Welcome to Sears beers, knowers, and doers , a podcast about intuition. Do you know what that is? Intuition to me, is that inner sense for knowing that something is true and yet I have no proof, but there's so many definitions and there's so many ways it can come. I'm looking to bring together and share with you some amazing guests. You have some amazing life stories and also some insights into how intuition can come. And I'm looking to gather those crows in the trees.
I hope you're one of them . I hope that this podcast inspires you to be more connected to your intuition. And I hope that by doing that, we make the world a better place. Thanks for coming on this journey with me
Before we get started today, I would love to share some tools with you to help with stress and feeling overwhelmed, especially for the energetically sensitive person. Feel free to go to my store on my website at www dot healing , vitality.ca . Thanks so much for coming on this journey with me.
So I'm super excited today to connect with Carla Amador . We've, I'm really interested to hear more about her company and her process, cuz I think it's so needed in these time . So thank you so much, Carla, for joining me today on the podcast.
You're so welcome. Thank you for having me.
Would you mind sharing more about yourself and your company with the rest of the world?
Sure. So my name is Carla and I am one of the co-founders of the global movement called the 52 hike challenge. And what we do is we basically put out this idea for people to commit to nature once a week for a year or 52 times in a year. So basically committing to making nature a part of our lives through hiking. So we allow people to kind of choose their adventure.
We do ask them to hike at least or walk at least a mile out in nature spaces so that they can , they can gain the benefits to drive through the outdoors, which are great for the mind, body , soul, and spirit, and really help us to disconnect from the electronic devices . And we connect with ourselves, which is where intuition really lies. This is right up my alley. I definitely , um , believe a lot in following our intuition and 52 hypes was created from actually doing that.
So yeah, a little bit about us.
Awesome. And before the call, you said you started December, 2014. May I ask what your life was like before 52 hikes?
Yeah, absolutely. So prior to this kind of coming to fruition, I was actually not in a good place in my life. I was going through a divorce. I was in a depression. I was not in a good state of wellbeing mentally, emotionally, spiritually, just kind of feel , feeling broken. And then about a year and a half later, I met my co-founder Philip , who was a hir and had lost 80 pounds through hiking. And I felt really inspired by his story.
And so he did take me on a hike and I felt like for the first time in a year and a half, something about, you know, pushing myself to do this, you know, rather small hike now that I really think about it. But at the time it felt long for me since I wasn't a hir .
And I just remember getting to this beautiful overlook and seeing the Pacific ocean and feeling something shift in my soul, you know, and I just felt, wow, like what if I did this more often and kind of from that jokingly in 2014, set the school to hike once a week for a year.
Um, and little did I know how transformative that journey would be to, to make it a commitment to get out into nature every week and then also, you know, push myself in a lot of ways because obviously every trail is gonna be different and have different elements.
And if you're doing something for 52 times in a year, of course you're gonna have obstacles come up and how you deal with those obstacles, I felt was like a really big part of this transition that I was having this internal trans transformation. That that's really the story.
Um , when we were done with these 52 hikes, I completely, you know, was extremely grateful and had a lot of internal transformation and we went and did Mount Whitney and I felt extremely called to share this story , uh , with people, you know, how powerful nature could be. If my, if my partner , um , could lose 80 pounds through hiking and if I could have this internal transformation, then I knew that there was something special here.
And , um, I definitely wanted to share that with as many people as I could.
Fantastic nature, like you say is so healing and I find it is a place of, of connection. Um, we don't have, so your dog just joined us on the podcast. does he, are she hike with you?
He sure does. Yeah. He loves hiking and if he could have it his way, he'd probably be out with us every single hike, but he can be a little bit of a challenged sometimes to take on every hike because he's a weeny dog and you know, he gets tired. So yeah, he's, he's funny.
He's not necessarily the breed for hiking
But he hikes.
Awesome. So it's , it's more about the spirit of the dog likely than the size. Right? Many but mighty.
