Let nature help you de-stress during Therapy Walk

Feeling stressed? A walk in nature is a proven way to help ease tension and lower stress levels. Mother Nature is good for you; gardens in general can help you feel more relaxed.

Get in touch with nature while lowering your blood pressure during a special Nature and Forest Therapy Walk at 8 a.m. Saturday, Oct. 15, at Effie Yeaw Nature Center in Carmichael.

Nature and forest therapy guide Jane McCluskey will lead the way.

“The forest provides more than we typically perceive,” she says. “Have you caught yourself day dreaming as you look out a window? Caught yourself laughing with baby animal videos? Forest therapy walks are not nature hikes and not meditation retreats. Drawing from old traditions and relatively new findings, nature and forest walks are brief immersions into something you create with nature.

“Forest therapy walks are slow journeys through an area populated by natural life,” she explains. “We cannot tell you what you will experience; we can only tell you what we will be doing in these guided visits. We sometimes walk, sometimes we touch the earth, sometimes we sit and sometimes we do something different.”

This is not about exercise, she adds, but experiencing nature on a personal level.

At Effie Yeaw Nature Center, there’s plenty of nature to experience. Located close to the American River, the center reserves a slice of nature now surrounded by suburbia. See native oaks and the wildlife that make those trees their home. Explore the center’s picturesque plantings, designed with bees and butterflies in mind.

Fee is $35; advance registration is required. Additional Therapy Walks are planned for Nov. 12 and Dec 3. Effie Yeaw Nature Center is located at 2850 San Lorenzo Way, Carmichael.