What would you do with the gift of shift? A shift in your perspective that helps you to stay positive in difficult times.

If at any moment you can shift your attitude, your thoughts, and your feelings? How would things change?

Lately FEAR has taken over. We were caught off guard and fear rushed in.

With all the changes to society: being lonely, fearful, and stressed because there was too much change too fast, and it seems like there is nothing we can do about it. I have seen first hand the results of this fear and the elevated anxiety and panic my clients are experiencing. In hypnosis I take them in their minds on a hypnotic trip to a calmer more focused place.

What if I can show you a way to hike up to new heights, new consciousness, discover a better way to feel or discover a higher mission in life, a new calling or purpose, to feel more positive energy, to see the big picture, and shift your perspective? If I show you how would you do it?

I am Valerie the Hypnotic Hiker. As a hypnotist and hiker for the past 20 years I have realized how much the two have in common for helping to shift perspective and gain insights.
I hike because it relaxes me. Instant mindfulness. When I started hiking it was for exercise. Now it is for my soul. Kind of like how the shower is for the body whereas a soak in the tub is for your soul.
Hypnosis is a lot like hiking. We decide we are going to do it, we start walking and before long we realize a lot of time has passed and we are no longer thinking of all our worries and concerns.
Our subconscious mind is in solving problem mode and we come off the trail with many solutions that are playing out unconsciously. If you have a problem, say to yourself that you want to find the solution at the end of your hike…start off on the trail and forget about it. It may come to you on the hike itself or it may be realized later, or even better it may resolve itself seemingly on its own (the subconscious really did that).

I’m an active person and so sitting meditations are difficult. I began using my hiking time as meditation time by focusing only on the senses. To do this you begin with noticing only the visuals, the shapes, the colors, etc. Do this for several minutes. Then move to notice only what you are hearing, then feeling. This practice over time will make your hikes more productive on the mental and emotional as well as physical levels.

It was time for me to shift my perspective as a hiker….And after miles and miles, probably hundreds of miles of Texas’ 600 ft above sea level trails, I decided it was time to elevate my path.


Last year, we did Guadalupe Peak in Texas (8,751), attempted Red Cloud (14,035) near Lake City, CO (a mudslide spoiled it) and Venado Peak (12,734) in New Mexico.



Just to clarify, we are not rock climbing. We are on foot, staying grounded while climb feels much more secure. And, we are not doing any extreme climbs, but rather some 7000-14000 foot elevations that are still challenging mentally and physically.


Black Elk’s Peak trail at Custer State Park in South Dakota is 3.3 miles to the peak, but my pedometer registered 5, so 3.3 that felt like 5 I guess. The meadow was the first visual that stopped me. A real meadow. Blue Bells, raspberries, Bergamot, and Black-Eyed Susan. Then as the elevation began to climb we hiked through a glitter field. Mica was all over the path. If you pick it up it is like a frail piece of simmering plastic.
Traveling past the meadow and mica field we were cooled off by the Ponderosa Pine. There were moss covered dump truck sized boulders. And then it seemed like we were just there and at 7,000 feet all I could see were other mountains and pines. I almost fell to my knees and I did feel a little tear roll down. It is a feeling like no other, to take in through all my senses only the natural world.
Hypnosis and Hiking / Hiking and Hypnosis, they are interchangeable.
Your subconscious mind is OPEN and SUGGESTIBLE on the trail. Anytime you are focused you are in a trance and nature provides new perspectives and insights and parallels.
Just think of how wonderful it will be to get outside to improve your circulation, take in some nourishing sunshine and step into a fresh perspective. But more importantly, find appreciation in the natural world…the rivers, the mountains, the rocks, the trees, the shrubs, the flowers, the animals, the insects, the spiders and the lichen. To find peace.