I'm Gail Straub and you're listening to She Explores. Last Saturday I went on my first walk in the woods in what felt like a very long time.

It was a surprisingly blustery day for May, New England.

That rushing sound is the wind through the tops of old growth pine trees.

This trail is just about a 10 minute drive from where I live,

and I've driven past the trail

head several times when it's been overflowing with cars and people.

Saturday was a lucky day though. There was just one other car there and it felt safe to step out and hike.

This time I didn't wear headphones like I often would. I just walked and listened.

I smelled the salt of the tidal river, the pine trees, the earth.

Every now and then I smiled at nothing in particular.

On that walk, I felt in my body how much I'd been missing this.

Over the years I've heard from a lot of listeners and interviewees in the She Explorers community about the positive impact nature and time in the outdoors has on their mental health.

A few years ago I had Florence Williams, author of the nature fix,

on to talk about some of the scientific connections, how she's learned that we

need varying amounts of time outside, whether it's slipping out for pockets of sun during a work day,

taking walks and bike rides in cities, going for day hikes, and also immersing ourselves

for weeks on end on backpacking trips.

Her prescription boiled down to, quote, go outside, often, sometimes in wild places.

Bring friends or not. Breathe, unquote.

So how can we make the most of the time we do get outside?

And how can we cope if we're not able to access nature in the way that we'd like to?

This week we get to learn from Judith Sedora, a wilderness therapist who works with adolescent boys and young adults,

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