Welcome, Pathfinders!

For Pathfinders: Reciprocity Rx™

You’re feeling the pull—toward a slower pace, a deeper connection, a more grounded way of being in the world. You may not have the job title of “healer” or “land steward,” but you’re already walking the path: noticing the way a forest trail settles your spirit, dreaming about gatherings that feel like home, craving a way to align your values with your work or community life.

Reciprocity Rx™ meets you in this in-between place—where wonder meets wisdom, and the trail begins to reveal itself. Our framework offers gentle guidance, monthly practices, and a growing community of folks learning how to care for themselves, each other, and the Earth in ways that feel nourishing and doable.

You don’t need another degree or a perfect plan. You just need to start where you are. This isn’t about becoming someone else—it’s about remembering who you’ve always been.

READY TO LEARN MORE?
You’re invited to our Virtual Open House on December 10!

Join Sydney Williams, author of Hiking Your Feelings and founder of Hiking My Feelings + Wellness in the Wilderness, as well as our guest experts and Program Advisors for an introduction to Reciprocity Rx™ for Protectors and Pathfinders. When you RSVP, we’ll send you our FREE worksheets to introduce you to the 4Rs!

VIRTUAL OPEN HOUSE

Wednesday, December 10, 2025
11 am PT, 12 pm MT, 1 pm CT, 2 pm ET

RSVP HERE

PATHFINDERS: Program Formats

  • Free Resources + Toolkit

    This growing library of resources is rooted in our 4Rs Framework—Receive, Reflect, Return, Reconnect—and designed with flexibility in mind. Explore practices, prompts, and guides that help you integrate reciprocity into your sessions, programs, and communities in ways that are authentic to your voice and aligned with your values. Move at your own pace, follow what resonates, and make it your own.

    download now

  • Online Certification Program

    FEBRUARY - SEPTEMBER 2026
    Build your foundation in nature-based care. The Reciprocity Rx™ Foundations program combines evidence-informed curriculum, community dialogue, and guided reflection to help you reconnect with your purpose and bring reciprocity into your personal and professional practice from anywhere in the world.

    register now

  • Immersive Certification Experience

    SEPTEMBER 17–22, 2026 // Glacier National Park, MT

    This reimagined experience of Blaze Your Own Trail to Self-Love is for anyone curious about the healing power of nature. Designed for people from all walks of life, this track explores the 4Rs framework in community and under open skies.

    🌿 Donate to the Pathfinders fund to support this program.

    Featuring: Glacier Institute Instructors, Sydney Williams, Barry Williams, and [ANNOUNCED AT OPEN HOUSE]

join the info session on 12/10

Program Facilitators

We’re here for you.

A woman with curly blonde hair, dressed in a green jacket and black pants, speaking into a microphone at a podium inside a room. There is a wooden counter behind her with a red water bottle and a black object, possibly a computer monitor. An exit sign is visible above a door in the background.


  • ABOUT SYDNEY
    Sydney Williams is a keynote speaker, author, and advocate whose journey from a Type 2 diabetes diagnosis and unresolved trauma to the wild trails of self‑discovery turned into a mission: to rekindle our relationship with the land, each other, and ourselves. 

    After more than a decade in digital communications — launching campaigns for Fortune 500 companies and crafting social stories — Sydney traded the boardroom for backcountry trails. Her first major backpacking trips across Catalina Island ignited a realization: healing isn’t just something we find in nature — it is something we practice with it. 

    In 2018 she founded Hiking My Feelings (HMF), a nonprofit designed to make nature‑based wellness accessible, inclusive, and relational. Under her leadership, HMF has guided thousands of participants through trails, stories, and transformative experiences. 

    Today, as the founder of Wellness in the Wilderness Consulting and creator of Reciprocity Rx™, Sydney blends lifestyle medicine, somatic reflection, and land‑based learning into a growing library of free resources and an eight‑month certification program that empowers providers, public‑lands professionals, and community stewards to integrate nature‑informed care into their work.

    Sydney holds certifications as a Wilderness First Responder and has facilitated field‑based workshops across national parks and protected landscapes. Her work has been featured in BBC, Health Magazine, Psychology Today, HuffPost, and on the SXSW and Public Lands Alliance Conference stages. 

