When I lost my brother to an overdose some years ago - his death and my healing took me on a journey of self discovery and a reawakening of a deep nature connection.

During this time I spent many hours in nature, seeking peace and soul nourishment - allowing myself the wave of emotions that came in various forms. Riding these waves were memories of our childhood that carried the same theme - being outside. The great outdoors was one of adventure, a place of freedom with space to run, explore and be loud. This was a place we learned perseverance, resilience and problem solving and my memories of these moments helped me rediscover play and myself once again.

It was also during this time of grief, healing and discovery that my youngest son was having challenges with social interaction, meltdowns and behavioural issues. We were blessed to have professionals in our lives who saw his struggles and guided us to get an assessment done to understand his needs and support us in helping meet those needs. One of the most eye opening strategies I witnessed was watching how he behaved when spending time outdoors. The slower pace, the natural light, the space to be were all agents in less triggers and a calmer demeanor.

After hearing his diagnosis of ADHD, social anxiety and sensory processing disorder -I began to research nature and the brain. I combined my findings with the first hand observations of my son and my recollections of how childhood once was…and became a huge advocate for getting kids and youth outside more!

As I moved my programming outside I became aware that I, and other adults around me, had various degrees of triggers or fears regarding the type of play done outside. What seemed risky or dangerous created fear and angst which many times led to play and certain activities being interrupted or stopped.

This led me on a new journey of learning strategies to deal with these personal triggers, and how the benefits of allowing certain play and experiences, with safety measures in place, outweighed any risks.

One of my discoveries was that when I felt more confident outdoors I felt confident to take kids outdoors. This new found knowledge led me to a new passion for walking alongside adults to help them get excited about being outdoors confidently with children - creating deep nature connections together.