Exactly.
So were you somebody who was athletic before you got into hiking
Or no, that's why I always say, you know, I was not a hir I , at the time I actually used to think that hiking gave me headaches and the real truth was I was dehydrated. I wasn't drinking enough water. So I always thought it was beautiful. Of course I had gone to like the grand canyon and thought to myself, wow, like what would it be like to go down and hike down into the canyon? But of course at the time I was like, there's no way that I could ever do that.
So I think that it was all is this curiosity, but I just, I didn't have the tools and I didn't really know how to get started.
And so that's kind of a big part of our mission here is also to help people with, you know, whether it's, you know, videos that we have up on YouTube or we have articles that we publish , um , to help people really kind of understand what they need to know before they go and guides and things of that sort that we've created, just because it isn't always super , um, intuitive as to like how to properly pack , uh , pack for a hike and all of those things.
So we really are trying to create a place where people can come and have community in addition to education as well. So
Right. Cuz I'm imagine they're not alone. Yeah. That community is huge. And what I witness from the person that introduced me to you through social media, she's like, oh my gosh, you gotta interview Carla . I'm like, okay , I will . She's part of the challenge.
And to witness her weekly posts on social media, about her weekly challenge, we all get to experience it with her cuz she's taking pictures of the beautiful scenery and, and it's inspiring to see somebody so enthusiastic about their accomplishments and it it's also something to witness how it seems that there's different levels of difficulty that people will start to become brave about achieving right.
When they start into something and they get that adrenaline rush of like, okay, I did that and I did that and I did that. And you must see some really interesting stories about personal transformation because I'm assuming that there's an accountability portion of joining 52 hikes, right?
Correct. Yeah. We collect a finish reform and of course, you know, able to connect with people with, with that and read their stories of transformation. And I mean, I've read it all, you know, people having gone through, you know, cancer and taking the challenge as a way of recovery, people going through divorce, people who have lost , uh , family members, people during COVID times, people who are looking for that physical healing.
I mean, there's just been so many different stories throughout the years, but yes, once you get started, what happens is, is that adventure bug tends to take over and people start going, what if I, what if I ventured a little bit further? What if I pushed myself a little bit further? What could happen? So I think that's what you see. It's just a natural progression.
You know, someone starts with a one mile walk might say, well, what if I went two miles and you know, before you know it, they they've done a five mile hike and they never thought they could ever do something like that. But again, nature kind of does, you know, the rest because it's so beautiful when you're out there. I think you just wanna immerse yourself even more in it.
Yeah. There is healing that happens just by being in nature, whether it's the extra oxygen or the elementals, you know, be it the ferries or, or the tree spirits depends on what you're aware of. Energetically. There is so much in nature that yeah , we just don't even give credits to.
And the more time you spend out there and the more you get rid of the electronics, I find it's interesting witnessing people who now need to be plugged into a book or plugged into music or plugged into something while they're out in nature. And I'm like, oh , you're missing the best part. Like I'm plugged that.
Absolutely
Everybody's on their own journey, but it is something that I, I sit back and I go, oh , well, one day maybe they'll unplug that and listen to the stillness sometimes or listen to just exactly nature. That leaves another feet. So what has been your , um, well, there's a couple different questions. What's been your favorite hike. What's your most accomplishment driven kind of hike? Like what , what are some stories about places you've been? Cause that always makes me curious. Yeah .
Well there's, I mean, there's so many places and I'm so thankful that I get to explore this makes me get out and check out different places, you know, for hiking. And um, you know, that that's been, the gift of taking this challenge is kind of like you wanna explore new places. So , um, yeah, I , I think the biggest thing that I've done is the John mu trail, which is , uh , through hype in the Sierra range here. And it is, I think he did it in 21 or 22 days. Oh gosh.
