with Heidi barr
Just wild Enough
Stimulate a sense of wonder and cultivate appreciation for the natural world.
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Stimulate a sense of wonder and cultivate appreciation for the natural world. 〰️
For six weeks, spend at least five hours per week outside.
Engage in experiences that stimulate wonder, creativity, and mindfulness.
Explore one of the five senses each week.
Reflect and write on what you’re noticing.
Connect with your own inner wildness.
This course is appropriate for humans of all ages and abilities–caregivers of children will find several activities that are fun to do with the kids in your care.
All activities are adaptable for all spectrums of physical ability.
Go outside more than you think you should. Get intimate with what resides outside your front door, in the weedy patch between the two abandoned houses down the block, at the neighborhood park. Learn to love what’s out there and let it love you back. Bring little bits of it inside. Keep going back out.
— Heidi Barr, Collisions of Earth and Sky
A word from Heidi…
If you grew up in the 1980s or before, like I did, it’s likely you spent much of your free time during childhood running around outside, making forts, chasing butterflies, or just kicking around with the neighborhood kids. (Either voluntarily, or because your folks made you.) You didn’t have a cell phone and the video game options were limited. Going outside was the best option. I think it still is–according to ample research, going outside is essential for optimal cognitive and physical development. Kids learn how to adapt to change, overcome challenges, and take healthy risks. They learn courage, build autonomy and exercise creativity. They figure out what it means to be a part of a community that is bigger than what they can see on a screen and are more likely to develop a sense of responsibility to the Earth itself due to being in direct relationship with the natural world. They intimately learn about the nature that is closest to home and have the opportunity to develop a love and appreciation of protecting what they see as part of them. The same goes for humans at any age. Even if you’ve drifted from feeling connected to nature, the earth will always take you back. Your wildness is still there, living inside you. There is always more to pay attention to, to learn, and to engage.
Maybe you’ll hike a trail, maybe you’ll run through a grassy field, maybe you’ll go to the beach. Maybe you’ll go on a wilderness vacation, but maybe, and perhaps this is even more essential than a deep wilderness experience, you will just sit in the front yard and watch the clouds go by. The objective of this course is to make spending time outside part of the norm-part of what is essential for optimal wellbeing. You might be surprised at what you learn about the earth and yourself along the way.
Stimulate a sense of wonder and cultivate appreciation for the natural world. This course is appropriate for humans of all ages and abilities–caregivers of children will find several activities that are fun to do with the kids in your care. All activities are adaptable for all spectrums of physical ability.
FAQs
What is The Just Wild Enough Course?
Each week you will be provided with several activity options, one audio or video segment, and several journal prompts. All of the options each week are based on that week’s theme sense. You’ll see, hear, touch, smell, and taste your way through these next six weeks, interacting with intention and curiosity.
Think of the recommendations and readings as a place to start. You are welcome to do the activities as written, or simply just go outside to do whatever you wish to do with your time as long as it’s unstructured and electronic-free.
(Break up the time commitment however you wish. Keep track on a calendar or in your journal. 10-15 minute doses are great! Keep in mind small sessions spread out during the week work well if you’re building a new routine…some days you might just stay out longer than anticipated.)
The most important thing is to pay attention and notice what happens when you do.
What are the benefits?
Improved Mood, Creativity, and Focus
Enjoy the many mood boosting benefits of getting outside and connecting with the natural world. Studies show that humans who have regular connection to nature have fewer emotional disturbances, exhibit more creativity, and build resiliency, physically and mentally. Embracing wildness, both outside and within helps you build resiliency and keeps you learning, no matter what your age. *The Landscape and Human Health Lab (LHHL)
Motivation
Having a little extra structure in the form of ideas and inspiration can keep you going, even on the days when you just don’t feel like going out. You may not always feel like opting outside, but more often than not, I bet you’ll be glad you did anyway.
More Effective Coping
Developing a deeper connection to nature is good for your mental health. Anxiety, stress and other mental health concerns are often navigated more effectively when connection to nature is part of the routine. Going outside regularly is a foundational component of leading a more fully grounded life.
**Note: this course (and nature connection in general) is not a substitute for the support of a trained mental health professional.
Help is available:
Suicide and Crisis Lifeline: 988
Local services locator: http://211.org/
National Alliance of Mental Illness
How do we do this rewilding thing?
Turn Off Electronics:
Ideally you will not use your cell phone unless it's an emergency (we suggest putting it on airplane mode so that it doesn't ring and distract you), no iPods, headphones etc. This is a chance to reclaim your attention from the digital realm.
Engage Respectfully:
Please enter natural spaces with care and respect. Embrace a "leave no trace" mindset and pack out what you pack in. Move softly when you are able, so as to not disturb any wildlife or other people that may be in the area. Minimize your impact on the space as much as possible. You are part of nature, so part of respecting yourself is respecting the wild. Preserve trails and stay on them when in doubt, and don't enter private property unless you have permission. Leave a place in better condition than you found it. (Sometimes that means picking up garbage/recycling that others have left behind!)
Explore Your Edges, but Be Safe:
Being a human is never risk free, and that goes for time spent out of doors. Exploration requires exploring boundaries, but there are some helpful guidelines to follow as well to ensure safety for all. Don't enter areas where there is a high risk of natural predators, dangerous terrain, or in adverse or unstable weather conditions. Make sure you know where you are going and that you feel equipped and confident. Bring a small first aid kit, pocket knife, warm layers, a flashlight, maps, and other necessary equipment that is warranted based on what you’ll be doing, and where. Tell someone where you are going, and plan ahead, especially with young children. Don’t be afraid to change your plans if things don’t seem right. There’s always tomorrow to try again. Please be safe out there and have fun!
What do I need?
You’ll need a journal, writing utensils, the core texts, and any footwear or gear you need to head outside on a regular basis, along with a willingness to switch off your device for at least 15-30 minutes at a time.
Core texts:
Just Wild Enough
Referenced (optional) materials
Meet Heidi barr
Heidi Barr is a writer and wellness coach whose work is founded on a commitment to cultivating ways of being that are life-giving and sustainable for people, communities, and the planet. She is the author of several books of creative nonfiction, including Collisions of Earth and Sky and Woodland Manitou, and co author of 12 Tiny things. In addition to her latest, Just Wild Enough, she’s also authored two other poetry collections, one cookbook, and is editor of “The Mindful Kitchen,” a wellness column in The Wayfarer Magazine. One of the inaugural Poets of Place for the lower St. Croix Valley, her poetry has been featured in numerous publications, including the St. Paul Almanac and South Dakota in Poems. She lives with her family in Lindstrom, where they tend a large vegetable garden, explore nature, and do their best to live simply.