    She lives between the trailhead and the campfire, believing that when we slow down, look around, and lean into the land, the next step isn’t just for us — it’s for the Earth we belong to.

A man with a beard wearing a navy jacket, sunglasses on his cap, and a wristwatch stands near a lake with a mountainous background.

  • ABOUT BARRY
    Barry Williams went from high-rises to high altitudes — trading a tech career on Manhattan’s Upper East Side for a trailer in the backwoods of Maine after a single skydiving experience changed the trajectory of his life. Within 18 months of that first jump, he left the world of Fortune 100 clients behind to pursue instructor ratings in the skydiving industry, eventually building a 16-year career as a professional skydiver and mentor.

    Originally from New Hampshire, Barry grew up hiking and backpacking in the White Mountains, where he also earned his Wilderness EMT certification. Today, he brings that same sense of adventure, adaptability, and calm under pressure to his work as co-founder of Hiking My Feelings and Wellness in the Wilderness (WITW) Consulting.

    Barry is the behind-the-scenes engine and on-the-ground support — co-leading hikes, facilitating retreats, documenting our programs and events with photos and pictures, and ensuring participants feel safe, seen, and supported in the outdoors. He also helps design and deliver custom wellness experiences for public lands agencies, corporate teams, and nonprofit partners, weaving stewardship, story, and movement into every offering.

    Inspired by the teachings of Bruce Lee, Alan Watts, and Jiddu Krishnamurti, Barry lives by the mantra “be like water.” Whether he’s cooking a soulful meal, hiking at the pace of purpose, or capturing the perfect moments shared under the stars, Barry shows up with presence — and invites others to do the same.

A smiling woman in a white medical coat with a stethoscope around her neck, pointing at her name badge that reads 'Sundermann DO, DipABLM, Internal Medicine.' She is wearing a pink and blue winter hat and standing outdoors with snow and trees in the background.

  • ABOUT MELISSA
    Dr. Melissa Sundermann is a double board-certified physician in Internal Medicine and Lifestyle Medicine with over 25 years of experience in medical practice. She has advanced training in Integrative Medicine from the University of Michigan and has completed a Professional Training Program in Mind-Body Medicine through the Center for Mind-Body Medicine. Dr. Sundermann believes in a holistic, patient-centered approach, empowering individuals to heal through self-care and the pillars of Lifestyle Medicine.

    Widely recognized as “Doctor Outdoors,” she is a leading expert in Nature as Medicine and serves as the Founding Chair of the Nature as Medicine subcommittee for the American College of Lifestyle Medicine. She is also the Chair of the Global Wellness Institute’s Lifestyle Medicine Initiative, where she works to expand global awareness of evidence-based lifestyle interventions.

    Currently, Dr. Sundermann is the Medical Director of Lifestyle Medicine for Corewell Health System. She also serves as an Advisor for Social Prescribing USA, Project Reconnect at UCLA, and InCaria — lending her expertise to initiatives at the forefront of community health, integrative healing, and innovative well-being solutions. Previously, she specialized in Longevity and Lifestyle Medicine with Lifespan Medicine and Canyon Ranch Wellness Resort. In addition to her clinical work, she is the co-founder of REVIVE! Lifestyle Medicine Well-Being Coaching and Retreats, and contributes educational content to several leading health and wellness organizations.

    Her recently released book, Doctor Outdoors’ Guide to Nature and Lifestyle Medicine, offers readers a transformative blend of science, stories, and strategies to reclaim health through the healing power of the natural world.

    A lifelong outdoor enthusiast, Dr. Sundermann finds inspiration and healing in running, biking, hiking, skiing, and immersing herself in nature. She is a 12-time Boston Marathon finisher, a 3-time Full Ironman Triathlon finisher, and is currently training for upcoming ultramarathons. She firmly believes that “age is not your cage” and is dedicated to helping others cultivate vitality, resilience, and joy at every stage of life.

PLUS guest experts in lifestyle medicine, change management, community engagement, public administration, and conservation!