Who Gets Past the Velvet Rope of Nature Therapy?
Ever go out in nature and feel transformed? Or, at a minimum, feel way better?
Whether you’re forest bathing or simply taking in the beauty of residential or urban green space, it’s proven that nature positively impacts mood.
I’m a huge advocate of nature therapy as it was primarily responsible for reducing my symptoms of generalized anxiety disorder last year.
But I’m equally an advocate of making sure that stepping out in nature on a regular basis is available for everyone.
I’m not alone in this crusade. Let me introduce you to folks who acknowledge and work to fray the “velvet rope” barring folks from reaping the mental health rewards of nature therapy.
The Science and the Soul of Nature Therapy
First, a book. Losing Eden: Our Fundamental Need for the Natural World and Its Ability to Heal Body and Soul by Lucy Jones deftly compiles hundreds of scientific studies that tie nature to positive mental health outcomes in a format you might find at an airport bookstore.
Jones doesn’t simply marvel at the connection between nature and the mind (which is my biggest beef with the more popular book The Nature Fix). She readily admits that nature therapy isn’t equally available to all.
This lack of access rightly bums her out but inspires her to do more. A few quotes of hers have stuck with me, perhaps more so that the studies she referred to in Eden.
“It is all very well reading that walking in a forest for a couple of hours is good for your mental health, but how easy is it for most people to access forests?”
“If we lose our relationship with the natural world, we may, in some way, be losing a part of ourselves and a profound psychic experience that we all need.”
“All the natural history writers and poets I grew up reading were straight, white men. I’m hungry now for other stories and other perceptions, different narratives. … Perhaps, as other barriers to the way we think about life break down, it is time for a new cosmology, a new love story.”
“It is all very well reading that walking in a forest for a couple of hours is good for your mental health, but how easy is it for most people to access forests?”
Cutting the Velvet Rope
While Jones is more academic in her acknowledgment of the velvet rope in green spaces, some organizations are more active in bringing diverse populations to benefit from the therapeutic power of nature.
We Hike to Heal, the nonprofit arm of the Black-women-led The Outdoor Journal Tour, encourages women to tap into the healing within themselves, their community, and the great outdoors. Each May, the We Hike to Heal Challenge offers participants group hikes, mindfulness prompts, meditations, and journal activities that tie in personal healing through nature.
Outdoor Adventures+ is a California-based BIPOC Outdoor Education and Experiences organization. They use Instagram Notes throughout the year to check in with their followers’ mental health. (I’ve loved the Notes conversations I’ve had with them!)
This May, OA+ took to Instagram to educate the community about mental health, held an Instagram Live to share lived experiences with mental health (including the impact the outdoors has had on mental health), and led a fundraiser for the Mental Health Coalition.
Pam, the founder of Southern Queer Folk Hikes. leads hikes in and around the Macon, Georgia area and incorporates mindfulness in her events. For Mental Health Month this year, Pam created an Instagram series detailing her lived experience with mental health challenges.
Want to Help Cut the Rope?
Here are some ways you can make a difference in helping to cut the velvet rope around nature therapy.
Follow the above organizations on Instagram.
Attend an organization’s event … and bring a friend who would find value in therapeutic outdoor recreation.
If the organizations’ events aren’t near you, share them for others to know about and enjoy.
The Outdoor Journal Tour has a wonderful Nature Meditations card deck. Buy one for yourself or a friend. (Makes for a great gift.)
Read Losing Eden to learn about the studies on nature therapy and the inequality of access to green spaces.
Share Losing Eden with a friend.
What other ways might we be able to cut the velvet rope in green spaces? Let me know, and I’d be happy to add them to the list and give you credit.
