Mindful Movement and Hike

REGISTRATION EXTENDED TO FRIDAY MAY 12TH

Interested in learning how to use nature as a tool for improving your mental health? Enjoy meeting new people and exploring New Hampshire’s wild spaces?

The 4H Healthy Living Mental Wellness Pathway invites you to join us on Saturday, May 13^th, for a FREE Mindful Movement and Hike at Southeast Land Trust’s Burley Farms in Epping, NH. Our Mindful Movement and Hike is the first event out of our series of mindfulness-based opportunities being offered this May through August 2023. Identifying “What Grounds Us,” will be the theme throughout these three touchpoints as we’ve enlisted the support of skilled educators and practitioners to demonstrate the accessibility of mindfulness in a variety of forms including art, movement, nature, music, and crafts.

The Mindful Movement and Hike will focus on growing field of research using nature as more than a backdrop for experiences, but instead as a powerful modality for mental wellness. Multiple studies referenced in an Advanced Sciences article, Nature and mental health: An ecosystem service perspective, have linked time in nature to lower levels of mental distress, positive social interactions, and a sense of meaning and purpose in life. Coupled with evidence-based mindfulness practices, which Dr. Gavin, Director of Behavioral Medicine for the Back on Trek Program within the Neurological Institute, write about in her article, highlighting an overall reduction in the areas of stress, chronic pain, and relapses in mental illness as well improved mental health including quality of sleep.

Combining these two fields of research, our skilled presenters will use a guided approach to the day, using mindfulness-based practices like low-impact hiking and yoga as well as grounding techniques like walking meditation and creating a sound map. The two-hour immersive experience will leave participants grounded in their natural surroundings, ultimately connecting their Head, Heart, and Hands for improved mental Health!

Event Details:

What: Using nature-based mindfulness practices, our skilled presenters will guide participants through several different exercises they can easily incorporate into their daily lives. From grounding techniques and meditation to yoga and light hiking, our goal is to introduce participants to self-care and mental wellness strategies that are not only easily accessible, but FUN, too!   

Participants will need:

• Comfortable clothing for movement and walking (Event will be held rain or shine, so planning clothing accordingly!)
• Shoes for trail walking
• Water Bottle
• Yoga mat (Only if you have one, we will provide them as needed!)

*Light snacks and water will be provided!

When: Saturday, May 13^th 10AM-12PM

Where: Southeast Land Trust (SELT) Burley Farms 247 North River Road, Epping, NH 03042 (Meet outside The Nan and George Mathey Center for People and Nature)

Who: Youth and teens ages 10-18, as well as their parents/caregivers. (Registration is required for anyone planning to stay and participate in the sessions.) You do not have to be a 4H Member to attend.

Cost: Free! Thanks to a grant from the 4H Foundation of New Hampshire. 

Registration: 4HOnline (Space is limited to 30 participants. You do not have to be a 4H Member to attend. (If you're new to 4Honline and would like to participate in this 4-H event but not enroll as a member then create a new profile and choose "I want to participate in a 4-H Activity but I do not want  to join 4-H at this time". Instructions to create a new 4HOnline Account).

Your Mindful Movement and Hike Guides and Presenters:

Kaitlin Muller-Cusack the owner of Taking Root, a Nature Based Education & Mindfulness program offers Nature and Mindfulness Wellness Sessions to teens and adults seacoast. Kaitlin has her M.Ed, B.S Environmental Science, New Hampshire Experienced Educator License, and a Trauma-Informed Registered Yoga Teacher, Somatic Breathwork Facilitator, certified CPR and WFA.

Kaitlin guides students to connect to themselves, each other, and the natural world through meditation, yoga, somatic breathing exercises, mindfulness activities, guided nature walks, nature activities, and reflection. Kaitlin strongly believes that learning outside, in nature, stimulates the mind allowing students to live in the moment, build resilience, self-confidence, body awareness, reduce stress, and regulate their nervous system.

Katie Lianza (she/her) is a life-long learner and teacher of reading, writing, listening, speaking, and mindfulness. She has her MEd in Secondary English Teaching and is certified in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction for Teens (MBSR-T). Along with teaching middle school English for the past twenty years, Katie also owns Quiet Mind Wild Heart which is a mindfulness coaching business to help tweens and adults notice their thoughts, feelings, and physical sensations in the present moment without harmful judgement. 

Katie loves the outdoors, especially slowing down to cloud watch and look for four leaf clovers. Over the years, she has been a ski instructor, Peace Corps Volunteer University Trainer, marathon runner, AT section hiker, world traveler, and crafter of tiny villages made from beach stones. Her love language is quality time. Through journaling, meditation, nature, memoir writing, poetry, active listening, courageous conversations, and holding space, Katie's true craft is creating meaningful connections. 

Lizzy Franceschini (she/her) is the Outreach and Education Specialist at Southeast Land Trust. Her passion is connecting people, especially children, with nature. She shares this passion with her community through her professional and volunteer endeavors and has been leading outdoor adventures for the past seven years. Lizzy has her Masters in Education and is certified in middle school science and secondary English teaching. She has been a teacher for thirteen years and currently works as a middle school science instructor at a local public charter school, in addition to her work with SELT. In her free time, you can find her hiking, running, and playing in the outdoors with her husband Darin and their three children Sam, Toby, and Hadley, and their dog Charlotte.

Kristin Eberl (she/her), M.Ed., is a Field Specialist at University of New Hampshire Extension, focusing on Youth Behavioral Health and Wellness.

Accommodations: If you need an accommodation to participate in our programming, please contact Kristin Eberl at kristin.eberl@unh.edu or by phone at (603) 432-5260, prior to the event. Given ample time, we will make any reasonable effort to meet your needs, including language access services if requested, which will be provided free of charge.