Hi! It's been a while since I posted, sorry. I'm blaming it on school, but also on being lazy (oh! and on the almost constant rain until July! Yeah, that's the ticket!)

So, I finally went for my first "big" (for me) trail ride yesterday and it was great! However I don't know how to best get up inclines and hills. I have a Jamis Citizen 1 with 7 gears. Originally I had thought that I was supposed to shift into HIGHER gears to go up a hill. That was pretty funny! Now I know to be in a lower gear so I'm spinning more, but I'm still confused how that helps.
The friend I was riding with has a 1 speed, so she couldn't offer much advice.

My fitness level is pretty bad, and I'm hauling somewhere around 250lbs + bike up these gentle inclines and hills, so it's quite challenging for me. But in a good way!

Should I ideally be standing to pedal up hills?

Sorry for the dumbo questions