Lets daydream and reimagine a relational future together.

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Happy Pride! What is Pride and why is everything covered in rainbows? On June 28th, 1969, in NYC's Greenwich Village, the Stonewall Inn was raided by police, a common occurrence at gay & lesbian bars, which was mostly an underground scene as it was illegal to be LGBTQIA2S+ so things like wearing clothing that was not considered gender appropriate was a punishable crime and LGBTQIA2S+ folks were regularly harassed, violently arrested and abused for simply existing. While police raids were common, this particular raid was different as patrons of the Stonewall Inn and surrounding neighborhoods fought back and continued protesting, paving the way for LGBTQIA2S+ rights which have come a long way since 1969 and still have a long way to go. When I first "came out" circa 2000, I read about people like me who were arrested and beaten for wearing mens clothing. As a younger person, these histories seemed like a long time ago but in 2023 alone, over 500 bills have been introduced across the country with legislation that seeks to block trans people from receiving basic healthcare, education, legal recognition, and the right to publicly exist. On a federal level, there has been unprecedented introduction of legislation that is seeking to impact access to healthcare, student athletics, the military, incarceration, and education. While we have always marched and rallied and continued the fight for LGBTQIA2S+ rights, we also have always celebrated. When I came of age as a young gender expansive queer person, Pride was a festive time of glitter and dance parties and fun colorful gatherings. I can't help but wonder how this sweeping backlash of hate and fear will shift. 54 years after Stonewall, what will the next queer movement look like? What will it take this time?  Last month the Surgeon General released a general advisory calling attention to a public health crisis of loneliness, isolation, and lack of connection in the United States. With record numbers of people reporting measurably high levels of loneliness, alarms have been raised about the ways that disconnection impact our overall health, increasing a spike in stress-related illness. This disconnect feels like it has been building exponentially throughout my lifetime, raising my own alarms and motivating me to pursue this whole nature guide pathway. I turn 45 later this month and in my own tiny lived experience so far, I have watched the ways that technology has dramatically changed our relational experiences, slowly widening the divide between our bodies and the natural world. It's a strange dichotomy to feel into how the internet has both connected us in hugely supportive and life affirming ways, while also robbing us of the moments in between, when use to stare out the window and get lost in our daydreams before the tiny computers in our pockets began luring us to give our attention to them instead. These days, many of us our checking our phones hundreds of times throughout the day, hooked by the host of emotions and chemical reactions that each notification triggers. Can we even handle what we have created? How are we adjusting to this strange new techno world that feels almost dystopian at times? As our brains frenetically rewire themselves to manage the massive quantities media intake, overwhelming our nervous systems, how do we cope in this new world? How do we unplug for any significant amount of time while also staying connected to each other? How do we hold onto our ways of knowing and stay in relationship with the natural world when everything we could possible need seems to exist at the touch of a button? What are the ways to participate in this modern world while not letting the padding between us and the outer world get too thick?  The more I observe the field of forest therapy, the more I find myself reframing the popular notion that being outside in nature is "good" for our health. Instead, I'm noticing that being inside is somewhat "bad" for our health. Our human baseline requires natural sunlight, fractal patterns, shades of green, terpenes in the aromas emitted from trees and plants a soil and waters.  I think we need much more than a "dose" nature and perhaps these "doses" are measurably beneficial because our cells are simply starving for baseline regulation. Extended time spent indoors deprives us of essentials and yet most of us will spend less than 10% of our life outside. So how do we change this narrative and not become a statistic of chronic stress-related illness? We can't do this alone. We need each other. We need support to unplug and immerse ourselves in the forests and meadows. We need the trees and they need us. Join me outside in combating loneliness, isolation, stress, and fear. Lets daydream and reimagine a relational future together. Become a Forest Therapy Guide! Train with me via The Association of Nature and Forest Therapy. This six month Forest Therapy Guide Training is a truly incredible journey and whether you go on to guide walks for the public or for friends and family or even just deepen into your own personal and collective nature connection, there are so many gifts that come from this course. Join me next autumn! Bullfrog Cohort begins September 14th, 2023 on Thursday evenings 6:30-8:30pm Eastern Standard Time   Bobcat Cohort begins October 4th, 2023 on Wednesday mornings from 10:30am-1pm Eastern Standard Time Learn more about training to become a Certified Forest Therapy Guide Learn More at ToadstoolWalks.com Copyright © *2021* *Toadstool Walks*, All rights reserved. My mailing address is: *tamwilley@gmail.com* Want to change how you receive these emails? You can update your preferences or unsubscribe from this list.

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