DIGITAL DETOX SERIES
An opportunity to disconnect from the virtual world and reconnect with ourselves, each other and the natural world.
Walkabout Education, in partnership with Areté Education, launched our Digital Detox series during the summer of 2021. With this series, we (re)introduce audiences to the natural world through guided nature hikes, team-building exercises, group lunches and guided discussion.
As we return to our lives after an unprecedented year and a half of disruption, relying on digital spaces for connection, it is a good time to reconnect with ourselves and each other to reflect on the work that lies ahead. The natural world provides a peaceful setting for such contemplation and can offer us the space we need to breathe and refresh our minds, bodies and spirits.
Spending as little as five minutes in a green space can be healing. Studies show it can improve your mood and mental well-being. So, please consider joining us for our next event! See below for more information and to register now!
A Focus on the Residents of the Bronx:
To introduce families in the Bronx to the natural world as a source of healing and rejuvenation through nature walks.
To partner with local Bronx-based organizations in an effort to promote Bronx-based community initiatives.
Marginalized urban and suburban communities have less access to natural spaces in the outdoors.
We want to make the wilderness more accessible, to demystify the outdoors & recognize that we can be in connection with nature anywhere.
Land Acknowledgement
We’d like to acknowledge that we are in Lenapehoking, the unceded territory of the Lenape. Indigenous peoples are not legend or myth, they have always been here stewarding the land upon which we live and recreate.
We also acknowledge that many public spaces were places of enslavement for both African and indigenous peoples, many of which are sacred spaces where some of those people were buried.
Our enjoyment of these spaces doesn’t gloss over the complicated history surrounding them, but challenges us to create inclusive experiences in the outdoors, amplifying the voices of those who have been left out.
You can learn more about the First Peoples of NYC from The Lenape Center.
“I did not use my phone at all. The event was true to its name: I spent two hours enjoying nature and I liked not having screen time.”
— Participant response
Research on the Benefits of the Outdoors
— Children Nature Network
— Psychology Today
Access to Parks and the Outdoors is Crucial for Mental Health in Our Communities.
— National Recreation and Park Association
— New York Times
— American Psychological Association
How can you connect with Nature right now?!
Plant something in a pot
Join/volunteer at a community garden
Stand under a tree and look up through the leaves
Bring flowers/plants into your living space
Observe a patch of earth
Watch clouds move across the sky
Find a place to watch the sunrise/sunset
Sit on your fire escape/stoop
Watch and listen to birds
Feed pigeons
Touch grass, tree trunks, rocks
Pick a spot outside and observe it throughout the year or at different times of day
Take pictures of nature
Spend time listening to a stream/river
Skip stones
Throw a stick or a leaf in a stream to see where it goes
Eat meals outside - Have a picnic at a local park or garden
Volunteer to clean up/maintain a local park
Hang a bird feeder outside your window
Walk someplace local that you would usually drive/take public transit
Local Places in the Bronx to be in the Outdoors!
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List of BX Parks
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Look Out Points
Half Moon Overlook - 2501A Palisade Ave
Wave Hill Overlook of the Palisades - 4900 Independence Ave, Bronx
The Hall of Fame at Bronx Community College Campus - University Ave & W 181St.
The High Bridge - University Avenue and 170th Street
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List of Community Gardens
Connection to the Walkabout School Model
Walkabout Education gets its name from an Australian Aboriginal rite of passage wherein a young man goes out into the wilderness to test his readiness to participate in his society. In addition to honoring indiginous rites of passage in our school model, Walkabout Education believes that time in the outdoors helps us all to connect with ourselves and with others. It provides fertile ground for contemplation, reflection and revelation, not just through peacefulness but by offering a different perspective. There are countless lessons to be learned in the outdoors if only we are attentive to them - resilience, survival, acceptance, grace, adaptability, courage, interdependence, self reliance. The outdoors is the great equalizer - it doesn’t care who we are or how we show up - it accepts all of us in our uniqueness.