Survivor Strong — Celebrating 20 Years of Yoga at Burn Camp

There are some anniversaries that quietly settle into your heart in a sacred kind of way.

This year marks my 20th year as a yoga instructor with the University of Utah Burn Camp community. And I find myself feeling deeply grateful for the opportunity to continue this work.

Twenty years.

Twenty summers of mats spread across camp floors, deep breaths shared between children and counselors, laughter echoing across cabins, and moments of courage quietly unfolding in ways that words often cannot fully describe.

Where All the Parts of My Life Come Together

What I love about this work is how beautifully it blends so many parts of my life together.

There is my connection to the firefighter community through my husband. There is my background as a yoga instructor. There is my work as a special education teacher. And then there is the larger fire family itself, a community built on service, resilience, humor, compassion, and showing up for one another during life's hardest moments.

This week, my co-instructor and I gathered to begin planning for August's Burn Camp sessions with Camp Nah Nah Mah. There was an energy between us that felt hopeful and expansive.

This year we're welcoming the Littles (ages 8–9), the Mids (ages 10–11), and the Bigs (ages 12–13), one of the largest age spreads we've ever had. That opens the door for even more creativity, mentorship, and connection between campers.

This Summer's Theme: Survivor Strong

Our overall theme for the summer is Survivor Strong — With Every Challenge. And each day will carry its own guiding word: Expand. Balance. Perception.

As a yoga teacher, I smiled the moment these themes were introduced. They flow so naturally into movement, breath, mindfulness, and reflection.

Expand reminds us that healing is not linear and that courage often asks us to gently widen our view of ourselves and what's possible.

Balance reminds us that strength isn't found in perfection, but in learning how to steady ourselves when life shifts unexpectedly.

Perception reminds us that how we see ourselves matters deeply. Especially for children navigating recovery, identity, scars, resilience, and belonging.

What the Children Teach Me

What continues to amaze me about Burn Camp is that the children are often the greatest teachers in the room.

Their humor. Their adaptability. Their honesty. Their ability to keep showing up even after pain has always humbled me.

Even with the occasional aches and reminders that twenty years have indeed passed, I feel incredibly excited to return this summer alongside my co-teacher, who is also a breast cancer survivor. There is something powerful about teaching from lived experience. About standing in front of children not as perfect people, but as people who understand healing from the inside out.

And perhaps that is the deeper lesson of Burn Camp itself.

Not that we avoid challenges.

But that we learn we are stronger than we once believed.

Together. Always together.