Emily Hightower is a Resilience Coach who helps high performers who also have trauma exposure to become steady, empowered, rested and ready.

As a mountain medic and whitewater guide in the 1990’s, she developed abilities to work with people under pressure in extreme environments. She took river guiding and outdoor medicine into a leadership role as Education Director for the Headwaters Institute the funding for which collapsed in the wake of the '9-11' attack. She adapted to the abrupt changes in her career by channeling her love of trauma healing, medicine, physical movement, and guiding people to states of connection to nature and presence to a lifelong study of human optimization and consciousness. Intrinsic is the evolved edition of her practice. She is passionate about serving those on our front lines in the EMS, Fire, military, and combat veterans as well as high-level performers such as athletes and entrepreneurs.

Emily has shared over 16,000 hours of contact time as an embodied movement teacher and medicinal breath coach. She has advanced studies in yoga, adaptive Thai Yoga, Biofeedback, Breath as Medicine, Art of Breath and Integrative Nutrition. She is also a Level IV whitewater kayak teacher, bow hunter, and avid skier. Emily ensures an integrative, science-based approach informs all of her offerings.

Emily coaches evidence-based Intrinsic Skills to wounded veterans year-round with Challenge Aspen Military Opportunities (CAMO) and has clients ranging from the United States Special Operations Command, The Aspen Fire Department, elite and amateur athletes, recovery groups and patients at her mind-body Intrinsic Space at Roaring Fork Neurology in Basalt, Co.

Former captain of the United States Rugby 7's team, and current international rugby commentator for NBC, ESPN, CBS, and the Pac12 Network, Brian Hightower is also a passionate educator, trainer, performance breath coach and outdoor fitness pioneer. Brian was an 8th Grade American History Teacher for 13 years and continues to manage outdoor education opportunities for student groups throughout our valley’s school districts. For Aspen Valley Land Trust he manages “Basecamp” in Marble, Colorado; a high-country haven where students can connect in a wilderness setting to learn Intrinsic Skills like breath physiology, outdoor survival and teamwork. His way with people puts them at ease while also bringing them to their best selves to show up for challenges to grow.

Brian lives what he teaches in physical and mental conditioning. He leads small groups through his own personal, brutaly challenging and consistent workout cycles that include outdoor ‘Dirty Work’ in the elements; rain, snow, or shine. Lifting logs, doing plyometric work on rocks, working proprioception drills up trails or cold plunging in mountain streams are some of the likely activities for the resolute who join.

Brian co-designs and facilitates our Intrinsic Skills programs and is available on a limited basis for private training and speaking engagements.