Join facilitator and educator Jo Linden, and Columbia Slough Watershed Council, for a free guided 2.5-hour nature connection and mindfulness exploration walk at Columbia Children's Arboretum on Saturday, May 6 from 9:30am - 12pm. 

Note: We hope to explicitly make space in this offering for our LGBTQIA+ community. Please only register for this workshop if you identify as LGBTQIA+.

This offering is an opportunity to connect more deeply with our authentic selves, with each other, and with the larger webs of community, humanity, and nature within which we are all nested. By slowing down and being present, we offer our bodies, minds, and hearts a nourishing breakfrom the stress and challenges we are currently facing. This offering offers support in calming the nervous system with reminders to be present to the gift of life. You will be invited to wander, be curious, and open to your childlike wonder and playfulness. 

Through a series of guided prompts and invitations, this offering will help participants move beyond the chatter of the thinking mind and find a deeper sense of embodied engagement, enabling access to new ways of being while exploring relationship to self and others. This intentional practice of embodied presence cultivates access to powerful experiences of curiosity, awe, and wonder that are essential for resilient engagement with this era of dramatic change and transformation.

Getting There: Keep an eye out for the Columbia Children's Arboretum sign, just past the school bus yard. When you arrive, walk along the path, away from NE 6th Dr, towards the round-about area to find our group. Parking is free, however limited at the Arboretum. Give yourself extra time to find parking in a nearby neighborhood if necessary. Taking public transportation? Bus #11 will drop riders off at NE Middlefield & 6th Dr, 374 ft. from the Arboretum. Bus #6 drops riders off at NE Vancouver Way & Freightliner/3rd, 0.3 miles from the Arboretum.

What to bring: Pack along water, maybe a hot beverage, a pen, and come prepared for the weather - think warm and waterproof layers as the event will happen rain or shine. Notebooks will be provided for all participants thanks to Scout Books!

Accessibility: A restroom is available. Our group will be walking along mostly flat paved and gravel paths. 

This event has a limited capacity. If you register and find later that you are unable to attend, please reach out to cancel your spot. If the event is full, we will create a waitlist.

Questions? Reach out to Amanda Gallegos, at amanda.gallegos@columbiaslough.org.

Photo of Columbia Children’s Arboretum courtesy Portland Parks and Recreation.