I came to Red Mountain from a wilderness program, and the turning point was when Josh visited me there. I had a number of options, but none of them appealed to me. I wanted a place where I could ask, “Who am I?” questions.
So Josh came to visit and He and I ended up walking around in the woods of Oregon for two hours.
He told me Red Mountain was a place for people who were serious about getting their lives together and I certainly was at that point. So I said, “Yeah.” He said there were good people there and I thought if they were anything like him, I should go there.
When I got there, I wasn’t surprised at how it turned out because Josh had promised it, but it was gratifying.
So many aspects of the program made a difference that it’s hard to single out just one.
Yoga was very special and personalized, and it opened me up to my spiritual side, which I had fought for a long time. That first session with Tara just captivated me, and broke down all my barriers. She continued to an amazing help to me in opening up spiritually while I was there.
Everyone at Red Mountain plays their part and I love everyone there. Jill is the mother hen of the flock. She has an “open desk policy” and is available to anyone who says, “I need a mom for a second.” She is very loving, and I used to get a hug from her every morning before meditation.
I also had a wonderful therapist in Amaryth. She is great at communicating and setting boundaries. We took long walks into the red rocks for therapy sessions and wedid some unique therapeutic exercises like making a dream catcher or a medicine wheel out of the rocks.
I never met a more caring person than Jenny, the lead mentor, and Maureen is just amazing. I want to give a shout-out to all of them.
The program literally saved my life, and whenever someone said they were going to leave, I would talk to them and say, “It’s saving your life, don’t go.”
Red Mountain is just amazing.
—Student