Wild Resilience: Finding Inner Clarity Through Outdoor Adventure
Is a partial scholarship for you?
We believe in making personal growth and education accessible to everyone, which is why we offer partial scholarships on a needs-aware basis for many of our programs.
These scholarships support individuals facing financial challenges, including — but not limited to — members of underrepresented communities. If financial stress might prevent you from attending a workshop, we encourage you to apply.
Partial scholarships, provided through the Association for Growth and Education, are limited to 2–3 seats per workshop and reviewed in the order received. We recommend applying as soon as possible, as scholarship decisions are typically confirmed 90–120 days before the workshop date.
Rebecca Rusch
7x World Champion Adventure Athlete | Author | Coach
Dr. Jaimie Lusk
Psychologist | Athlete | Former U.S. Marine Corps Officer
Resilience that restores you, confidence that stays with you, and outdoor experiences that help you remember what you’re capable of.
You’ve built a life that asks a lot of you. People count on you at work, at home, and in your community, and you’re the one who shows up when something important needs to get handled.
You know how to dig deep, push through, and figure things out. That capacity has carried you a long way and helped shape the life you have now.
But the cost is becoming increasingly harder to bear. Your nervous system doesn’t get many true off-days. Your body absorbs more stress than it has time to release. And you might notice yourself constantly bracing for the next fire drill, even when nothing urgent is happening.
When pushing through starts to wear you down.
It might show up as thinning patience, nagging health issues, or noticing you’re not as present for what matters most. The pace no longer feels sustainable, and you’re craving a reset that weaves together movement and meaningful inner work, not just a change of scenery.
You know your relationship to stress needs to shift; you simply haven’t had the time, structure, or support to explore what that could look like.
Resilience built through presence, movement, and choice
At this stage, resilience needs to be more than bouncing back one more time. It needs to feel like having an inner structure you can rely on, even when the outer world is extra demanding.
You want skills that help you:
You’re not interested in being “fixed.” You’re interested in being more honest with yourself and having tools that meet you where you are in midlife.
Discover what you're capable of – physically and emotionally – when you have the right tools and the space to practice them.
Wild Resilience is a four-day experience at MEA's world-class Santa Fe retreat that treats the nearly 2,600-acre New Mexico desert landscape as part of the curriculum. Sweeping mountain views, big skies, epic trails, and space to move, think, and grow.
Come explore your physical and emotional self with curiosity instead of criticism. With real structure, expert guidance, and a high desert retreat that gives you the space to really do it.
World champion adventure athlete Rebecca Rusch and psychologist and athlete Dr. Jaimie Lusk have spent years working at the intersection of physical challenge and emotional growth. Their shared belief: emotional skills land differently when you practice them while your heart rate is up, the trail gets a little steeper, or a new situation brings up hesitation.
You'll hike and ride, reflect with a small group, and work with simple practices that help you notice what happens in your mind and body when things feel challenging. You'll get language for those patterns, and you'll experiment with different ways to respond. You’ll learn to recognize what's happening in your body when things feel hard, both on the trail and in daily life, and practice responding in ways that build confidence instead of depleting it.
You don't have to be an athlete or "outdoorsy" for this to work. The focus is on approachable challenges and plenty of support, both in the classroom and on the trails, so you can work at a level that feels challenging but still respectful of your edges.
Over four days at our Rising Circle Ranch, you'll learn to...
Work with emotions through three practical channels: your thoughts and perspective, your body sensations, and your actions
Build the skill of checking in with your body – on hills, in new terrain, or when anxiety spikes at work – so you can decide whether to keep going, pause, or turn around
Build physical confidence that transfers into everyday situations like presentations, hard conversations, and big decisions
Reconnect with your core values so that effort feels meaningful instead of automatic
Use simple take-home practices like walking meetings, short movement breaks, and breath and grounding exercises as everyday "micro-resets" rather than waiting until you're at a breaking point
All of it unfolds in MEA's small-group, midlife-focused retreat setting with shared meals, fireside evenings, and conversations that honor where you've been while opening space for your next chapter.
This Workshop
Is For You If…
We’re all a physical body and we're all an emotional body. I'm really adept with my physical body, but it wasn't until recently—through setbacks, injury, and family challenges—that I started getting more in tune with therapy and learning the tools I'd been using without words for them. You can do emotional reps just like you can do in the gym.
