In the predawn darkness of countless training sessions, Patty de Vries measured her worth in repetitions and distance. As a nine-time NCAA All-American who competed at the Olympic Trials, she embodied the relentless pursuit of “more, farther, better” that defines elite athletics. Yet beneath the medals and accolades, a deeper question was emerging: What happens when external achievements don’t fill the inner void?
“I grew up measuring my worth in repetitions and wins,” Patty reflects on those formative years. “Athletics taught me discipline and grit, but it also taught me that success without inner alignment can feel hollow and short lived.”
The transformation from high-performing athlete to transformational wellness leader didn’t happen overnight. It began when her body started speaking louder than her ambitions. Injuries mounted, exhaustion deepened, and the noise of competitive angst grew overwhelming. Instead of pushing through, Patty made a radical choice: she started listening.
“When injuries, exhaustion, and the noise of ‘more, faster, better’ got too loud, I started listening to my body and getting curious about life,” she explains. This curiosity led her to deepen her understanding of the human spirit. Here curiosity for it brought to life at Stanford so many years ago began to illuminate what her body had been trying to tell her all this time.
THE LAND THAT CALLED HER HOME
The genesis of Living Well USA traces back to a moment of defiance in 2004. Patty’s realtor refused to show her a rugged Santa Cruz Mountains property, dismissing it as too steep, too wild, too close to the freeway. But Patty felt an undeniable pull toward the blank canvas and it became her haven for the next sixteen years.
The true awakening came during the Covid lockdowns of 2020. While the world retreated indoors, Patty ventured into a majestic redwood grove that had been literally steps away from her home all along. What she discovered there would reshape not only her property but her entire purpose.
“Over the next five years, I built trails and added over 500 steps leading to a natural spring—a literal ‘Living Well,’” Patty shares. “I cleared French broom while also clearing old beliefs and negative thought patterns that tanked my energy. The forest called me to evolve, and Living Well USA emerged from a broadening awareness of life.”
This physical transformation of the land paralleled an inner shift. Each step carved into the hillside, each invasive plant removed, each trail cleared became a metaphor for the inner work of clearing limiting beliefs and creating pathways to authentic well-being.
The land has become both sanctuary and teacher, hosting seekers, couples, and teams ready to live more centered, purposeful lives. Groups gather in the redwood groves to connect with themselves, ancient wisdom, and the natural world that serves as humanity’s original neuro-regulator.
REDEFINING WELLNESS: THE PHILOSOPHY OF LIVING WELL WITHIN
Patty’s understanding of wellness has undergone a profound evolution. Early in her career, wellness meant programs, incentives, and external metrics. Now it represents something far more nuanced and sustainable.
“‘Living Well Within’ is the realization that everything we seek—peace, resilience, clarity—lives inside,” she explains. “It’s not a destination but a daily practice of aligning thoughts, words, and actions with our best self.”
This philosophy emerged from years of witnessing clients chase external fixes while struggling with internal discord. Through her integration of nature, neuroscience, and spiritual inquiry, Patty discovered that lasting change only occurs when people turn inward with curiosity, compassion, and consistent practice.
The approach recognizes that inner well-being isn’t separate from outer impact. When individuals learn to live well within themselves, they naturally extend that coherence to their relationships and their connection with the Earth’s natural flow.
THE MIDLIFE AWAKENING: STRIPPING AWAY TO FIND ESSENCE
Midlife brought Patty face to face with existential questions that athletic achievements couldn’t answer. The roles that once defined her—athlete, high-achiever, fixer—began to fall away, leaving her to confront a fundamental inquiry: “Who are you without the applause?”
“Midlife stripped away roles that once defined me,” Patty reflects. “The answer came from grief, recalibration, and an awakening to interconnectedness.”
This period of deconstruction became reconstruction when Patty became “Oma” to her grandson. The experience of grandmotherhood, combined with her deepening relationship with the land, created a unique alchemy of tenderness and toughness that would define her mission moving forward.
