Kindred Nature

Need a moment to breathe and unwind? 🌿 This Saturday at 9am, join us for the first forest bathing program to happen at !

This is a beautiful place to let go of the week's stress, tune into your senses and the present moment, and find wonder in nature that's all around and within you. Here are just a few photos from last week during my latest visit to reconnect with the forest, streams, meadows, ponds, gnome village, butterflies, fungi, ferns, frogs, and more who call Winkler Botanical Preserve their home! 🦋 I also learned a lot from chatting with Tom, who's been helping steward the land there for 40+ years! 🙏

Experience a relaxing morning reconnecting with yourself and nature:
🌳 Forest Bathing: A Mindful Walk With Nature
🌟 Registration is required (https://bit.ly/winklerforest or link in bio) so sign up soon to grab one of the last spots!
🗓 Saturday, September 14 at 9-11am
📍 Winkler Botanical Preserve of , in Alexandria, VA

This Saturday, September 14 at 9-11am will be the first forest bathing event at Winkler Botanical Preserve! Register to join us for a restorative experience among the oasis of wisened old trees, babbling brooks, and beautiful butterflies! Winkler has it all you need for a stress-releasing setting for forest bathing, right in the midst of western Alexandria. https://anc.apm.activecommunities.com/novaparks/activity/search/detail/8335?onlineSiteId=0&locale=en-US&from_original_cui=true

Experience forest bathing to connect more deeply with nature, release stress, and enjoy fall in the park! Inspired by the Japanese practice of Shinrin-yoku, forest bathing is a way to immerse your senses in the natural world. Slow down, relax, and join certified forest bathing guide Ilana Rubin of Kindred Nature for a guided slow wander with simple sensory and mindful activities.

Forest bathing, also known as forest therapy or nature therapy, is a practice of immersing ourselves in the natural world through our senses. Through a series of invitations - gentle mindful and sensory activity prompts - participants can slow down, tune into their senses and the present moment, and reconnect with nature. Through this practice, we can enjoy some of the many benefits of forest bathing, such as reducing stress, restoring focus, boosting creativity and mood, and supporting immune health.

This forest bathing program at Winkler Botanical Preserve will weave together several activities, including guided meditation, slow guided walking, local sustainably sourced tea, and individual and group activities that connect us with nature through sights, sounds, textures, smells, imagination, and feeling. The guide will provide invitations or prompts for nature connection practices such as new ways to learn about a tree or creating temporary nature art. All of the invitations are adaptable for each person to participate in the way that is best for them. The forest bathing walk will cover less than a mile at a slow pace on paved and unpaved gentle trails. All adults are very welcome to register and join us for this program. There is no background, experience, or skill level needed.

Our guide for this program is Ilana Rubin, a forest bathing and nature therapy guide trained and certified by the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programs. Ilana has been guiding forest bathing since 2021 when she founded Kindred Nature to help restore and reconnect health and relationships of and between people and the natural world. She has guided events for diverse groups and for organizations including the US Forest Service, the GW Office of Integrative Medicine and Health, and the Potomac Riverkeeper Network. Now, we are excited for her to bring forest bathing to Winkler Botanical Preserve as our new special program for adults to enjoy our beautiful forest this fall. Please join us!

http://apm.activecommunities.com/novaparks/Activity_Search/8335

🌳 Forest Bathing & Sunset Sound Meditation 🌅

Experience deep relaxation and a unique connection with nature at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens on Friday, September 6, from 5:30 PM to 8:00 PM. Join us for a session of Forest Bathing Nature Therapy followed by a Sunset Sound Meditation—a perfect way to rejuvenate your mind and body.

Fee: $65 per person (includes garden admission and the program)

Participants must be 18+.

Don't miss this chance to embrace tranquility and enhance your well-being. 🌿

👉 Register on our Events Page today! Registration is required by September 4, 2024.

Join me this Saturday morning to slow down and tune in to nature. 3 spots left! Register here: https://www.novaparks.com/parks/meadowlark-botanical-gardens/events/summer-morning-forest-bathing

🌳 Embrace the Serenity of Nature 🌳

Join us for a rejuvenating "Summer Morning Forest Bathing" experience at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens! 🌿✨ Immerse yourself in the peaceful beauty of our lush gardens, connect with nature, and find your inner calm through mindful walking and deep breathing exercises. This is the perfect way to start your day refreshed and recharged.

