The girl, whose father was a motorhome technician and spent summers on the road, is now on the advisory board of nature prescription programs. In this interview, Jessica Jurcak’s words unfold with the same clarity and precision she brings to her work, where she speaks of how nature’s presence helped her discover a “radical acceptance” of life’s complexities. A remarkable tenacity in how she tackles each project, blending her experience in public health and wellness with nature connection.
FTHub Forest Bathing Guide, trainer and a Hub Seedlings Leader, the founder of Discovher Wellbeing, is also about to offer the in-person Nature Connection Specialist course as an FTHub Accredited Trainer Nature Connection Specialist in just a few days: “It can be incredibly impactful to build intentional nature connection activities into other things that are already happening“.
“I grew up exploring the woods with my brothers and friends. My dad was, before he retired, a motor home technician. So every summer we’d go camping somewhere, exploring different places. I have memories of catching little tadpoles in the lake and swimming. I didn’t necessarily make a connection to how powerful nature was in my life until I was in graduate school… in Tennessee, very close to the Smoky Mountain National Park.”
“A couple of my friends and I would go down to hike regularly, and grad school was so stressful that that was our escape. And so that’s when I first started to realise how powerful it was with that beneficial impact on my life… found Forest Bathing and nature connections and the rest was history.”
“My initial plan for my career was nutrition, but I did not want to work in a hospital setting. So I became a dietician, but I also taught group fitness while I was in college and was recognising more and more the importance of mindfulness through teaching yoga.”
“I went to grad school for Public Health and wanted to work in the community and help people out in a community education kind of setting. I started in a nonprofit that provided nutrition education and physical education to students and school meals…”
“Then I transitioned into my local government’s public health department where I got to coordinate seven different health-related committees and work with people from all areas of the community.”
Healthcare System and Forest Bathing
“In the healthcare system that I’m in now, my focus is employee wellness… I’m focusing on lifestyle medicine: nutrition, physical activity, stress management, substance use, sleep… There’s this missing element that really connects everything, which is nature.”
“The more I was learning about Forest Bathing and Forest Therapy, I decided to become a Forest Bathing Guide through FTHub. I had a nutrition counselling business on the side, and I decided to completely rebrand and change that business to be nature-based well-being solutions.”
“I’m on the advisory board for a nature prescription program to get healthcare systems in the region involved and get more people out to the parks”.
“Every time I give a forest bathing walk, it warms my heart to hear other people’s experiences… This is why it’s worth it. The opportunity to take part in those kinds of programs I think is really helpful for helping to expand change in the community.”
Nature Connection, radical acceptance
“The Nature Connection Specialist training course can be incredibly impactful to build intentional nature connection activities into other things that are already happening”.
“I used to be like a big hiker or kayaker and paddle boarder, and I would see nature as the venue for that exercise and for getting outside and getting fresh air… Getting more involved in forest bathing and nature connection really opens your eyes to the need to slow down and see and experience things that you were never experiencing before.”
“You get so much more out of being outside in nature… Having this additional background and understanding of all of the benefits and all of the things that you can do, right? Just slowing down, being more mindful, paying attention.”
“I had some attendees that are part of a group in a healthcare system that helps them through their fertility journey… I remember this woman had her experience with the walk, and at the end, she broke down in tears of gratitude and happiness, sharing that this simple process of engaging in the Forest Bathing walk helped her with what she called radical acceptance of the experience.
“To be going through something as emotional and challenging as infertility and to get to that place where you can feel that radical acceptance during a Forest Bathing walk, I think is huge”
“And I had the unique opportunity to lead a Forest Bathing session on a beach in the Gulf of Mexico… During that bachelorette party, we were sitting around the fire sharing these poems that we wrote that were about nature and about our friend, and how much we loved her and were happy for her. It was one of the most emotional experiences of my life.”
Ph: Courtesy Jessica Jurcak www.discovherwellbeing.com
Act now, enrolling in our Forest Bathing Guide Training and Forest Therapy Practitioner Training. Grow together, equipping you with essential skills to lead transformative experiences in nature.