“Becoming ‘Oma’ to my grandson softened me; tending land toughened me. The combination birthed a mission: help others see their lives not as a struggle but as an opportunity for creativity and joy.”
Her message now carries an unapologetic hopefulness grounded in neuroscience and lived experience. She reminds clients that their brains remain plastic throughout life, their spirits remain sovereign, and their thoughts actively alter their chemistry.
THE RISE FRAMEWORK: A COMPASS FOR CONSCIOUS EVOLUTION
From her years of coaching and facilitating transformation, Patty developed the RISE Framework—a practical tool that serves as both compass and daily practice for those seeking to rediscover their inner power.
The framework encompasses four core principles: Recognize your value and impact, owning the ripple your energy creates in the world. Identify and amplify your strengths, focusing attention on what genuinely fuels you. Shape an “above-the-line” mindset by noticing when fear, blame, or scarcity hijack your thinking and pivoting to curiosity, responsibility, and possibility. Engage in lifelong learning, treating personal growth as an active verb that requires consistent stretching.
“This framework turns triggers into treasures, challenges into catalysts, and ordinary days into laboratories of conscious evolution,” Patty explains. Working alongside her husband Greg, a meditation coach, she invites people to pause, pattern-interrupt, and choose again in each moment.
The beauty of RISE lies in its adaptability. While the framework provides structure, Patty encourages guests to make it their own, recognizing that sustainable transformation must align with individual temperament and circumstances.
WHERE ANCIENT WISDOM MEETS MODERN SCIENCE
Patty’s approach uniquely weaves together nature-based healing and cutting-edge neuroscience. This integration isn’t accidental—it reflects her understanding that the most powerful healing modalities combine timeless wisdom with contemporary research.
“Nature is the original neuro-regulator,” she explains. “Forest air shifts neurotransmitters; birdsong calms the amygdala; sunlight supports circadian rhythm. Neuroscience explains why ancient practices work: neuroplasticity, vagal tone, state-dependent learning.”
On the Living Well USA property, this integration comes alive through guided meditations under towering redwoods, breathwork sessions by the natural spring, and mindfulness hikes designed to inspire awe. The combination provides both the data that satisfies the analytical mind and the direct experience that transforms the nervous system.
The brain craves both novelty and pattern, and nature provides both in abundance. Neuroscience offers the explanation; nature delivers the medicine.
LESSONS FROM THE CORPORATE WELLNESS FRONTIER
Patty’s journey through corporate wellness, including leadership roles at Stanford and the founding of TimeOut Services, provided crucial insights that now inform her current work. Her company served industry giants like Google, Yahoo!, Cisco, and Safeway, giving her front-row access to how wellness initiatives succeed or fail in organizational contexts.
Five key lessons emerged from this experience that now shape every retreat and program she designs:
Culture determines program success more than content. Toxic leadership cannot be “wellness-ed” away through surface-level interventions. Data combined with personal stories creates sustainable momentum. Metrics may justify budgets, but human narratives sustain long-term engagement. Small, consistent habits outperform grand intentions every time. Two-minute meditations and gratitude check-ins stick where elaborate programs fail. Health is fundamentally social. Belonging and psychological safety drive behavior change more effectively than incentives. Leaders set the nervous system tone for entire organizations. When leaders learn to regulate their own stress responses, teams naturally recalibrate.
When Patty sold TimeOut Services in 2009, she knew her next chapter would delve deeper into the intersection of personal transformation and collective healing. This knowing coincided with revolutionary discoveries in neuroscience, particularly Norman Doidge’s work demonstrating that adult brains continue developing throughout life when fed new experiences and growth opportunities.
CREATING TRANSFORMATIONAL EXPERIENCES
As Chief Experience Officer of Living Well USA, Patty designs encounters that land in the body rather than merely filling notebooks. Her approach recognizes that lasting transformation requires felt experience rather than intellectual understanding alone.
