Read to Restore: Leisure Books for Mental Wellness: Nature

In Nature Rx, Donald A. Rakow and Gregory T. Eells summarize the value of nature prescription programs designed to encourage college students to spend time in nature and to develop a greater appreciation for the natural world. Because these programs are relatively new, there are many lessons for practitioners to learn; but clinical studies demonstrate that students who regularly spend time in nature have reduced stress and anxiety levels and improved mood and outlook.

This textbook explores the relationship between the natural world and psychological well-being. It draws upon a wide context, brings the experience of our existence as part of the wider natural world to the forefront throughout, and relates it to therapy practice in mainstream settings.

What if every moment were a portal to the sacred? A pathway back to remembering your interconnectedness with the earth, the deep wells of wisdom within you, and your true spiritual sovereignty? In Tending to the Sacred, multidimensional artist and healer Ashley River Brant invites us to walk this path and step into our own sacred truth through the art of ritual.

In this stunning book, intuition and instinct meet modern science as the therapeutic benefits of being in, on or by the sea are explained and explored, and how, if we look after the oceans they will in turn look after us. The unfathomable vastness of the oceans, significantly larger than the continents combined, and brimming with strange sounds and sensations, seems to beckon to humans in a deep-seated way.

"In the beginning I was so young and such a stranger to myself I hardly existed. I had to go out into the world and see it and hear it and react to it, before I knew at all who I was, what I was, what I wanted to be."  So begins Upstream, a collection of essays in which revered poet Mary Oliver reflects on her willingness, as a young child and as an adult, to lose herself within the beauty and mysteries of both the natural world and the world of literature.

Lonely Planet's Great Lakes and the Midwest USA's National Parks is your passport to the most relevant, up-to-date advice on what to see and skip. Roam idyllic Isle Royale, sail in Voyageurs and explore Wind Cave; all with your trusted travel companion. Get to the heart of Great Lakes and the Midwest's National Parks and begin your journey now!

This photo- and information-packed inspirational bucket list encourages hikers and armchair travelers alike to fully explore our nation's crown jewels. America's sixty-three national parks are made up of the greatest geographical, geological, and ecological wonders on the planet, and some of their treasures are only available to those willing to walk past the trailhead for just a mile or two. Featuring spectacular photography and information, this book allows you to experience each park up close.

Learn how to de-stress, relax and connect with the wildness you can find on your doorstep even in urban and suburban settingsIncreasing workload, nervous tension, trouble sleeping? Wondering whether there is more to life? You're not having a mid-life crisis. Like so many others, you are feeling the call of the wild.Today's urban living makes it easy for us to feel divorced from nature. This practical book is filled with 52 varied and inspiring activities illustrated with beautiful colour photographs that will get you out and about whatever the weather.

Why do we walk? Where do we walk from? What is our destination?   Placing one foot in front of the other and embarking on the journey of discovery are activities intrinsic to our nature. But as universal as walking is, each of us will experience it differently. For renowned explorer Erling Kagge, walking is a natural accompaniment to creativity: the occasion for the unspoken dialogue of thinking. Walking is also the antidote to the speed at which we conduct our lives, to our insistence on rushing, on doing everything in a precipitous manner.

When Joe Harkness suffered a breakdown in 2013, he tried all the things his doctor recommended: medication helped, counselling was enlightening, and mindfulness grounded him. But nothing came close to nature, particularly birds. How had he never noticed such beauty before? Soon, every avian encounter took him one step closer to accepting who he is.The positive change in Joe's wellbeing was so profound that he started a blog to record his experience.

Once upon a time, a burned-out Claire Dunn spent a year living off the grid in a wilderness survival program. Yet love and the possibilities of human connection drew her back to the city, where she soon found herself as overscheduled, addicted to her phone, and lost in IKEA as the rest of us. Given all the city offers--comfort, convenience, community, and opportunity--she wants to stay. But to do so, she'll have to learn how to rewild her own urban soul. Claire swims in city rivers, forages in the suburbs, and explores many other practices to connect to the world around her. Rewilding the Urban Soul is a field guide to being at one with nature, wherever you are.