📅 Saturday, August 17, 2024, 9am-11am

Don't miss out on this unique opportunity to reconnect with nature. Reserve your spot today! 🌸

Enjoy a summer morning among the trees and birds with me at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens on Sunday. We have one spot left!
https://www.novaparks.com/parks/meadowlark-botanical-gardens/events/forest-bathing-a-mindful-walk-with-nature-0

🌿 Experience Forest Bathing 🌿

Connect with nature, release stress, and enjoy spring at Meadowlark Botanical Gardens! Inspired by the Japanese practice of Shinrin-yoku, join certified guide Ilana Rubin of Kindred Nature for a slow wander with sensory and mindful activities.

🗓️ Sunday, July 14, 2024 from 8:30am-10:30am
💲 $35 fee includes garden admission

For more info and registration: https://www.novaparks.com/parks/meadowlark-botanical-gardens/events/forest-bathing-a-mindful-walk-with-nature

Join us for a relaxing morning and reconnect with nature! 🌲🌸

Ocean breezes ruffle roses illuminated by summer sunshine, warming fragrant waves of beachside blooms and salty seas. I wonder, what smells might you notice of the season and place where you are?

The boldest and brightest of blooms. Watch a prickly pear cactus flower closely as the day's light begins to wane, and you can almost see the petals move as they slowly close. This one tucked in a little bee for the night, too, nestled between petals.

Such a neat find! New growth making a home in space made by an old loss.

Spring flower cherishing.

Happy first day of March - the first day of meteorological spring yet still 18 days until the spring equinox! When does spring begin for you this year?

Katydid and Szechuan pepper corn seeds and shells at .us

Patterns of greens and sunbeams.

Connecting lately with what's simultaneously new and familiar, steady and changing. Mountains older than bones, still changing shape as rocks slowly dissolve and wear down into grains of sand. Views that echo childhood memories though I've never seen them before... I wonder, what's both new and old for you?

Here's to resilience and growing from new angles!

I'm in! Are you? Kindred Nature is one of 50+ organizations hosting 30+ events for 1 Mississippi's third-annual ! And I'm thrilled to share with you all that Kindred Nature is hosting the closing event on June 17: 🌿nature therapy🌿 that you can join from anywhere! Register at https://1mississippi.org/events/nature-connection-and-community-a-mindful-experience-for-river-days-of-action and find more River Days of Action events at https://1mississippi.org/RiverDays

Reaching!

(Growing yellow pea shoots, loving bringing more nature and growth inside during winter.)

Winter morning's light illuminating new growth.

Join us at 2-3 pm ET on Friday, 10/21 for A Mindfulness Experience with and . This free online experience includes a wellness talk, evidence-based COVID Q&A, and then at 2:30, I'll be guiding a bit of stress-relieving nature therapy for all who join. You can participate from wherever you are. Register at https://bit.ly/GWfree

At the Potomac River the other day, reflecting and letting go to make space for the next season and year.

How is nature part of your everyday life?

In this article about some of the benefits of engaging with nature, Sarah Hays Coomer notes that "there’s fascinating research to consider about how going outside can boost your physical and psychological well-being. It makes sense intuitively, too. If you need to decompress after a tough conversation, you might instinctually step outside for some fresh air. If you’ve got a grumpy kid on your hands, you might send them outside to reboot, and it’s hard to deny the dulcet sensations many of us experience when we witness a simple sunrise or sunset, listen to the sound of the ocean or watch light filter through summer leaves."

Hey, Health Coach: What Is Ecotherapy, And Does It Work? Hey, Health Coach: What Is Ecotherapy, And Does It Work?

I believe water is life and water connects us all. This is where the Shenandoah River flows into the Potomac River. While there on Sunday, we noticed a cormorant flying, a big fish and many little fish swimming, crayfish scuttling, trees growing on bridge remnants, people smiling at dogs, the sun shining warm, water curling around rock edges, and the water we drank giving us health. I don't live near the big Mississippi River, but I know that the water that flows where I live and the water that flows through the Mississippi all eventually reaches the same ocean. We are all connected.

On Saturday, I'll be guiding an experience to slow down, relax, and reconnect with nature. This is something folks can join from anywhere - connecting online or by phone. I'm offering this as part of 1 Mississippi's River Days of Action for the Mississippi River. There are dozens of events of all kinds happening between now and Sunday - this remotely-guided nature therapy experience is just one!

So, I warmly invite and welcome everyone who would like to try out a gentle way to reconnect with nature and community from wherever you are to join me on Saturday - register (free for you, thanks to the Mississippi River Network!) at bit.ly/june11nature

And I also want to invite you to check out some of the 40+ other River Days of Action events happening both online and in person over the next few days at 1mississippi.org/river-days-of-action/ Maybe nature therapy/forest bathing resonates with you deeply or maybe it doesn't (at least so far 😉). Either way, maybe you'll find something that sparks your interest among the River Days of Action for more ways to connect with nature and community, especially if you live in the mighty Mississippi River watershed, and perhaps even if not.