But yeah, it , it was, yeah, it was very intense and very beautiful and you get to just backpack through incredible back country is just a incredible and, you know, seeing the wildlife and um, all of just the waterfalls and, you know, talk about truly disconnecting. It was really wonderful to get, to meet other people on the trail as well and just do something that was really physically hard and, and actually finish it.
I think that was one of those really incredible moments and just so many different sections of this trail that is stunning with beauty and, you know, you'd wake up every day and be like, oh my gosh, can I , can I like get , can this get more beautiful? Right.
And can you explain where that is a exactly ,
It's the section in basically there's two ways, but it's the traditional route is from Yosemite down to Mount Whitney and in this , uh , Sierra range and it passes through various different national parks, including Yosemite's Sequoia , um , and Kings canyon. So there's just a lot of different, it's the , it's like , forget how many miles, but it's over 200 , some odds I don't even know.
I could totally be misquoting it, but yeah, it's , it's just, you're , you know, you're hiking on this trail and, and you're, you know, just out in nature and you're completely immersed in it. That was one of like, I would say the biggest things I've done. Um , in addition to like how hiring a guide and doing the grand Teton, which is another really was , you know, there was a lot of preparation that went , went into that.
I had to take some rock climbing classes and some snow travel, and then we actually did the Trek up . And unfortunately, due to bad weather, we had to abort our mission, but it was still such an experience to like go from not, no , not being a hir to taking that step where you, you know, prepare yourself to do some mountaineering. And then yeah, I mean, regarding local hikes, I'm always very, very thankful. I have beautiful hikes just right here where I live.
And that's one of the things that I think challengers find is that there's so many hikes within, you know, a , an hour's drive that if we, if they hadn't taken the challenge, they would've never veered out into. And so making your backyard, your, you know, your playground is really the , the greatest thing, you know, just exploring your local parks, exploring your local trails.
Um , you don't have to go to Yosemite you, can you go check out your local state park, go , go check out the local monuments. There's just so much to explore within our own states .
Yeah. Our own backyard actually, that's been a COVID blessing for some people is it's made them find the treasures in their own backyard, so to speak with the travel restrictions that were in place. So it's, it's kind of interesting. There's been , um, more of a call to, to nature and more of a call to whether it's gardening or, or getting out on hikes. It's been, I find a COVID blessing for people to, to get back to nature a little bit more, which has been fun.
So what's your background because you've made a business out of this. So what's your background? Are you somebody that's done online marketing or like, how do you have a staff with this? Or how does , how does that aspect work for this community?
Yeah, I mean, I ever since I was a young girl, I always had this sense of desire to my own business and had multiple things I started. And when I met actually how I met my co-founder, who's also now my fiance is we both had startups . And so we met while we were both going to an event, anyhow, that startup didn't quite work out the way I would have wanted it to, but it led me to the next thing.
So I started up another business, which I sold and now have I only focused on 52 just because we have grown and you know, I'm really passionate about getting people out into nature. And so between him and I, and we have a team, I think it's close to eight of us now. Yeah. I mean, I , I think, you know, sometimes I , I laugh and I smile because I never would've thought I would be doing something in this industry, but it's been one of the most exciting, just such a blessing really.
And, and going back to, you know, the, the podcast around intuition, it was following my intuition, right. That inner calling, like I always wanted to have my own business. And then secondly, when I was doing this hiking thing, I just felt like, wow, they need this. People need to commit to nature , um , on a weekly basis and just see how much that really helps them in their lives. It's really kind of been a , a wonderful to surrender and to trust the process in all of it so
Well, and by the sense of thing you found love too, how cool.
Yeah . , yes . It's been a wonderful journey. And again, never even imagined , um , that after, you know, going through such heartbreak, I could actually really come to find also such a wonderful partner and just been very lucky to have him support me because he was already a hyper. So he kind of , it kinda became my personal guru , so to speak when it came to the outdoors. So really helped me to immerse myself in nature.
Very cool. I'm gonna shift gears a little bit and connect with that intuition a little bit more and just ask you, how does intuition come to you?
