Ecotherapy: Using Parks to Build Mental Wellness and Resilience

By Marissa Byers, Ecotherapy for All

the world at large while overhearing the laughter of children on a playground.

Whatever your connection to nature looks (or sounds, or feels) like, this is a universal experience. An NPRA Park Pulse Survey released in July 2022 showed that 86% of U.S. adults believe it is helpful to have access to the outdoors and nature in stressful times. A 2019 study demonstrated that spending twenty to thirty minutes outside every day helps reduce stress levels. Decades of research show us how intentional time in nature yields positive impacts for our minds, bodies, and feelings of purpose or connection.

Parks are accessible natural spaces where communities can reap the benefits of time outdoors. They also play a role in weaving stronger social fabric and building community by offering opportunities for education, recreation, and belonging. These public space services are especially vital as communities recover from the impacts of COVID-19, or face other stress from local-level challenges. Since mental health services are so important, but not always accessible due to costs or other factors, preventing stress through nature is a role that parks can embrace.

There are many names for programs or resources that help build mental wellness through nature, like forest-bathing, nature-

Here are some examples of how you can make this happen in your parks, even in the face of the challenges your own team might face:

• If you don’t have a lot of time: Use signs to create a mindfulness trail or activity stations. You can plan out an easy, accessible route through your natural space. Add signs with example activities that park-goers can try to help them slow down and observe the natural world around them. Find areas of interest in different seasons and add instructions for stand-alone activities or lay your signs out in a sequence along a popular path.

• If you don’t have a lot of staff: Train volunteers to lead mindful nature walks or conduct other programming. If you have an existing volunteer program, you can use the systems you already have in place for background checks and applications to get you started. It is helpful to provide some training to volunteers on the park, safety procedures, park history, and the natural features there, as well as good practices for facilitating groups. You’ll likely attract volunteers with a passion or genuine interest in these activities who will contribute their own skills to enhance your program.

• If you don’t have a lot of resources: Team up with partners who can help with your mental wellness efforts! Local organizations, university students, teachers, libraries, or meditation groups could all have potential people-power, funding, or other resources to contribute to the cause.

The most important takeaway is that you don’t have to reinvent the wheel when it comes to adding mental wellness to the list of your park’s benefits. Whether you establish resources like signs, start programs like monthly mindfulness hikes, or even just pilot a one-time event with a community partner, all of your actions contribute to boosting your community’s mental health with the help of nature! You can find example activities and more information at www.ecotherapyforall.com.