Connecting with Nature in a Time of Crisis: Connecting with Nature in a Time of Crisis (Resilience)

This book is a conversation among good friends about the deep medicine of nature. Melanie’s prose is warm, intimate, friendly. I picture myself hiking, wide-eyed and alert, on one of her nature walks, hearing whispered directions, “Look there!” “Stop, listen.” “Do you know what that is?” A joyful nature muse, she takes us “Forrest Bathing” to wash away the grit and grime of politics, work stress, and worry. With practical instructions, we discover a “wild home” in our own back yard, open it with Mindfulness, and befriend it as she befriends us. Melanie invites us back into the world we left in “growing up” and shows us that the magic is still there. Well beyond my pay grade, she is also an encyclopedia of edible plants and nature preserves - the wilderness as nature’s banquet. And especially delightful, Melanie introduces us to so many other voices until we’ve found a whole community of nature lovers, experts, mystics, teachers, and friends. I love this book. It cleanses my soul.

A beautiful account of the simple joys of nature and how quiet observation and immersion — whether walking deep in the woods or watching pigeons from a high rise apartment window — can bring comfort and joy during the pandemic and other times of crisis. On every page, the author’s extensive experience as an educator, forest bathing guide, poetic nature writer, and lifelong nature lover, bring to life the simple and profound joys of connecting with nature. Specific chapters highlight the importance of finding a natural home, wherever your setting; immersion in nature as mindfulness practice; tips on becoming a backyard naturalist; engaging children in nature immersion; gardening and foraging; and a compilation of insights and stories from other naturalists, writers, and artists who wrote to the author during the pandemic. Five stars.

Easy, quick read with many inspiring elements to bring us to nature in these times of isolation from each other. We used this to stimulate discussion in our adult Sunday School class which went very well. This was written in March/April 2020 timeframe at the beginning of the pandemic so, in areas, it seems a little dated since we have endured the pandemic so much longer now. Also, for this area in Colorado, many of the outdoor suggestions are currently hampered by smoke from the wildfires as they would be in much of CA.

I have always loved Melanie Choukas-Bradley books because of her wide knowledge of the natural world and her detailed writing style. Her books bring you into the forest with her. This book was just as lovely even though the nature Melanie describes is a lot closer to home. I needed to read this book and find ways to re-connect to nature and the natural world during the COVID pandemic and the stay at home orders we were and still are under. But the book is bigger than that. She interviews naturalists and everyday folks and through their wisdom I got even more ideas about how nature exists in my yard and on my dog walk and I felt like a true explorer after I read it. Read it if you want a sylvan moment in this very dark time. It will bring you back to what really matters and help you recharge.

With the pandemic, I've spent so much more time gardening and generally in nature. Reading this book helped me deepen my connection with nature and gain more out of my time in this setting. If you want to tap into the full potential of nature as a medicine for your mind, in difficult or easy times, read this book!

In the midst of all the disruption caused by the pandemic, this book helped me find new daily rhythms. I am so grateful to have access to nearby Rock Creek Park, but I also see my own backyard—my ‘wild home’—with new appreciation and all my senses. Thank you for this timely ode to the nature right in front of us.

Nature writers ordinarily are not on my list of top authors to read. But Choukas-Bradley is on my list of “must read” authors now. Her advice is so simple and easy to do, have and use your own “nature home”. That nature home could be in your backyard, perhaps a garden, in a nearby park or wooded area, on a beach, at a lake - you get the idea. She suggests complementing your nature home with frequent nature walks. You can enjoy this time alone or as possible, with others, all while being socially distant, even share it virtually. Very importantly she tells readers how to use the nature walks and nature homes to connect to nature in this time of crisis, relieve anxiety, and experience an inner peace. I was especially touched by her quote from Haruki Murakami “when you come out of the storm, you won’t be the same person who walked in. That’s what this storm is all about”. Connecting or re-connecting with nature can help us come out of this Covid-19 storm a better and more resilient person.

Part-diary, part meditative commune with nature, Choukas-Bradley takes you on a literal journey in and around the island -- but also in the moment of what the country was going through leading up to the 2016 election and in the months that followed. Visiting Theodore Roosevelt Island, again and again, we get to know the island from the kayaks and paddleboards to the footbridges. As a local, I've visited Theodore Roosevelt Island many times. I love it as a serene walk in the woods. Reading this book gave me an intimate relationship with the trees, rocks, and bird -- the kingfisher is a fantastic character. Choukas-Bradley even brings TR's great-grandchildren into the story. She captures so beautifully what I was thinking and feeling in those months and in the process, I've learned so much more about this beautiful place. A lovely read - especially outside!