blissful hiker ❤︎ inspiring you to hike your own hike

alison young
  • 4.8 (77)
  • WILDERNESS
blissful hiker ❤︎ inspiring you to hike your own hike

Long-distance solo hiker Alison Young knows hard-core backpacking as few people do. With footprints on six continents and memories from trails like Te Araroa and the Pacific Crest, she is a member of a very small and prestigious group. In a series of personal essays coupled with found sound and her own flute playing, this podcast explores her journey of self-discovery as a middle-aged woman, sharing the sometimes unglamorous but vital truth about empowerment, inspiring others to blaze their own trails in this journey we call life.

  1. TEDx excerpts: “How do you find your bliss? Take the long trail!”

    12/26/2024

    TEDx excerpts: “How do you find your bliss? Take the long trail!”

    Send us a textOn October 10, Blissful gave her first TEDx talk, “How do you find your bliss? Take the long trail!”Blissful shares the loss of her flute career due to a neurological disorder called dystonia. It was on trail that she began to heal – and her greatest teacher on learning to live with her loss and move forward into the unknown. Blissful's talk is about resilience in spite of life's inexplicable randomness.Watch the TEDx and see some jaw-dropping images as well!MUSIC: Int...

    7 min
  2. blissful TEDx speaker

    10/03/2024

    blissful TEDx speaker

    Send us a textWATCH TEDx On October 10, Blissful gave her first TEDx talk about Resilience as part of TEDX AmoskeagMillyard in Manchester, New Hampshire. What is a TED talk??TED stands for Technology, Entertainment and Design and was founded in 1984 to showcase the "most interesting people on earth and let them communicate their passion."The tagline is "ideas worth spreading."The talks are short (under 18 minutes) and all memorized, given on a red dot of a carpet in front of a live audi...

    11 min
  3. The Grace of a Good Teacher

    09/26/2024

    The Grace of a Good Teacher

    Send us a textTaking a class this weekend, Blissful learns about the key skills of a good teacher. This was especially important when she needed to face down an irrational fear of falling out of her kayak and being upside down in the water. Here are some of those skills:Positive Learning Environment. Encourage Risk Taking. Provide Feedback and GuidancePromote a Growth Mindset Just wanting to get better and do something out of our comfort zone isn't enough....

    11 min
  4. Life is Too Short to Waste on Speed

    09/19/2024

    Life is Too Short to Waste on Speed

    Send us a textOn the Teton Crest Trail in Wyoming, Blissful decides to go for an "SKT" (Slowest Known Time) and surprises abound. 1. John Muir (and Henry David Thoreau) hated the word "hike" and preferred to saunter, entering beautiful natural places with reverence.2. Physiologists tell us that walking at a turtle's pace releases endocannabinoids a kind of "persistence high" that elicits a state of euphoria. 3. But most important, going slow and leaving plenty of time allows us to simply exis...

    9 min
  5. Hiking While Old

    09/12/2024

    Hiking While Old

    Send us a textOn the Pyrenean Haute Route, an oafish American hiker questioned Blissful's ability to manage a route of this difficulty. “Even YOU?” he asked, his lip curling in disdain. “I haven’t seen many old people hiking this.”It shook her confidence, for sure, but here she was, backpacking while old. We don’t tend to bounce back the way we did when we were younger.That’s why we have to prioritize –1:46 Rest3:34 Nutrition5:46 Exercise– and in that order! Blissful will give her f...

    9 min
  6. Don't Dream. Do.

    09/05/2024

    Don't Dream. Do.

    Send us a textHave you been wanting to do something a little wild and out-of-your-comfort-zone but were afraid to take the first step? When it comes to dreams, don't let them become a broken record of something you'll do "someday." In this episode, Blissful shares three reasons why we fail to act and keep our dreams to ourselves –rulesfear shameTake your dreams for a spin, even if you fail spectacularly. Your future self will thank you because, afterall, we tend not to regret t...

    10 min
  7. The Fear Factor

    06/27/2024

    The Fear Factor

    Send us a textBlissful feels plenty of fear and anxiety before a thru-hike, but she manages her fears by asking, “If the worst happens, then what?” The answers to those questions helps us think more rationally rather than being paralyzed by anxiety, and thus live a more zesty and adventurous life.All of us feel fear at least some of the time that can hold us back from action.The trick is not to tame fear but to hear it out and hen get on with things anyway.We do this by asking far ...

    6 min

  8. 03/07/2024

    Breast Cancer Trail: You're done!

    Send us a textBlissful is given the "all clear" by her surgeon and gets ready to step into the rest of her life. Surgery for breast cancer has completely changed Blissful's body, but has given her a new power of bravery and knowing herself better. One friend calls her a "sur-thriver" facing down the situation directly, and trying to do what St. Paul said, to "rejoice always and not worry about anything."Time is running out but wouldn't it be cool to live fully, audaciously, without...

    8 min
See All (140)

4.8
out of 5
77 Ratings

About

Long-distance solo hiker Alison Young knows hard-core backpacking as few people do. With footprints on six continents and memories from trails like Te Araroa and the Pacific Crest, she is a member of a very small and prestigious group. In a series of personal essays coupled with found sound and her own flute playing, this podcast explores her journey of self-discovery as a middle-aged woman, sharing the sometimes unglamorous but vital truth about empowerment, inspiring others to blaze their own trails in this journey we call life.

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