Gatherings begin with activities that shift participants’ state of being. Each encounter an opportunity to signal to the nervous system that we are safe and ready to do our best in this moment.
Immersive nature encounters form the backbone of each program. Walking through the redwood groves, pausing in contemplative spaces, and exploring science-backed tools dedicated to expanding the human potential, all add to the experience of living well. Creating a gratitude list, or participating in meditations beside the natural spring, create opportunities for participants to remember their connection to the larger web of life.
Neuro-literacy sessions provide practical tools for sustainable change. Interactive workshops on reframing negative thought patterns, understanding habit loops, and accessing state-shifting techniques give participants a user’s manual for their own consciousness.
Sacred play rounds out the experience through creative expression that accesses joy and overflow. Painting, dream-writing, and fruit-picking remind participants that transformation doesn’t require suffering—it can emerge through delight and creative expression.
Integration circles ensure that insights translate into action. Before leaving, participants identify specific shifts they can implement in their daily lives, creating bridges between meeting insights and real-world application.
DISPELLING THE WELLNESS MISCONCEPTION
Through years of observing clients navigate wellness culture, Patty has identified what she considers the biggest misconception, particularly prevalent in midlife: the belief that wellness is a checklist to be completed rather than an ongoing practice of energy alignment.
“Wellness is not merely a checklist: eat clean, exercise, meditate, done,” she explains. “In midlife, the deeper issue is energy alignment—are your thoughts, words, relationships, and environment feeding or draining you?”
This insight challenges the accepted version of wellness that dominates social media and marketing. Patty points out that someone can “green-juice their way into depletion” if their inner dialogue remains toxic. True wellness requires integration rather than performance, coherence rather than control.
THE ESSENTIAL SKILL OF OUR TIME
In an era where children receive smartphones before learning how attention works, Patty considers neuro-literacy essential for navigating modern life. She defines it as understanding how the brain filters reality, how stress chemistry narrows possibility, and how to use breath, focus, and language to shift internal states.
“Without it, we outsource our nervous system to algorithms,” she warns. “With it, we reclaim agency. Neuro-literacy is the user’s manual for the most advanced technology you own—your brain.”
This perspective transforms overwhelming stimulation from a threat into an opportunity for conscious choice. When people understand how their nervous systems respond to environmental inputs, they can design their lives to support their best functioning rather than drain their vitality.
A PRACTICAL PATH TO REWIRING
For individuals ready to create lasting inner change, Patty offers a simple yet profound approach that honors both the complexity of human psychology and the need for accessible practices.
The process begins with pattern recognition. Simply naming a recurring thought or reaction—”I notice a story about my co-worker sabotaging me”—brings unconscious patterns into conscious awareness where they can be examined and shifted.
Breath and body awareness anchor this recognition in the present moment. A long exhale signals safety to the nervous system while bodily sensations provide an alternative to mental spinning.
Curiosity becomes the key that unlocks rigid thinking patterns. Instead of defending initial reactions, asking “What else could be true?” or “What would be most beneficial for my focus now?” opens space for new possibilities.
Daily micro-shifts build the neural pathways for sustainable change. Two minutes of humming to regulate the nervous system, listing three specific gratitudes, or making one courageous request may seem small but create compound effects over time.
Environmental design supports lasting transformation by making healthy choices the default rather than the exception. This might involve setting reminder notifications, curating social media feeds mindfully, placing visual cues throughout living spaces, or scheduling regular time for renewal.
Consistency and emotional engagement accelerate neuroplasticity. The brain rewires most efficiently when new behaviors are repeated regularly and celebrated with genuine enthusiasm.
GUIDANCE FOR THE STUCK AND DRAINED
When working with individuals who feel trapped in patterns of depletion and disconnection, Patty begins with radical acceptance rather than immediate action planning. She recognizes that exhaustion cannot hear wisdom and that rest must precede transformation.
“First, honor the feeling—it’s a signal, not a sentence,” she advises. This reframe transforms shame about feeling stuck into curiosity about what needs attention.
