The Outdoors Is Where I Go to Heal: Becoming a Mother Made That Infinitely Harder

By Jessica Schisler, Founder of Sunny Cubs

I think we spend too much time talking about the benefits of getting our kids outside, and not nearly enough time talking about what it does for us as mothers.

For years, I thought it was because I just loved adventure. I chased mountains, finish lines, passport stamps, and long days on my bike. After a brush with cancer in 2009, I stopped waiting for my friends (or a boyfriend) to want to go do something cool and started saying “yes” to life whenever I could.

Looking back, I realize it was never really about the races I ran or the places I traveled - those things were never really the point. They were just how I found my way back outside. The outdoors has always been, and will always be, where I go to heal.

I don’t mean that in a poetic way - I mean it literally.

It’s where I think more clearly.

It’s where hard conversations become easier to process.

It’s where I remember what’s important.

Whenever life has felt heavy, I’ve found myself lacing up my shoes, getting on my bike, or heading for a trail. I always come home feeling lighter than when I left.

Becoming a Mother Changed Everything

The bigger adjustment wasn’t getting outside with a baby. It was becoming a mother.

When I met my husband and we decided to start a family, I never imagined leaving that part of my life behind. Heck, we eloped to New Zealand - got an RV and toured for two weeks - heli’d to the top of a mountain and got married. Society says stay inside with your newborn. But there’s no way I was going to be a “normal” mom. Hudson was four days old when we took her on her first outdoor adventure. At five weeks, we packed up our tiny family and went camping in Yosemite. To some people that probably sounds ambitious, maybe even reckless. To us, it just felt like life.

The bigger adjustment wasn’t getting outside with a baby. It was becoming a mother. A few weeks after our daughter Hudson was born, a former coworker reached out to share the concept of matrescence - the identity shift that happens in motherhood. I remember thinking, Why has no one ever told me this? How isn’t this something I knew I’d go through? There was finally a word for what I had been feeling. I wasn’t trying to return to being the woman I had been before Hudson; I was becoming someone entirely new.

Why did society focus so much on preparing to care for your baby or how to set up your nursery and not this incredibly important shift? In the life of a woman, the changes experienced during matrescence are just as significant as adolescence.

Let’s take a beat and remember:

• You grow a new organ
• That organ grows a human
• You birth that human and dispense with said organ
• Your body produces milk to keep said human alive
• Not to mention how your senses change (hello baby crying equals milk leaking and random swaying when someone else's baby cries)

I wrestled with the realization, but having a name for it helped me to give myself so much more grace. I took a 6 week coaching course about matrescence and it really helped me to make sense of what was happening. I had to learn to stop trying to "bounce back" and started asking: How do I bring the parts of myself I love into this new version of life? For me, the answer was always the same: Bring Hudson outside with me. Planning day trips or backpacking trips became something I looked forward to, reminding me that my life had changed, but the things that filled my cup still mattered. The goals might have changed, but the activities did not.

When the Sun Became Something We Had to Think About Differently

Then everything got flipped upside down.

Only weeks after the birth of our first daughter, my husband was diagnosed with melanoma. Thankfully it was caught early, but it changed the way we thought about the sun overnight. At the same time, I had this beautiful little girl with bright red hair and super fair skin. The place that had always brought me peace suddenly came with questions I had never had to ask.

How do I protect the people I love without teaching them to fear the place that has always helped me heal?

Why Sunny Cubs Was Born

I found myself frustrated with existing products for babies. Newborns can’t wear sunscreen, hats rarely stay on - oh… and don’t work with front carriers, and most gear was designed for swimming, not a full day on the trail or daily wear. Also, frankly, the neon colors were simply not my jam. I wanted something soft, breathable, and made from natural fibers. No chemical treatments. Why were there not sun hoodies for babies, or anything to cover their hands or scalp when in a carrier. So, I started sketching what we needed to get outside safely with her - UPF 50 certified, all natural - loose and full coverage was a must. Sunny Cubs didn’t start with fabric; it started with a mother trying to protect the place that helped her be her best self.

Our Adventures Look Different Now

Today, our adventures look different. We added our son to the family, Mason and Hudson are now 4. They’re slower. We stop to look at bugs and sometimes don’t make it to the epic mountain view. There are snacks in every backpack and enough forgotten water bottles to fill a small lake. But I don’t measure our days by how far we hike; I measure them by how we feel when we get home. If we’re muddy, tired, laughing, and everyone falls asleep a little easier, I know we spent the day well.

Healing doesn’t always happen in big, life-changing moments. Sometimes it looks like a walk after dinner. Sometimes it looks like camping in Yosemite with a five-week-old. Sometimes it simply looks like remembering who you are every time you step outside.

If This Resonates...

• Practice Grace in Matrescence: Understand that becoming a mother is a massive identity shift. You aren't "losing" your old self; you are evolving into someone new. It is ok to miss pre-mama too!
• Start Small: You don't need a mountain peak to find peace. A bike ride, paddle boat or a simple walk after dinner can be the reset your family needs.
• Focus on the Feeling: Measure the success of an outing by your family's mood and connection, not the mileage or the gear.
• Safety Without Fear: Equip your family with the right protection - like breathable, natural-fiber sun gear, so you can focus on the adventure instead of the worry.