Joyful Nature Journaling

RESCHEDULED For a later date.

I’ll be offering a nature journaling session for the Eastern Region Association of Forest and Nature Schools (ERAFANS).

Please join us by registering with ERAFANS here.

Joyful Nature Journaling for all ages

In this experiential webinar, Melinda Nakagawa will guide adults and the children they mentor, to joyfully engage in nature journaling, a practice that expands awareness of natural world and deepens curiosity and connection by recording the experiences on the page using shapes, colors and words. It’s a valuable tool to sharpen sensory awareness and observational skills while exploring the natural world.

This requires no special scientific or artistic skills or materials. Anyone can start nature journaling, regardless of age or confidence level.

While the webinar will be recorded, the most benefit will come from interactive engagement with the presenter and other attendees. We highly encourage anyone who can attend live to do so!

Some benefits of nature journaling, when rooted in our hearts and done with an attitude free of judgement or criticism, is that it can improve our lives by slowing us down to nature’s pace, bringing us to a more mindful state, and resetting our nervous system. When we open ourselves to what nature offers, we gain peace, replenishment, wonder, and joy, as well as cultivating personal connections to nature, to ourselves and to others.

A lasting stewardship mindset can grow from the practice of nature journaling. When we pause to notice, observe and journal something, we nurture first-hand knowledge, appreciation and love. What we know and love, we will want to protect and care for. We and the children we mentor grow in our capacity as stewards for the Earth.

ABOUT THE PRESENTER

Melinda Nakagawa, M.Sc., is the founder/director of Spark in Nature (sparkinnature.com). A biologist, naturalist, and educator, she guides students to cultivate a deeper relationship with the natural world, slowing down to nature’s pace and sensing the unseen, rather than just looking and labeling. For over two decades Melinda has kept nature journals and nature continues to be sparked with wonder by each journal she fills. She hosts a monthly online Nature Journal Club (https://sparkinnature.com/mbnjc/) open to all, and Spark Circles (https://login.circle.so/checkout/spark-circles-ocean-tier), an online community forum for nature journaling with guest speakers, collective learning and mutual support.