Yeah, I , I think that , um , for me, I meditate. So it's really, you know, I get these whispers or these little inklings that come through the , I , for me, I call it the voice , mm-hmm, , um , the inner voice.
And I just , I've gotten to a point now where I trust it so much that I just go with it, you know, whenever I get an idea or something like that, that flows through, I just kind of try to go with the flow because I find that when I followed that intuition, I've usually been rewarded in a really positive way. And I, again, just going back to the story of 52 hikes, like that came from that, you know, inner like voice saying, Hey, share this with people.
And since I already have the proof that following that intuition is really powerful and helpful and very fulfilling, then it's easier for me to just continue to listen. And I , you know, just, I think that hiking is a walking meditation and I think that great , I , he has come to us when we're outdoors. And it's scientifically proven that when you're able to disconnect for three days and be out in nature, you can be, I think it's like almost 50% more creative.
Mm-hmm it allows you to see things differently and to think outside of the box. So I definitely believe in what we , we do also is connecting people back to themselves. Mm-hmm and , um , you know, so many times we get disconnected from ourselves due to trauma, due to society's pressures, due to what our family said, we should be doing PD or all these messages that we're receiving, that we forget that all the answers are always within us, us, and we've become so disconnected from ourselves.
And our purpose that I think this is really very much needed so that we can come back to ourselves in a very simple , um , and basic way that we sometimes have forgotten about,
Oh , it's the original way. Right. We were no bad tribal people generally. So it it's , it is so much coming back to ourselves, for sure. Yes . Now, does your fiance follow the same mindset or is he more fact based , I guess, are you both on this intuitive journey?
Yeah. Um, you know, he is , uh , an engineer, so he has , he's very logical. However, I would say , um, in, in our journey, he himself has come to some very similar , um, realization where I would say he's more open now to, you know, to intuition, although it doesn't come as easy for him, him , because he can get very much in, you know, in that logical thinking.
Yeah. I mean, that's kind of his method, but yes , he has actually more and more become a bit more , um , into this idea about or around , um, you know, in that internal knowing mm-hmm . Um , so that, that there are spaces and times where he's more in , in that , um , space and there's times where he's a little bit more in his head. So it's, it's I think for him , um , you know, he loves being a scientist.
And so he, he tends to be a little bit more of a thinking versus, you know, I think it , it becomes easier also for, or women to be a bit more intuitive. I mean, it's, it's, it's our nature as mothers, right. Or as women that mm-hmm , , you know, we, we, I'm a mother. So I , it , I think it's very easy for us to kind of have this inner knowing with our children, our instincts and , um, where I think men are built a little bit differently, but you it's something that definitely is.
I , I , that's why I think it's really great when, when we get our guys out there and I mean, men were outdoors a lot more than women were mm-hmm although now I think with social media, there's a lot of women getting nature and it's wonderful to see . Yeah. I think that, you know, for us, like, I , we integrate things like we do, you know, occasionally we'll do yoga or we'll , we'll do meditation together. Or, you know, when we go into hiking, you know, we practice some form of mindfulness.
So we've just been integrating that into our lives , um, as well.
And I asked the question cuz running a business and having the logic necessary, like totally it's, it's never a bad thing to, to have that as part of your radar, but it just can, when you're running a business intuitively it can sometimes go against logic. So it curious having a business partner, whether you guys are on the , on the same page business wise or not that way, cuz I know I've made decisions intuitively and like family members or whoever just kinda like, what are you doing?
And I said , well , it's just a nudge I had to , I had to do that. Well, that makes no financial set . Well, but the outcome wasn't about finances. So it wasn't supposed to make financial sense. , you know, whatever the case may be. So it is , uh , it just is an interesting dynamic where you guys have , uh , hold this business together and, and also in a relationship I , and like I said , it , sometimes intuition needs to be grounded a little bit in logic I think.
