Meet Sammy

Your Soul|Light Steward & Lead Facilitator

Sammy is a warm, intuitive, and inclusive facilitator with a passion for building community & spending time in nature. As a deep-listener, thinker, and guide, Sammy draws on her gentle and playful nature to invite people of all ages to slow down and tap into the healing benefits of finding home outdoors.

“Get out of your head and into the trees!” - Sammy’s Motto

Degrees & Certifications

  • Certificate in Eco-Psychology (Holos Institute, 2019)

  • Bachelor of Arts in Environmental Analysis - Society & Culture (Pomona College, 2009)

  • Certificate in Environmental Problem Solving (The Arava Institute, 2008)

  • Certificate in Adult and Pediatric CPR/AED (American Red Cross, 2024)

  • Certificate in Wilderness First Aid (Sierra Club, 2023)

  • Certificate of Reiki - Level 1 (2017)

Training & Experience

  • 20+ years of work in Youth & Young Adult Leadership Development

  • 25+ years of mindfulness and Yoga practice

  • 15+ years of experience in forest bathing, nature immersion, herbal medicine, and sensory awareness (2008 - present)

  • 10+ years of Interviewing & 360° Feedback

  • Beginner Level Coursework in TRE®: Tension & Trauma Release Exercise (2017)

About Soul|Light

Soul|Light exists to provide relief from the stress and overwhelm of modern life, and a path into healing connection with yourself and the living world. By slowing down and listening to nature, we make way for deep wisdom to come forth — thus generating renewed energy in our relationships, harmony in our organizations, and well-being in our communities.

What Clients are Saying

  • "Sammy is a skilled and welcoming facilitator who creates a safe and warm, nurturing container. She is incredibly well-versed in anxiety management practices, which she interweaves with the nature connection practices she offers. The prompts and activities she brings to sessions are grounded in practices I can apply immediately in my life."

    - J.S.

  • "Sammy is an amazing mentor and guide, because she's able to share from her own experiences the challenges that she's faced and overcome. She also has an amazing network of peers who know a lot about things that young people are fascinated to learn about: things that they're not going to learn at school-- like how to find food and how to find medicine that might be right under your feet..."

    - Taj J.

  • "Sammy’s facilitation is stellar, clear, and inclusive. I’m using the tools she’s introduced daily.”

    - Brittany B.

  • “I love the way you hold space with confidence and compassion. I am SO happy our girls get to work with you ... you are the biggest silver lining of COVID in our lives!”

    - Jackie S.

  • "Sammy is so amazing. She's a great listener and a great help. She's helped us create a community where we can truly be open about anything."

    - Sophie P.

  • "If you could talk to every person for even just an hour, the world would be a better place."

    - Charla S.

My Story

I’ve loved nature since I was a kid. My mom is an acupuncturist and a wild woman… she taught me a lot of what I know about edible & medicinal plants, along with the importance of keeping warm & living in balance with the seasons. My dad is an emotions-focused therapist who grew up in a town famous for growing mushrooms. When I was young, he took me to lay in fields and watch the clouds go by. Both of my parents told me stories of roaming free in the woods in childhood, which formed the backdrop of my fantasies. From the age of 6 or 7, I remember talking to the trees in my front yard and feeling like they listened, and even sometimes spoke back…

… In my adolescence, I began to deepen my conversations with the natural world. While struggling with severe anxiety and analysis-paralysis in my teens and early twenties (trying to figure out my life), I began to take long walks in the woods, in order to listen for guidance, and find stillness. I found solace in the way the trees asked me no questions, and I felt so at ease in their presence. Since then, immersing myself in nature has become the quickest way to return to my soul. Through both solo time and time spent in community, I (re)discovered my place in the world, and awakened a passion for helping others find theirs, too.

As an extroverted writer & community builder, being in nature and connecting with trees has become my primary form of self-care and motivation. I believe it can be yours, too.

For all the practices and gifts nature has offered me in service of my healing, I am deeply grateful.

Sammy’s Soul|Light Statement of Purpose

I have spent hundreds of hours forest bathing and getting inspired to move and practice meditation, make trail art, create ritual and song, learn ancestral skills, and walk barefoot: re-wilding myself with the support of plant medicine, prayer, and guidance from the spirit of the land. After all these hours of wandering in the woods and listening to trees, I created Soul|Light as a way to give from my overflowing cup.

By slowing down and feeling beauty in the present moment, I am inviting a world in which every being can feel healthy and free. I feel incredibly lucky to have a job that lets me hold space for people while they experience things like anxiety relief, authentic connection, and discovery of purpose. I believe that my purpose in this lifetime is to help people call on the light of their soul to find belonging in the web that sustains and nurtures all life.

Soul|Light’s Commitment to Equity & Inclusion

Soul|Light’s equity-based pricing model is based on the understanding that the world is unjust. As we strive toward a society that supports each being to live in safety and full expression, we must acknowledge that historical inequity and harm continues to be enacted on a daily basis— and work to repair it in both action and spirit.

As such, the following groups and individuals are invited to attend Soul|Light programs on a give what you can basis:

  • Formerly incarcerated people of color… May you heal and be free.

  • Indigenous people… May we learn to respect land as living, and support rematriation.

  • Black people impacted by slavery. May you be protected from harm and may the resilience and culture(s) of your ancestors be a blessing.

  • First generation immigrants and refugees (documented and not) to the U.S… May you find love, peace, and acceptance wherever you go.

Questions or feedback on this model? Please reach out!

Soul|Light’s Values

  • Slowing Down & Valuing Rest

  • Self Love & Acceptance

  • Trusting Intuition & Body Wisdom

  • Diversity + Justice = Health

  • Small is Beautiful

  • We are Earth / Earth is Wise

  • Finding Flow & Balance

  • Honoring Ancestral Connections

  • Re-matriating Native Land

  • Giving Thanks & Reciprocity

  • Nature as Health Insurance

Soul|Light’s Vision

SoulLight’s vision is for free individuals, healthy communities, and a resilient planet. For communities that celebrate individuality while also honoring our interconnectedness. An economy that functions in harmony with our ecosystems, offering just and abundant opportunities for healthcare, learning, and dignity. For a return to ritual, community care, and spiritual ecology. Sitting around a fire at night to laugh, cry, and tell stories.

We believe this vision is not only possible, but already happening, at the mycelial level. It is our work to show up, find our soul light, and become a part of the great turning!