Thank you for joining us at Denver Botanic Gardens to learn about strategies and ideas that support adult and child wellbeing. Today, we will explore the healing power of nature and ways that time outdoors can alleviate stress, support whole child health, and ensure all young children have tools to express themselves.
8:30 a.m. – 9:00 a.m.
Registration / Coffee and Snacks
9:05 a.m. – 9:15 a.m.
Welcome and Introductions
9:15 a.m. – 9:25 a.m.
Reflection Question 1
9:30 a.m. – 11:00 a.m.
Forest Bathing and Interactive Tables
11:00 a.m.
Boxed Snacks Provided
11:00 a.m. – 11:15 a.m.
Reflection Question 2
11:15 a.m. – 11:45 a.m.
Kyle Ohl, “Accept Who You Are Through Play”
11:45 a.m. – 11:50 a.m.
Reflection Question 3
11:50 a.m. – 12:20 p.m.
Arturo Garcia, Art Reflection Experience
12:20 p.m. – 12:30 p.m.
Takeaway Reflection Question 4 and Closing
Jane West, MA, MS, LPC, ECSE became the first certified forest therapy guide in Colorado in 2016 and has led many forest bathing walks for groups and individuals throughout the mountains and the Front Range. Jane has also been a part of the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy (ANFT) guides international training team, has also helped naturalists in the state integrate forest bathing into their existing activities, and given many talks about how forest bathing helps grow young children’s brains. No stranger to the outdoors, Jane has been guiding local and visitors in in the mountains of Colorado for the last 26 years as an alpine and telemark instructor and a snowshoe guide for Vail Resorts.
Jane is also a mental health professional and educator specializing globally in early childhood and parenting issues. She runs Heart of the West Counseling, LLC, a company that provides therapeutic services to families and consulting services to early childhood programs and foundations. Jane was responsible for shaping the early years of Early Childhood Partners’ coaching and consultation programs in the mountains of Colorado, and is an active speaker on such topics of early childhood toxic stress and resilience. In 2013, Jane launched an international donor-advised fund to support the development of early childhood mental health systems and workforce capacity in under-resourced areas of the world. The Two Lilies Fund shines a spotlight through its program development and public awareness campaigns (using film and podcasting) on model projects that are designed to strengthen the social and emotional development of young children and their caregivers. Jane is also an internationally accomplished journalist and an Emmy-award winning producer of documentaries for PBS and the BBC. She is also the proud parent of three wonderful young adults!
Zuza Bohley is a trained anthropologist and a Certified Guide for Nature and Forest Therapy. She has been involved with social and environmental justice movement for more than 30 years with the intention to uplift and empower marginalized communities. Zuza is very active in many non-profit organizations, one of the most prominent being the Promotores Verdes program, which has received multiple awards locally, regionally and nationally and is most recently highlighted and honored by the SH/FT Award 2020. Besides her deep commitment to her work, Zuza loves spending time with her family; especially taking her two young granddaughters on outdoor adventures.
Kyle Ohl, MA, LPC, IMH-E® Specialist, Early Childhood Mental Health Coordinator, Grand Beginnings
Kyle Ohl is a Licensed Professional Counselor, providing Infant and Early Childhood Mental counseling and consultation for over 10 years. Through her time has a YMCA camp director and play therapist, she has discovered the healing power nature. Her focus has been experiential therapy and professional development for educators and parents.
Presentation Description:
“Accept Who You Are Through Play”
What happens when the world feels incongruent? Told or see one thing, while you feel something else. It’s important to truly see children for who they are, as we support them in seeing themselves. Learn to teach students to understand their body while supporting their regulation through play.
Arturo Garcia is a full time artist based in Denver, Colorado. His love for color give his style a unique perspective on both the subject and his media of preference applying robust layers of oil paints on canvas with palette knives. What emerges as result is an exciting combination of abstract within the figure. His style is contemporary influenced by the fauvist and impressionist movements though the technique has taken its own course.
“To me, Art is the language of the soul that expresses what the brain on its own can’t. It’s a silent dialect that conveys what words are not capable of doing. The understanding between creation, nature, and the spirit, are transcribed in the manifestation of an art piece. Art is a revelation of the soul; a new form of singing.” AG.
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We thank Denver Botanic Gardens for their continuous partnership in supporting our annual ECHO Summit.
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