And so there's, there's value in the ying and yang of everything, but it, it is curious sometimes to just run with the flow and
Yeah, I mean, I think everything you're saying is , is a clear, accurate picture. It's we are very different and in a way that's a positive thing because we can both bring different perspectives to different scenarios. And at the same time, sometimes that can be a challenge and we've gone through our fair share of, of challenges and it's not easy. However, I guess the work we pick pros and cons to everything, sometimes it's been like such a wonderful ride.
And then there's times where it has been an extreme challenge and every day is a new day. Right. And so you just do the best you can and constantly trying to learn how to best , um, continue to work through all of those things that can come up when you're running a business with two people who are very different. And also , um , like you said, how that dynamic, that work together and then also have a relationship. Mm
Mm-hmm . faith and trust are , are good. Uh , goal tenderers . So
Yes .
So are there any other stories you'd like to share in terms of how intuition has shown up in your life?
I mean, honestly it's such a big part of my life. Like I'm in transition right now where, you know , I was like guided to, you know, now get like, I'll give you an example. I'm I I've got this drum that I I've been like, oh , always super, super called to drums. And anyhow, I got this drum and my, my partner gave it to me for, you know, Christmas.
And I'm just kind of following that path of like being more, almost like learning more about like my own native roots and being called to learn more about just even those basic instruments. Right. And to sing again, I used to sing when I was younger and I haven't really sang very much once I had my son and was , you know, married and life . And so I just constantly, you know, I just try to go with the flow. We, we love traveling. We love nature. We're, we're very connected in that way.
And I just, you know, I try not to worry too much about the, how the why , and if something is calling me, if something, if I'm curious about something, I usually tend to try to explore it and just figure it out as I go and not overthink things. So it , intuition is just such a big part of my life. And it's been such a wonderful journey to explore this musical side of myself as a way of, you know, continuously healing, you know, myself and continuously feeling good about my path .
And you know, I don't like living my life in a rigid way. So it it's just, it's continuously going with flow and trying to do those things. So that feel good. And I think intuition is a lot about feeling good. It's like these are things that you're being called to for a reason. So being open to explore them and not being afraid of so much of like how and why.
And, and , and I think I've learned that throughout the years of, you know, undoing a lot of false beliefs, false perceptions, and kind of started with like really this book of the secret. And I remember she talks a lot about that. You know, don't worry about the, how don't worry about the, what ifs mm-hmm , take , take those steps. And I find that once I kind of set a path, like things start happening where things always work out for the most part.
And even if they appear to not work out, even if they appear like, okay, this really kind of negative thing happens , usually it's cuz you had a lesson you had to learn. And so trying to be open to those perspectives around that were constantly learning and growing and we have to, everything happens in a way for a reason. And I think it's just been a journey. Like I didn't get here. I didn't just suddenly get to this point. I mean it's taken years of internal work. It's taken years of surrender.
It's taken years of doing the things that are scary and doing them anyway. It's it's though it hasn't happened overnight. And that's what I think people forget or they don't know. They think they see someone that is at a pinnacle in their, in their career or their life, but they don't see all of the, you know, heart rate , the pain, the sorrow, or all of the things that they gave up to have that life or to have that career path or to have their dreams come to life.
Like it , it wasn't just that it magically appeared. It was the work that it took to get to that point.
Yeah. I, I had another podcast guess say, you know, following your intuition isn't necessarily easy. It's not necessarily simple, but it definitely brings more joy. And I think you're saying something similar to that. Yes . And it's in the meandering of the intuition that sometimes the journey is where those lessons happen or where the, the spontaneous joy happens and it , and another podcast guest say like, there is no wrong choice. It's just a, it's just a curve in the road.
Like you're gonna end up where you're supposed to end up anyways. Don't worry about making a wrong decision. It just may be , that's going to be two lessons instead of one lesson or no lessons . Like it doesn't, it's, it's all how you're we all have free will and choice and, and intuition can be uh , overlay of that. So yeah, it sounds like, yes , you're , uh , saying some similar things in a different way, but it , it , it does all map really, really nicely to your journey, which is very cool.
