m standing today, it was clearly a worthwhile process - even though it took a lot of time to untangle my sense of worthiness from my athletic ability. 

For a long time, that ability had been where I found safety. In my ability to keep up, do impre...

When Your Body Already Knows What To Do 

Last month, I spent 2.5 weeks in the northernmost part of Alaska - the Brooks Range - with my husband, Luc. 

There were a ton of highlights on this trip, but one that I wanted to write about right away was how, in all the little ways, my training showed up on this trip. Even when I wasn’t even thinking directly about it. 

It wasn’t even during some epic summit push or dramatic river crossing - though the nervous system and fitness training did certainly help the hard parts be more manageable. More often, though, it was in the day-to-day movements we needed our bodies to be able to consistently handle as we navigate the weird body shapes that living and moving through a wilderness landscape asks of us. 

The idea for this piece began while we were crossing a side-sloped snowfield on our way toward a mountain pass. We were walking across the snow when I heard the distinct sound of a slip and a laugh from Luc. 

“I just did that move from Ski Ba...

Inside Our ☀️ Summer Mode☀️

This month, Mind & Mountain - AKA Raine and me - are moving into what we affectionately call ☀️Summer Mode ☀️, which has become part of our annual work cycle over the last few years. 

We love it! And we wanted to share how Summer Mode came to be and why it works well for us inside of Mind & Mountain business vision. This way of working aligns with the values that we want our small business to uphold, and helps us show up for ourselves and the business throughout the year. 

Since starting Mind & Mountain, I’ve tried to create a business that is as far removed from hustle culture as possible - while also recognizing and pushing back against the systems that often fuel it: diet culture, white supremacy, and ableism.

Those influences can be so common, especially inside businesses in the fitness, outdoor recreation, and mental health spaces. It can be hard to see and name these influences, but the fact is that they are the water we’re all swimming in. So if w...

This blog is in preparation for Mother Ducking: Nervous System–Centered Outdoor Leadership, a new course I’m partnering with my partner Luc on this May! Full course details can be found here, but this blog is a great run-down of why these skills are so important! 

It’s not just what you teach, but how you teach it

Luc - my loving partner and a professional outdoor skills instructor - frequently gets feedback like: 

“This is the best class I’ve ever taken!’

And not once in a blue moon - consistently. In every class he teaches, the feedback he receives is glowing. 

He’s won national awards for his instruction. His courses, whether it’s packrafting, ice travel + safety, or route finding, really stick with people in a way that is so impressive! 

He’s incredibly good at what he does for a lot of reasons. He holds himself to a high standard, he loves to nerd out on risk management and safety planning, and he’s passionate about the things he teaches. I’m so proud of him! 

It’s also ama...

A note from Sarah: Ntathu Allen is a long-time friend of Mind & Mountain and a meditation teacher inside our Active Recovery Library within Mind & Mountain Training. Last month, Ntathu sent an email similar to what you will find below, and I loved it so much I asked if she would transform it into a blog for us. 

I hope her writing touches you as much as it did me. And if you’re a member or considering membership, check out the guided meditations from Ntathu inside your Bonus Library. Her voice is as calming and supportive as her writing - maybe even more so!  

P.S. the photos in the blog are added from my catalog, some peaceful and beautiful images to go with these loving words. 

Gentle practices that carry me through low-energy days

Ntathu Allen

March 2026

There are seasons in life when your energy feels low.
When your body gently asks you to slow down, even if life around you is spinning.

That was me, caring full-time for my mum as she lived with Alzheimer’s.

It reminded me ho...

Four Wins From The Ice

Some trips are fun. Some are restorative. And every once in a while, a trip lines up in a way that feels almost instructional - like it’s quietly teaching you something about timing, safety, strength, and belonging.

Our short, spontaneous winter trip to Cordova ended up being one of those experiences. On the surface, it was about skating on a glacier lake among icebergs (already pretty magical). But underneath that, there were four very clear “wins” that stood out - four places where things went right in a way that felt meaningful, nourishing, and transferable to everyday life.

So, as a means of making a trip report, I want to use those four wins to structure this write-up and share about this magical experience that Luc and I were so lucky and grateful to have. 

Cordova is a little town of 2500 people on Prince William Sound in Alaska. The only ways to get there are by plane or boat - we took a quick flight over from Anchorage over the Christmas holiday beca...

Thoughtful gifts, meaningful giving, and ways to share care – even in a tender year.

Finding something that makes someone light up – that little spark of oh, you really see me 🥹– is one of my favorite parts of this season.

This year, our gift and giving guide is short and full of heart. This blog has a short list of small businesses, makers, and educators who pour so much care into what they create. Shopping small is such a simple, powerful way to share our love – not just with the people we’re gifting to, but with the humans behind each beautiful thing.

And while the holidays can be joyful, I know they can also be tender. A lot of us are stretched thinner than usual this year (finance + capacity-wise), which makes the kind of giving that’s rooted in meaning (instead of pressure) feel even more special.

So, take what speaks to you, leave what doesn’t, and remember – your presence in someone's life is a present in itself. Hugs, homemade cards, and time intentionally spent with loved...

Interview Recap: Active in Alaska with Kendall

I recently joined Kendall on the Active in Alaska Podcast for a warm, energizing conversation about movement, mental health, and finding belonging in the outdoors. We talked about growing up in Alaska, tackling the Wilderness Classic, and how I’ve built a career blending fitness, nervous system regulation, and a deep love for this place.

We explored how strength is more than muscle—it’s emotional and nervous system resilience, and how outdoor culture can become more inclusive and compassionate. From interval workouts filmed in my living room to my evolving somatic work in Anchorage, we discussed creating supportive, choice-based movement spaces that meet people wherever they are.

Topics We Covered:
(0:15) Growing up in Alaska and finding my way into outdoor culture
(3:59) The Wilderness Classic and learning empowerment through challenge
(7:12) Building an inclusive, scalable approach to fitness
(10:16) Connecting movement with nervous s...

I’m back with Part Two of my Brooks Range 2025 summer trip! If you missed it, you can catch Part One right here. 

Nothing Like Training in Action 

When I think back on this summer’s trip, one of the things I’m struck by is how much the first half of the journey set me up perfectly for what came next. With a foundation of prep work – through Summer Strong, weightlifting with Allison Tenny’s Alpha program, and as much spring hiking as I could squeeze in (we had an early spring melt and good hiking earlier than usual) – I had set myself up for success. Last summer, I was sick most of the season with walking pneumonia and lost a lot of fitness & lung capacity, so I had been motivated to get as much as possible back this season! Luckily, it seemed to be working. 

The structure of the trip itself helped, too. In the first half of the trip, we used a basecamp at the airstrip to allow us to do an initial short hiking loop, only three days with light packs. Then we returned to the airstrip a...

Adventure, Nerves, and Nature on the Globetrotters Podcast 

I recently joined Jonathan Otero on the Globetrotters Podcast for a heartfelt conversation about outdoor adventure, nervous system resilience, and what it really means to belong in nature. From learning to backcountry ski as an adult (with plenty of crashes along the way) to three-week wilderness trips in the Arctic, we talked about the joy, struggle, and lessons the outdoors offers.

We dug into how strength isn’t just about muscles, but about nervous system capacity and emotional resilience. Jonathan and I also explored the culture of outdoor recreation—everything from “bro vibes” and gatekeeping to finding more inclusive, compassionate ways of adventuring together. And of course, we swapped stories about Alaska, grizzly encounters, and why I keep returning to the Brooks Range year after year.

Topics We Covered:

• (1:30) Growing up in Alaska and finding my way into outdoor culture

• (5:14) What “mindful interval trai

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