Befriending Trees Course: Winter wonders
Fun and easy ways to befriend Trees and learn to read their stories
A 3-part online course: Thursdays, March 2, 9, and 16
Time: 4:00-5:30pm Pacific
PLUS a private online community space for sharing, questions, support between classes.
You will learn:
- What to look for in getting to know and identify trees.
- How to easily sketch trees– my simple and effective strategies to get you sketching trees, while calming the inner critic
- How to write about trees in your nature journal! Connect personally and write meaningful notes about them.
- Learn how to read tree language and hear their stories.
- You’ll begin to see trees in a different light- each one becoming more of a friend instead of just something lost in the landscape. And you’ll want to keep visiting your tree friends through the seasons.
Scroll down for all the details!
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Trees have a quiet, grounding presence in almost every place you go. They take various forms, shapes, colors, fragrances, and colors. They have various roles in nature and for our use, but they all do one very important thing for us—they make oxygen.
We’re interconnected 🕸
🌬 We exchange breath with the trees and other plants. We are interconnected with them on this planet. Something so vital to our survival, yet we’ve lost our ability to know them (what kind of trees are edible, which make wood for buildings, for making fire, etc) let alone be able to SEE them.
👁 If we don’t see them, there is a risk we won’t protect them
Awakening our vision to see trees, then knowing what to look for about them is the first step in reconnecting to these solemn beings. We start to gather knowledge about their patterns and growth, and understand their role in the ecosystem.
🌿 Time in nature is healing to the mind, body and spirit.
Growing body of evidence shows that time in nature has benefits to your health, state of mind, reducing effects of stress, bring a sense of calmness and more. Reconnecting to trees and plants brings us closer to living in harmony with the external nature, as well as our inner nature.
📖 Using the nature journal bridges nature, science, art and heart
Winter is the perfect time to visit deciduous trees because they show their true form. But its also a time you might overlook them because they look drab or dead.
In the naked branches, we can find art and beauty. Each individual tree shows signs of their life story. If we slow down to take a closer look, we can learn their language and can get to know them more intimately.
Winter is the perfect time to begin!
Winter is my favorite time to visit deciduous trees because they show their true form. But its also a time you might overlook them because they look drab or dead.
In the naked branches, we can find art and beauty. Each individual tree shows signs of their life story. If we slow down to take a closer look, we can learn their language and can get to know them more intimately.
This course is more than simply tree naming or identification.
You will be introduced to and learn skills that can apply to all your nature experiences.
In this series you will expand your awareness, hone your sleuthing ability on HOW to look at trees, and WHAT to look for. Winter is a perfect time to see their true forms, and uncover the story of each tree.
Three live ZOOM sessions:
Thursdays, March 2, 9, and 16.
Time: 4pm -5:30pm Pacific time
Plus access to a private online community (Spark Circles) for students in this course (NOT social media). Here, you get weekly interaction fellow students and Melinda between classes.
Class tuition: $111
That’s $37 a week to spark and sustain a lifetime to growing connection with trees in a community of like-minded folks!
If you cannot make it live, you can watch the recording follow along, do the outside activities and join us when you can.
These sessions will be live with Melinda on Zoom. Each session will have a topic, nature journaling together from photographs, and sharing time. In this interactive and we will share about our tree finds which expands and enriches everyone’s learning. In between sessions will be an invitation to visit your nearby trees.
What to expect from the sessions
Three sessions will be recorded and available for your to view.
- Seeing the True Forms and Looking Closely and Wonder
- Hidden Treasures and Sharing
- Budding growth and Telling the Story
You’ll learn:
- What to look for to get to know and identify trees.
- How to easily sketch trees– my simple and effective strategies to get you sketching trees, while calming the inner critic
- How to write about trees in your nature journal! Connect personally and write meaningful notes about them.
- Learn how to read tree language and hear their stories.
- You’ll begin to see trees in a different light- each one becoming more of a friend instead of just something lost in the landscape. And you’ll want to keep visiting your tree friends through the seasons.
Materials needed:
- Yourself and be open to wonder
- Sketchbook or journal
- Pencil or pen
- Colors – your choice (colored pencil, watercolor, markers, etc)
Your Instructor: Melinda Nakagawa
Melinda has a background in science, and works as a professional naturalist and educator. She has kept nature journals for over 25 years, with a more scientific lens. But over time has found that incorporating art and seeing nature through the heart have been integral creating a holistic deep connection to nature. She guides you to step into nature, open your eyes in a new way to the wonder right under your nose and toes.
The nature journal is a beautiful medium that bridges science, nature, art and heart to open your eyes to see the unseen, reconnect with nature, develop fluency in language of nature, experience calm, joy, and replenishment of spirit.
Melinda Nakagawa
Melinda is a gentle guide who skillfully creates a comfortable space where you’ll quickly feel relaxed and safe to try new things in your journal. She had a way to help calm even the most timid drawer to put pen to paper and begin developing skills.
