From Rock Bottom to Rooted Renewal: How Nature, Courage and Community Saved My Life

For 46 years, I fought a battle no one around me could truly see.
I tried everything—therapy, doctors, medications, programs, diets, exercise—yet nothing brought me the peace, mobility or clarity I desperately needed. I lived with chronic pain from osteoarthrosis, moving through life with a walker, immobilized both physically and emotionally. Addiction gnawed at the edges of my hope. Every day felt like a storm I couldn’t outrun.

I was exhausted.
I was hurting.
And truthfully—I was ready to give up.

The Turning Point

Everything shifted when I met a primary doctor who saw me.
Really saw me.

They advocated for me, fought for me and believed I deserved more than survival. They connected me with a surgeon willing to give me a chance—with one condition:

If I got my knees replaced, I needed to commit to a program and consider weight-loss surgery.

It was terrifying… but it was hope. So I said yes.

Those surgeries changed my life.
They gave me mobility, reduced my physical suffering, and opened a door I thought had been closed forever.

But surgery couldn’t fix everything.

Because while my body was healing, my mind was still drowning—under the weight of RAD, BPD, ADD, PTSD, agoraphobia, social anxiety, depression and a lifetime of trauma that lived inside my bones.

Losing Home—Then Finding Myself

Some deeply painful events forced a massive shift in my life.
We sold our home and moved an hour away, leaving behind people and environments that were toxic and damaging.

I didn’t know then that this move would save my life.

Because the forest—quiet, ancient, accepting—became my new therapist.

The Forest Healed Me in Ways Nothing Else Ever Could

Among the trees, something changed.
My nervous system softened.
My mind began to breathe.
I felt a presence I could trust, a calmness that existed beyond words.

The Science Behind Nature’s Medicine

Trees release compounds called phytoncides, natural chemicals that:

• reduce stress hormones

• increase feelings of calm

• support immune function

• help regulate the nervous system

Just breathing among trees lowered my anxiety in ways 46 years of formal treatment never had.

I found peace in:

🌿 The scent of pine and cedar oils
🪵 The grounding energy of soil and stone
🦌 The presence of deer, birds and woodland creatures who lived without judgment
🍄 Foraging—touching, identifying and learning from the forest’s offerings
🌱 Gardening herbs and using them to create healing products

Nature became my teacher.
My mentor.
My healer.

Remembering Who I Am Through Practice and Presence

In the forest, I practiced:

• Meditation: tuning into breath, sound and sensation

• Drumming: using rhythm to regulate and express

• Yoga: reconnecting with my body in gentle, loving ways

• Hiking: building strength, step by painful step

• Foraging: learning edible and medicinal plants

• Crafting: letting creativity flow through my hands

• Sitting in stillness: allowing silence to speak

At the same time, I leaned on the DBT, CBT and ACT skills I’d collected over the years—skills that finally clicked once I had space to breathe.

I relearned how to walk—literally and spiritually.
I fought agoraphobia, addiction, trauma responses and old belief systems that tried to drag me back into darkness.

And slowly…
my life began to bloom.

EarthStarR — The Dream That Found Its Moment

I rediscovered a passion I’d held since my late teens:

💫 Herbalism
💫 Healing through nature
💫 Creating an apothecary

Nature had carried me out of the deepest pain of my life—so I made a commitment:

I will help others heal the way I healed:
mind, body and soul—through connection, nature and community.

And that’s how EarthStarR was born.

My business is more than a dream.
It’s a reclamation.
A resurrection.
A promise to myself and to everyone who still feels lost.

Walking With You on Your Healing Journey

I share my story not because it’s easy, but because someone out there needs to know:

You are not broken.
You are not beyond healing.
And you do not have to walk this path alone.

I’m building EarthStarR to be a place of:

🌿 Support
🌿 Education
🌿 Community
🌿 Natural wellness
🌿 Empowerment
🌿 All Recovery principles
🌿 Gratitude for the Earth and the Universe

In supporting my new business, you are not just helping me—you are joining a movement of people choosing to heal with nature, hope and belief in each other.

And in return, you will always have my support on your unique journey of healing, just as others have walked beside me.

I am here—rooted, grateful, thriving and ready to walk with you.

The universe led me here.
May it lead you somewhere beautiful too.

Bethany Awspirez

Love, Healing and Recovery in Nature