Amber Karnes has spent over a decade proving that adventure doesn't belong to any one body type. Through Body Positive Yoga and the retreats she leads, including WHOA plus Adventures, she's helped guests surf for the first time in their 40s, jump into cenotes, and see themselves as athletes and adventurers, often for the first time in their lives.
In this conversation, Amber talks about the connection between body image and nature, why she never sends anyone into a challenge alone, and a moment on a beach that reminded her exactly why this work matters. All photos courtesy of Amber Karnes.
How has adventure healed your body image?
When I’m feeling frustrated with my body and what it looks like compared to other people, it helps to go into nature and see myself reflected in a different way. Beauty standards were invented to sell us stuff to fix “the problem of our bodies”, so we compare ourselves to this "perfect body" standard and we feel less-than. But our bodies aren't a problem to be solved. Our bodies just are what they are, and exist in many different beautiful, unique, and weird shapes and forms.
In nature, I can see myself reflected in a different way, like how the texture of my cellulite (something I may not like) looks like the ripples of a lake, a sand dune, or the texture of a canyon wall (things that I find quite beautiful). Being outdoors also makes me remember my tiny place in the bigger order of things. The mountains, desert, or ocean put me in a different context. I feel properly small and insignificant compared to these vast landscapes.
When I go on an adventure and do something that challenges me, I also change the way that I see myself. Recently I hiked Angels Landing in Zion National Park, which has been a bucket list hike of mine for years. I was nervous and unsure before I started. Would my body be able to handle this? I was out of breath climbing up to the top, but since literally everyone else on the hike was too, I pressed on. Once I got up there, saw the beauty before me, and felt the exhilaration of completing something that I had wanted to do for years, I saw myself differently as an athlete and an adventurer. Now I'm planning much bigger and more challenging hikes, and I'm less nervous! Having an experience like this opens up the possibilities we see for ourselves in the future, and how we think about "where we belong" going forward.
What would you tell someone who's never done an ADVENTURE TRIP before, anD isn't sure they're ready?
Don't go alone! There's something magical about doing things that scare us a little bit in the company of people who are there to do the same thing and who are probably thinking and feeling the same things that you are.
This is actually one of the reasons that I started creating adventure retreats for women. When I began offering adventures at my yoga retreats like a little cliff jump or a hike, I encouraged my guests to support one another, help each other with difficult terrain, and cheer each other on when it came time to jump into the water or do something a little challenging. Experiencing an adventure with other women who have similar lived experience to you, maybe similar bodies to you, and being seen by them as a fellow adventurer and badass changes things in your brain. When you watch them hold the confidence that you can do the thing that scares you, when you hear their cheers and encouragement, and have someone reach out their hand to help you… that changes everything. This feeling of belonging is an amazing experience that I hope everyone gets to have at some point in their life. There's nothing else like it, and it truly changes the way you see yourself.
Can you tell us about a funny or unexpected moment from a previous retreat?
The first one that comes to mind happened at Wild Bodies Surf Camp 2025 in Sayulita, Mexico. There were 15 of us, most of us women in plus size bodies, everyone in their late 30s to early 60s, learning to surf for the very first time. We were on the beach with our surfboards about to go into the water. We also had a photographer there capturing the moment for us. I wanted to give each of my attendees pictures of them surfing. To me, photography kinda proves that you did the thing and it helps you to see yourself differently. I wanted these women to see themselves as surfers after this adventure.
Just as we’re about to go into the water, I noticed that a few feet away from us were two little girls, maybe 7 or 8 years old. They were staring at us wide eyed and one of them had her mouth hanging open in surprise. I think we must have been quite a spectacle on the beach! But these kids weren’t staring to make fun of a bunch of old ladies in their bathing suits. I could see a sense of amazement, and I saw them being thoughtful in the moment. It seemed like the wheels were turning in their heads.
I wonder if I would have seen something like that when I was a little kid, if I would have grown up thinking that women of all different shapes, sizes, and ages could be surfers. Maybe I would have tried surfing when I was a teenager, rather than waiting until I was 42 years old, because I never saw anybody that looked like me in the water as a kid. I like to imagine that those girls' minds were blown that day and that they expanded their concept of who belongs on a surfboard.
What role does creativity play in adventure?
Creativity and playfulness invite us to get in touch with the parts of ourselves that are childlike. Remember that brave little kid deep down inside you who used to try things without fear, before she knew she was supposed to be mad at her body all the time? Being curious and creative can help us to get in touch with that adventurous spirit that's hard for us to reach sometimes in the day-to-day reality of life. I like to think that brave little girl is still deep down inside each of us, and I think she deserves to be taken on an adventure! Come join us for one!
MEET AMBER
I’m Amber Karnes, a community builder, artist, and teacher living in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Since 2015, I’ve been hosting adventure trips and yoga retreats for women who want to make peace with their bodies, have fun in nature, and make new friends. I specialize in accessible adventures and most of my guests are people who feel left behind by the outdoor industry: folks in larger bodies, people with mobility limitations or disabilities, and older folks.
At my adventure retreats we have learned to surf, jumped off cliffs into Mexican cenotes and Virginia rivers, snorkeled with sea turtles, danced under the full moon, swam in the Atlantic Ocean watching a solar eclipse, learned how to make tortillas from Mayan villagers, and made original art collages inspired by our encounters with manatees, whale sharks, and stingrays.
I am the creator of Body Positive Yoga and over 15 years, helped bring fat-positive and accessible yoga into the mainstream US yoga world. I am also a marketing coach for people who hate marketing, and I help solo business owners and creatives share their work without using social media.
I love exploring how creativity, play, and adventure play a role in healing our body image, and I can’t wait to watch it happen in real-time on my next trip! Find me online at amberkarnes.com or @amberkarnesofficial on Instagram.
If you’re a sucker for nostalgia like us, buckle up. We’re throwing it all the way back to our first official WHOA Adventure: Kilimanjaro International Women’s Day 2014. Now, as we're deep into our thirteenth year of trekking to 19,341 feet, we're reflecting on just how massive the impact of our initial idea turned out to be. And while a lot has changed with WHOA and in the world since that first hike, the heart of it all hasn't. So let’s throw it back and take a look at then vs. now: what’s changed, what’s stayed the same, and the impact of our long-term commitment.