Sarah Byrden

BA in Anthropology from the University of Colorado in Boulder.

As part of her undergraduate study, she spent a “Semester at Sea”, traveling to 9 different countries in South America, Africa and Asia, thus beginning her lifetime journey of exploring and learning about different cultures and worldviews. Sarah began her work as an experiential educator in 2000 as a guide for America’s Adventure and worked as a senior field staff, mentor and trainer with with Second Nature, a clinically therapeutic wilderness program, specializing in an at-risk teenage population. While working with Second Nature, Sarah was responsible for implementing specialized treatment plans for students, teaching wilderness skills (bow drill fires, shelter-making, navigation), facilitating groups, and mentoring and training field staff.

After working with Second Nature, Sarah built upon and expanded her background in clinical therapy by completing a 1,000 hour certification program at the School of Shiatsu and Massage in Northern California. During her studies of Watsu (an aquatic therapy), Shiatsu and Massage, she developed an understanding of how the body and somatic awareness play an integral role in personal transformation, confidence building, and youth empowerment. In the field, Sarah employs her diverse skill sets to facilitate student learning and growth as we encounter diverse peoples, places, spiritual beliefs and ways of life. She firmly believes that by integrating elements of psychology, wilderness education, cultural immersion, alternative healing and somatic awareness, students can be empowered to become leaders, discover themselves, and embody an ethic of global citizenship.

Sarah has also moonlighted in the Assistant Directing and Costume departments for several major motion picture productions in Santa Fe, New Mexico. Her name can be found, in extremely small print, in the credits of such recent films as Cowboys and Aliens, Thor, Paul and Due Date.