The prescription is simultaneously simple and profound. Get outside and let the Earth co-regulate the nervous system. Nature’s rhythms help reset human rhythms when artificial environments have disrupted natural balance.
Ask one powerful question daily: “What is one tiny act of self-respect I can take today?” This inquiry bypasses overwhelm by focusing on single, achievable actions that honor the person’s wellbeing.
Find safe community where truth can be shared with kindness. Isolation amplifies problems while connection accelerates healing. Even one person who can witness struggles without judgment creates space for transformation.
Follow the spark, even when it appears as merely a whisper of joy. These moments of aliveness provide direction for stuck energy, showing where life force wants to flow.
EMPOWERING MIDLIFE RENAISSANCE
Patty’s work with professionals navigating midlife transitions acknowledges both the challenges and the tremendous opportunities this life stage presents. Rather than pathologizing the difficult emotions that often arise, she creates spaces where people can be both fierce and tender.
The approach begins with honest acknowledgment of midlife realities: burnout from decades of giving, caregiving fatigue, identity shifts as children leave home or careers evolve, and the confrontation with mortality that naturally arises during this period. Rather than minimizing these challenges, Patty honors them as part of the human experience.
Practical tools support this acknowledgment with actionable steps forward. The RISE framework provides structure for rediscovering personal power. Energy audits help identify what genuinely nourishes versus what depletes. Boundary practices teach the difference between walls that isolate and boundaries that protect. Voice activation exercises help people reclaim their authentic expression after years of conformity.
Time in nature help connect participants with the cyclical wisdom of the Earth, reminding them that seasons of letting go naturally precede seasons of new growth. These sessions help normalize the endings that must occur before new beginnings can emerge.
The overall message models a new way of being powerful: strength without hardness, leadership rooted in centered-ness rather than domination, and the recognition that sensitivity is a superpower calibrated for a new chapter of life.
A STORY OF SOUL REMEMBRANCE
Among the many transformation stories Patty has witnessed, one particularly illustrates the profound shifts possible when people reconnect with their authentic essence. A guest arrived at a retreat completely numb from years of relentless caregiving for others while abandoning her own needs.
During sunset in nature, something shifted. As the group’s voices blended with the sounds of the forest, tears began flowing for the first time in months. Later, the woman shared, “I remembered the sound of my own soul.”
She left the workshop with a practical plan: micro-moments of conscious breathing between client appointments, gratitude text threads with supportive colleagues, and firm boundaries around her off-duty time. Six months later, she wrote to Patty: “I didn’t quit life. I quit abandoning myself.”
This story captures the essence of Patty’s work: helping people remember who they are beneath the roles they play and the responsibilities they carry. The transformation doesn’t require dramatic life changes but rather a return to self-respect and authentic self-care.
PERSONAL PRACTICES OF A WELLNESS LEADER
Patty’s own daily rituals demonstrate how the principles she teaches integrate into ordinary life. Her practices are both grounded and transcendent, combining practical health habits with deeper spiritual connection.
Morning alignment begins before her workday starts. Grounding herself in gratitude, moving her body, and often humming a few notes to “check her inner weather” sets the tone for everything that follows. This practice ensures that she meets the day from a place of centeredness rather than reactivity.
Nature walks provide daily doses of nature’s medicine. Touching the bark of the redwoods, breathing the scent of bay laurel, and listening to the sounds of forest animals keeps her connected to the wisdom that inspired Living Well USA.
Micro-meditations create reset opportunities throughout busy days. Two-minute breaks between meetings, focusing on breath, posture, and genuine smiling, prevent the accumulation of stress that can hijack well-intentioned plans.
Creative expression moves energy through her hands via painting, writing, or building new trail steps. This practice recognizes that transformation requires both receiving inspiration and actively creating something new in the world.
