Meet Alyssa Horton

We were lucky to catch up with Alyssa Horton recently and have shared our conversation below.

Alyssa, sincerely appreciate your selflessness in agreeing to discuss your mental health journey and how you overcame and persisted despite the challenges. Please share with our readers how you overcame. For readers, please note this is not medical advice, we are not doctors, you should always consult professionals for advice and that this is merely one person sharing their story and experience.
In High School, I battled an eating disorder without really knowing it. I spent four years captain of my Varsity Lacrosse Team, leading campus outreach programs, travelling and adventuring and- from what looked to most people, a very healthy life. However, I knew something in my mind was off. Cut to my senior year, a loving mentor who walked with me through all those years finally told me I needed to go to get a mental health intake. I was very angry at first. Upon what felt forced, I opened up to my parents that something in my thought process/ eating habits was off. After a series of appointments, I got diagnosed with bulimia. This changed the course of my college plans. I decided to stay living at home, working for my church, and giving 100% of my effort to healing. Because my disordered eating stemmed from intense exericse, I was not allowed to run anymore or go to the gym and was only allowed to surf and do yoga. These two things became central to my healing. After getting introduced to hot yoga, I completely re-learned how to listen to my body. It was the first time in my life that I was told by a fitness instructor to honor my body, listen to it, and learn to breathe through my thoughts and be in tune with what my mind was telling me. My yoga journey began here, and I knew one day I wanted to become an instructor and teach others, especially to the culture where Im from in Orange County, how to move your body in a way that honors it. November 2022, I flew to an island off Cancun in the Caribbean with my sister, Chloe, and did a 200 hour yoga intense training gaining my teacher training certification. I now live in Sequoia National Park and spend my time leading people through yoga in nature, immersed in the outdoors which I love, inspiring people to listen to their body and still their mind in God’s Creation.

Thanks for sharing that. So, before we get any further into our conversation, can you tell our readers a bit about yourself and what you’re working on?
I am co-owner of Wild Story Co. We are a husband and wife team that is passionate about capturing people’s stories. We photograph weddings, sporting events, camps, engagements, proposals-basically anything where a story is told. We are specifically passionate about living a good story. Meaning, we ourselves desire to live in such a way that is bold, creative, outdoors, and fearless. My husband and I both have a strong love for the outdoors and nature. We met rock climbing in Kings Canyon National Park and love inspiring others to get outside. We see our business as a way to inspire those around us to live a wild story, while also being the means of capturing theirs. In two weeks, we fly to Oahu, HI to document a camp on the north shore for at risk youth on the island. In April, May, July, August, September, October we are shooting weddings. April we are doing behind the scenes work for a professional pickleball player for a week.
We also have a vlog of our life! We focus on capturing us rock climbing, travelling, surfing, exploring! We got to yosemite for our three year anniversary in April- stay tuned for a vlog!
I also teach yoga, as I mentioned earlier. I recently got back from co-hosting with my sister a yoga retreat camping in the mountains near San Diego. At the moment, my husband and I also work full time for Hume Lake Christian Camps in Sequoia National Park where I help run the activities department and he is the videography supervisor for all three campuses.

Looking back, what do you think were the three qualities, skills, or areas of knowledge that were most impactful in your journey? What advice do you have for folks who are early in their journey in terms of how they can best develop or improve on these?
Passion, Support System, Fearless Commitment.

Any time you puruse a dream, there are setbacks. These three values are what have carried me. Passion: I have cultivated deep reasons for why I do what I do, the WHY behind my pursuits. This is what gets me up in the morning. Having a why gives you endurance when things don’t go as planned and allows the perseverance to keep going.

Support System: having people who believe in you, love you, and pick you up when you fall is 100% necessary in pursuing dreams. I have an incredible husband who always reminds me of my why. I have an amazing family who cheers us on in all our pursuits. And I have amazing friends who have always brought me back to truth.

Fearless Commitment: There will always be setbacks, like I mentioned. You have to be fully set on your pursuits no matter the cost. Facing your fears requires accepting defeat, accepting people to misunderstand you, accepting that it may no go as planned. But making the daily decision to keep going despite this will get you where you want to be.

Is there a particular challenge you are currently facing?
Anyone who has an eating disorder in their past likely struggles with obsessive thinking. I have come a very long way with learning how to cope with this; however, it still is a daily battle. Im at a huge crossroads in my life. This May, after living in the Sequoias for about 6 years, my husband and I are relocating back to south Orange County where I’m from. My struggles began there, so I’m basically going back to the place that triggered it. Im super excited to encourage those there that may have similar struggles, but there is a part of me that is fearful of falling into bad habits again. Im excited to put my coping skills to the test! Right before I move, I am doing the John Muir trail with my sister which is a 220 mile backpacking trip from Yosemite Valley to Mount Whitney. This is a huge step for me. Back in 2019, my friend and I got lost hiking in the Mammoth Backcountry and actually got found by search and rescue. This has haunted me ever since. However, I am choosing to not let fear stop me and embarking on a 3 week backpacking journey facing my greatest fears.

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