~ Rebecca Rusch ~
Meet
Rebecca Rusch
Seven-Time World Champion Endurance Athlete | Emmy Award-Winning Filmmaker | Founder, Be Good™ Foundation
Rebecca is a seven-time world champion endurance athlete, Emmy Award-winning filmmaker, and founder of the Be Good™ Foundation. Her career has taken her from the Leadville 100 MTB to long-distance expeditions and record-setting rides, including the first full traverse of the Ho Chi Minh Trail by bike.
A concussion changed everything. She had to learn to read her body's earlier signals, navigate major life changes, and find new ways to manage her energy. That process helped her recognize she'd been using emotional regulation tools for years without naming them. It wasn't until she started therapy that she could finally put words to what she'd been doing all along.
Now she teaches others how to approach challenges more intentionally, using her RACE framework – Reward, Accountability, Community, Excitement – to help people choose goals grounded in their values rather than driven purely by achievement.
If you don't have some fear of the ocean, you're not paying attention. We learn to feel that fear in modulated ways – to practice managing discomfort in a context where you have control. That's how we build real resilience, not by pretending fear doesn't exist, but by learning to work with it
~ Dr. Jaimie Lusk ~
Dr. Jaimie Lusk, PsyD, ABPP
Licensed Psychologist | Marine Corps Veteran | Endurance Athlete | Founder, Threshold Psychological Services
Dr. Jaimie Lusk is a Marine Corps veteran and clinical psychologist who has spent 15 years working with veterans, first responders, and high-stakes professionals navigating trauma, moral injury, and chronic stress. Her perspective is shaped by her own military service and by years of sitting with people who are strong on the outside and carrying a lot on the inside.
She brings those same skills into outdoor settings—on trails and in the water—where fear, uncertainty, and effort show up in real time. Her work focuses on helping people notice what's happening in their nervous system, understand why it makes sense, and practice new ways of responding that are both compassionate and effective.
Supported By the MEA Team
Christine Sperber
MEA Co-Founder
Christine Sperber is a former World Cup snowboarder and serial entrepreneur and innovator who has launched and grown award-winning hotels, businesses, and industry-evolving ideas in the sports and hospitality worlds and beyond. The word her workshop participants use most often to ...
View BioDaniel 'DL' Landes
Experience Facilitator
Before joining MEA, Daniel “DL” Landes spent decades as a restauranteur, author, and publisher. As the owner of multiple restaurants in Denver, CO – and then a hostel in Mexico – he dedicated himself to creating environments where people could work out their humanity whil ...
View BioOur Agenda at a Glance
Sunday:
12:00 PM: Arrival/Check-in
5:30 PM: Welcome Reception & Dinner
7:00 PM: Group Learning Time
Monday:
7:00 AM: Mindful Movement
8:30 AM: Breakfast
10:00 AM: Group Learning Time
1:15 PM: Lunch
3:00 PM: Group Learning Time
6:30 PM: Dinner
8:00 PM: Free Time
Tuesday:
7:00 AM: Breakfast
7:30 AM: Mindful Movement
10:00 AM: Group Learning Time
1:15 PM: Lunch
3:00 PM: Group Learning Time
6:30 PM: Dinner
8:00 PM: Evening Gathering
Wednesday:
7:00 AM: Breakfast
7:30 AM: Mindful Movement
10:00 AM: Group Learning Time
1:15 PM: Lunch
3:00 PM: Graduation
6:30 PM: Celebration Dinner
8:00 PM: Evening Gathering
Thursday:
7:00 AM: Breakfast
8:00 AM: Mindful Movement
10:00 AM: Checkout/Departure
Friday:
Saturday:
*Please note that not all “Group Learning Time” activities take place in the actual classroom.
Step into transformation in the high desert
Rising Circle Ranch | Santa Fe, USA.
Our spectacular Santa Fe campus is located on an upscale regenerative ranch featuring traditional Pueblo architecture and nearly 2,600 acres of wildlife, hiking trails in the arroyo, and awe-inspiring beauty. Close to historic Santa Fe, an artisan’s mecca.
PLUS: Gourmet from-scratch meals, snacks, and drinks featuring locally sourced ingredients, made by our in-house chefs
Explore the ranch
on horseback
Our Rising Circle Ranch spans 2,600 acres of New Mexico high desert, offering guided horseback riding for all experience levels through diverse terrains under the vast Southwest sky
You’ll experience highlights like:
Horseback riding is an optional add-on activity you can book once you arrive on the ranch. Whether you’re seasoned or brand new to horseback adventures, this guided experience lets you discover the ranch’s natural wonders alongside our gentle horses.