Evening gratitude, spoken aloud or written down, helps the nervous system integrate positive experiences. Three specific gratitudes acknowledge the goodness that exists alongside whatever challenges the day brought.
Her husband Greg’s complementary practices of daily meditation, breathwork, and mindful movement create a household culture that supports their shared mission. His weekly free meditation meetup benefits both attendees and facilitators, demonstrating how service becomes a form of personal practice.
BALANCING SERVICE AND SUSTAINABILITY
Running an event center while maintaining personal well-being requires conscious boundary management and what Patty calls “energetic thresholds.” Since their home and workplace occupy the same property, clear delineation becomes essential for preventing burnout.
The approach involves practicing boundaries as love rather than walls. This distinction helps them maintain generous availability for guests while protecting the private time and space necessary for renewal. Scheduling spaciousness prevents the overpacking that destroys presence and joy.
Delegation of energy-draining activities allows focus on the aspects of the work that genuinely fuel them. Letting nature do the “heavy lifting” of transformation reduces the pressure to manufacture healing through pure effort.
Ritual transitions between roles help maintain clarity about when they’re serving as hosts versus when they’re simply living their lives. A shared tea ceremony or sunset pause creates clear demarcation between work and rest.
Self-forgiveness for the inevitable moments when they forget their own teachings prevents perfectionism from undermining their effectiveness. This modeling of self-compassion actually enhances their credibility as teachers.
LEGACY OF LOVE IN ACTION
When Patty envisions the legacy she hopes to leave, her vision extends far beyond personal recognition to encompass a fundamental shift in how humans understand and direct their energy. She dreams of a world where people remember they are pure energy capable of choosing whether to focus on fears or possibilities.
“I want to live in a world of humans who understand our personal energy and can direct it towards our fears or towards possibility,” she shares. “A world of radical acceptance where each of us knows how to calm our own storms, honor our gifts, and serve from overflow.”
Living Well USA represents her contribution to this vision: a generational sanctuary where wisdom keepers gather, healers sharpen each other’s skills, and seekers remember their sacred nature. The trails she has carved and the springs she has revealed are intended to serve not just current visitors but generations yet to come.
Her hope extends to her own granddaughter’s grandchildren, imagining them walking the same paths and feeling the flow in their souls that has become the foundation of her work. The legacy she seeks is practical spirituality: kindness in action, neuro-literacy in practice, and wisdom woven through leadership.
EXPANDING CIRCLES OF INFLUENCE
The future of Living Well USA unfolds through each team and individual who experiences the property’s unique medicine. Rather than pursuing aggressive expansion, Patty focuses on deepening the quality of transformation possible within the existing framework.
Each leader who comes to the retreat center brings new opportunities to expand the work’s reach. Teaching from a place of respect for each person’s innate wisdom and capacity for self-direction, Patty continues developing innovative ways to share what she has learned while remaining open to what each new encounter teaches her.
The belief driving this expansion is profound in its simplicity: every human being has the potential to shift, to nudge their neural pathways toward greater happiness and health. With each individual, family, and team served, the work contributes incrementally to bringing more peace to a world that desperately needs it.
THE LIVING WELL INVITATION
Patty’s final message to the world carries both the urgency of current global challenges and the hope rooted in human potential. Her words acknowledge humanity’s shared biology while calling forth our highest possibilities.
“Each of us is a Living Well. We share 99% of DNA with all other humans. We are at a pivotal point in our earth’s history. We can choose peace or friction. Love or fear. Connection or isolation. We are the most advanced creatures on earth. It is for us to create a reality of flow and overflow.”
This message recognizes that transformation is contagious in community. Whether someone joins an event, walks the trails, practices humming in their kitchen, or simply breathes in the possibility of living well within, they become part of an evolutionary movement.
One nervous system at a time, individual transformation weaves into collective healing. The work continues through every person who remembers they are already whole, already wise, already capable of directing their energy toward creation rather than destruction.
The invitation is both personal and universal: Welcome to Living Well USA. Welcome home, within.
