Going Over the Mountain: How Outdoor Adventure (Often Alone) Makes Women Stronger with Christine Woodside (Episode #135)

Dr. Lynn Hellerstein of Vision Beyond Sight speaks with Christine Woodside, writer, historian, editor, professor, and author of the book Going Over the Mountain: One Woman’s Journey from Follower to Solo Hiker and Back. For 20 years Chris has been the editor-in-chief of Appalachia, the country’s longest running mountaineering journal. Chris talks about her wilderness memoir Going Over the Mountain, how outdoor adventure – often alone – makes women stronger, and the ways her outdoor life has made her regular life richer and better. When Chris started hiking with her family as a child, she never stopped. Eventually, she conquered the Appalachian Trail with her husband, hiking an average of 15 miles a day. More than the distance, it’s the lessons that stuck with her during those hot, grueling days and nights she spent crying. “Put aside your emotions and just walk.” After four and a half months, she completed the trail and was never the same as she faced the regular world. She passed on the lessons of resilience in the mountains to her daughters, until later in life she decided to go on hiking alone, discovering new revelations about herself, the gift of time and living fully in a way that works for you and your stage in life. All the inspiration and wisdom she acquired fueled her other passion of writing, which she now shares to other aspiring writers in an annual writing workshop adventure.

Click here and tune in to the show now to explore:

• What inspired Chris to write her book Going Over the Mountain?
• Finding in the mountains who she was and how to be strong
• The family mountain – West Rattlesnake Mountain in New Hampshire – and climbing it with her mother
• Self-lessons in mountaineering
• Hiking an average of 15 miles
• “Put aside your emotions and just walk”
• Finishing the Appalachian Trail in four and a half months
• Chris’ passion as a writer
• Learning to live in community and learning to cooperate with other people to achieve a goal
• The all-girl’s trips with Chris’ daughters that taught them resilience
• Developing tremendous respect for her husband as her partner in life
• Gratitude for spending time with her daughters
• The next stage of deciding to hike alone
• Revelations of hiking alone vs. with others
• The gift of time and what to do with all of it
• Chris’ other hiking and walking adventures
• Living fully regardless of your age
• Chris’ writing workshop adventure every June

About Christine Woodside:

Christine Woodside is an East Coast writer whose feet have covered thousands of miles of mountain trails. Her latest book Going Over the Mountain shows how exploring the wilderness for years nurtured courage, resilience, and self-care. She grew up in a large family in New Jersey, was the first woman in her family to attend college, and has worked her whole life as a journalist. She edits the country’s oldest mountain journal, Appalachia and teaches journalism history and writing at the University of Connecticut. Her previous book, Libertarians on the Prairie: Laura Ingalls Wilder, Rose Wilder Lane, and the Making of the Little House Books, explored politics in the American frontier myth. Her writing on the environment and American life has appeared in major outlets for many years. Her next book will explore the struggles of her ancestors who were farmers in a part of New Jersey so far south that almost no one has heard of it. She lives in Deep River, Connecticut with her husband Nat Eddy. Their two grown daughters live in California and Pennsylvania.

Connect with Christine Woodside:

Website | Linked In | Instagram | YouTube

“I learned that emotionally and physically, I couldn’t seem to disconnect my emotions to my physical self that really got in the way of my ability to be strong on the trip so I relied on my companions to teach me how to put aside your emotions and just walk. That was a big lesson for me that I carried the rest of my life.” – Christine Woodside

Click here to play this show now!

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Dr. Lynn Hellerstein, Developmental Optometrist, previous co-owner of Hellerstein & Brenner Vision Center, P.C., award-winning author and international speaker, holds powerful and inspiring conversations with her guests in the areas of health, wellness, education, sports and psychology. They share their inspirational stories of healing and transformation through their vision expansion. Vision Beyond Sight Podcast will help you see with clarity, gain courage and confidence. Welcome to Vision Beyond Sight!

Dr. Lynn’s books are available at Amazon.com and www.lynnhellerstein.com/shop.

Dr. Lynn is available for speaking engagements and consulting. For more information, visit www.lynnhellerstein.com.

To learn more about vision therapy or to find a doctor providing vision therapy in your area, visit: COVD.org.

To learn more about vision and the impact in concussion/brain injury, visit: Neuro-Optometric Rehabilitation Association.

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