In this episode I chat to Maxine Geary, a holistic lifestyle lifestyle coach. Maxine shares her experience of transitioning from predominantly exercising indoors to discovering the outdoors and the joys of trail running, cycling, hiking and wild swimming. We discuss how the outdoors offers a different type of fitness and provides many more benefits to typical gym based exercise. We also talk about the value of finding groups of like minded individuals to plan adventures with and how adventuring outdoors helped her process hair loss following illness. Maxine also shares how she tackled the fears she has faced with the different challenges she has undertaken. Finally, Maxine talks about how she aims to combine her love for the outdoors with her holistic lifestyle coaching business, joyful living, with the hope that she can help other people also experience the benefits of spending time outdoors and having adventures.

On this podcast I chat to Beth Thomas. A yoga teacher, mental health professional and trustee for the charity Mind Over Mountains. We have some really great conversations about mental health and the power of nature and yoga in the recovery process, as well as helping us manage fear and anxiety. We talk about how she has felt strongly connected to nature throughout her life and the foundations for this being laid in her younger years. We then talk about the impact of feeling less connected during a period of illness in her teens. Beth tells us about the charity Mind Over Mountains and the work they are doing to help people with mental health difficulties benefit from spending time outdoors. We then talk about the adventures Beth had while travelling and the impact that returning home had on her own mental health.. We discuss the importance of yoga and spending time in nature in helping her feel better, as well as the value of talking therapies.

Conversations with Dr Jen is a podcast exploring how spending time outdoors and having adventures has help people overcome different challenges in their lives. It’s about promoting the health benefits of the outdoors, drawing on theory and personal experience and inspiring people to find adventures of their own. No matter how big or small.

In this episode, Dr Jen interviews Kate O'Brien, Project Manager for Outward Bound and Expedition Coordinator for The Adventure Syndicate. Kate is currently working on the Generation Green Project which seeks to improve nature connection for young people, primarily through looking at the 5 pathways to nature connection discussed in the Podcast.  

Kate also tells us about the Overnight on a School Night programme which she runs for The Adventure Syndicate as well as the wilderness therapy programmes she works on. We talk about the tendency for young females to drop out of sport in their teenage years and the value of engaging them with the outdoors and sport through an overnight bikepacking expedition. We also talk about the value of wilderness therapy for young people with mental health difficulties and the transformative effects of nature and the wilderness. Kate shares some stories of the transformations she has witnessed as well as some of the tribulations and gives you some tips for planning your own adventure.

Hosted and edited by Jenni Myers, founder of The Nature Mind, an online ecotherapy resource.