Upcoming Events
March 15th from 2pm – 4:30pm Eastern Standard Time
Register by filling out this form
About The Accessible Nature Wellbeing Programs (ANWP)
ANWPs are 2.5 hr programs that act as an on-line stand-alone nature retreat experience. People can participate while indoors, outside or both as long as they have a consistent internet connection. We offer each participant advice on preparing for the experience to ensure comfort and maximum benefit. We also provide resources from the program that can be used to support on-going nature connection practice. Research indicates that 92% of participants who are involved in a single ANWP engage in forest bathing/mindful nature connection practices independently. Data showed that this increased to 100% if people attend two ANWPs. These are great choice for community organizations, service agencies or workplaces seeking offer a single program or a series spaced out over time to foster peer-support, team building, personal stress relief and creative problem-solving.
“I can control my breathing better -bringing my blood pressure down. I often use nature images to bring about that feeling of pain relief.”
Health Benefits
The significant health benefits of EcoWisdom’s Accessible Nature Wellbeing Program model have been well documented by forest medicine researchers at Derby University. Benefits include reduced anxiety, rumination, physical pain, fatigue, and social isolation as well as improved memory and concentration.
The study found a 27-33% reduction in symptom severity after participating in a single ANWP and these improvements were maintained over a month. After attending one EcoWisdom ANWP, 92% of participants were able to continue using mindful nature connection practices on their own. If participants engaged in more than one ANWP, the adoption rate of this free and accessible health promotion behaviour increased to 100%.
Forest bathing or mindful nature connection has well known benefits for promoting physical, emotional and spiritual wellbeing. EcoWisdom has a team of skilled facilitators and graduates of our Nature and Forest Therapy Guide training program who can provide, for example, a series of three 2.5 hour ANWPs, to support and sustain members of an organization in continuing to do their important work.
We work to accommodate differences in ability. Resources are provided to support people not well enough to attend the entire session. EcoWisdom’s programs are most suitable for people living with physical limitations associated with disability or chronic illnesses, as well as those experiencing social isolation, pain, and fatigue for any reason. We like to partner with organizations to offer support to their membership.
For more information or to participate in our upcoming ANWP, please email info@ecowisdom.ca.