Your Workshop Also Includes:
Confidence and clarity built from the inside out
Four days at our Rising Circle Ranch will change how you relate to pressure—on the trail and at home. You'll experience challenges in a contained, supported way and discover there are more options than "push harder" or "shut down."
You'll go home with a clearer sense of what replenishes you, practical tools you can use when stress spikes, and lived proof that your body – in motion and outdoors – can be a resource instead of something to override.
Rebecca and Jaimie have both lived through seasons where pushing through stopped working. They've rebuilt their relationship with resilience – not as endless endurance, but as knowing when to rest, when to push, and how to tell the difference. This workshop is their way of sharing what they've learned as people who are still practicing these tools themselves.
You don't need it all figured out. You just need four days to rediscover what you’re capable of.
Book your spot today
Wild Resilience: Finding Inner Clarity Through Outdoor Adventure
Is a partial scholarship for you?
We believe in making personal growth and education accessible to everyone, which is why we offer partial scholarships on a needs-aware basis for many of our programs.
These scholarships support individuals facing financial challenges, including — but not limited to — members of underrepresented communities. If financial stress might prevent you from attending a workshop, we encourage you to apply.
Partial scholarships, provided through the Association for Growth and Education, are limited to 2–3 seats per workshop and reviewed in the order received. We recommend applying as soon as possible, as scholarship decisions are typically confirmed 90–120 days before the workshop date.
The program was spectacular. It really surpassed my expectations. I was really surprised about how the course was curated. There was such a warm intensity and personal touch to it.
I experienced MEA as a newly diagnosed multiple myeloma cancer patient, and as a result of the things I’ve learned - I’ve banished the anxiety of being a cancer victim, am in remission, and living with a newfound energy and purpose.
Just know how grateful I am for the joy fuel you all put in my rocket ship. When I want to feel loved or just need a good smile I can think of my time at MEA, which came at the perfect time to encourage me on my journey. Thank you!
Frequently Asked Questions
What makes this different from a typical wellness or fitness retreat?
This isn’t about pushing your body harder or learning to “relax better.” It’s about using physical challenges – hiking, biking, navigating new terrain – as a way to practice emotional skills in real time. Rebecca and Jaimie combine adventure athletics with clinical psychology, so you’re not just moving your body, you’re learning how to work with fear, discomfort, and uncertainty as they show up. The skills you practice on the trail transfer directly to how you handle stress at work, difficult conversations, and life’s bigger challenges.
Do I need to be fit or have outdoor experience?
No advanced fitness or outdoor experience required. We design the experience around where you are, not where you think you should be. Rebecca has coached everyone from complete beginners to world-class athletes, and Jaimie’s work focuses on helping people expand their comfort zones safely. You’ll have support in the classroom and on the trails, with options to adjust intensity based on what feels challenging but sustainable for you.
I'm dealing with burnout – will this add more stress?
The opposite. This workshop is designed for people who’ve been running on fumes. You’ll learn to recognize the difference between sustainable challenge (which tends to build capacity) and harmful pushing (which tends to create more damage). Jaimie specializes in helping high-performers understand when their nervous system needs rest versus when it can handle more. You’ll leave with tools to prevent burnout, not just power through it.
Will I be expected to share personal struggles in a group setting?
You can share what feels right for you. The workshop includes both group discussions and individual reflection time. Rebecca and Jaimie create a container where people can be honest without pressure to perform vulnerability. Many find that watching others navigate similar challenges, both outside and in sessions, helps them process their own experiences.
What if I can't keep up physically?
This isn’t about being the fastest or strongest – it’s about learning to read your body’s signals and respond with awareness instead of just pushing through or shutting down. Rebecca and Jaimie have both spent years coaching people through physical challenges. You’ll have full support to work at your own pace.
What's included in the investment?
Everything: four days of sessions with Rebecca and Jaimie, all materials, our world-class accommodations at Rising Circle Ranch, chef-prepared meals featuring local ingredients, and access to 2,600 acres of high-desert terrain. The only additional costs are your travel to Santa Fe and any personal expenses. Horseback riding is available as an optional add-on.
Still deciding or have questions?
Connect with our helpful team of Advisors
Our Advisors are all MEA alumni who can offer genuine insights into our programs. They’re passionate about helping you finding the right fit to make your next chapter the best one.
Daniel Booz
Lucas Erie
Leslie Bartlett