And I love the fact that the creative music is coming back into your world. That must be filling holes that you didn't know were there . So that's awesome . Oh
Yes . Oh yes . yes .
Well, and I think more people are connecting with the primal music and primal is maybe not the right word, but like very
Tribal
Tribal music. Yes . Tribal music. Yeah . Mm-hmm, be it. Uh ,
Yeah . I'm actually going to study with a teacher in , um , at the end of the year. And um , I've already done some workshops with her and there's actually something called sound healing or sound, sound , it's a vocal, like you can heal yourself with your , with your vocals. Yeah . And, and it's just so incredible, like to tune in, to get so connected and then to sing , um, sing out these emotions that we actually hide. And that's the power of, of the voice.
It doesn't matter if you can, or can't sing, it's expressing those deep, deep, deep, deep feelings that a lot of times people have a hard time expressing. And so that's the gift of music and it's super fun to, to get to play. And I , and that's what I love about. It's more about play and expression, which I think we all need . And um , we forget how important that is in our lives .
You're right. I'm full body goosebumps with the voice being a healer. So. Wow. Do you know the name of what she's teaching? Like what specifically is it called ?
Yes, actually, well , um, there is a school. Let me, let me pull it up real quick because we're talking about it. Yeah, no , it's really cool. Um , I'm starting with this artist and her name is Nancy Gomez . She actually sings a lot of like, it's like it's called like medicine soda . Very , very beautiful. But let see what it is because I would love to give you the right name.
Very cool . I just am full body goosebumps. So that's like, Hey, this is gonna help some people nature in music. Awesome.
Yes . Okay . Liz Cooper, who was one of the facilitators that I worked with, she is , I think she's the founder of the British academy of sound therapy. That's what it's called. Awesome. So this artist that I'm actually I've been working with is she is actually also certified in what, in what that is, which is sound therapy with your , with your voice.
So there's certain sounds that you can hold, they basically work on different chakras that people, you know, believe in that mm-hmm which I do energy centers, and then that can help to release, you know, different, you know, again, the body holds different trauma and emotions or sometimes things.
And so as you're listening to music that some of that can be in a way like unlocked mm-hmm , you know, and, and allowed to flow out, but imagine using your own internal, because this , the actually the voice is, is actually the, I think she said it was the number one instrument that we have think about it. Yeah. The voice is the number one instrument that we have , um, outside of any other instrument.
I don't know if she said it was the most powerful instrument, but I remember her saying that and you know, we're able to explore the ranges and the different , um , the emotion that is attached to those different ranges and holding that note. And so that's why it's like, anyone can sing their message. Anyone can sing in it , but we have these perceptions of what a voice should sound like. Mm-hmm , or what's a beautiful voice, but it, it can actually heal ourselves with our own voice.
And to give ourselves that voice to speak up is so powerful because so many women, I think , um , and men and women there's times where something happens in their life and they were like silence
Mm-hmm ,
You know, for . And so the voice really brings in and calls in that power. You
Beautiful . Thank you so much for sharing. Thank you for sharing everything. Carla . This has been fantastic.
You're welcome. Thank you for having me. I truly, really appreciate that. And excited to, to hear more, hopefully the , the doggy will make a brief appearance. Not .
Yeah, yeah. It's all all good . All right . Until next time.
Wonderful. Have a great room .
You too. Thank you so much for giving us your time today. We truly appreciate our guests for sharing their stories and insights about how intuition has impacted their lives. And I'm so grateful for Peter trainer for his time in giving me this original music. It's now your turn. It's your turn to listen and act on your own and help make the world a better place until next time, keep seeing being, knowing, and doing. If you like this podcast, please share it.
If you want to find others, like it, go to www dot healing, vitality.ca or wherever you would find your podcast. We would love to have you join us on this journey. Come be a Crow sitting in the tree, be part of our community.