Student Health and Wellness

Student Health and Wellness -Mental Health (SHaW) offers multiple types of support for mental health.  If you feel that you would like to talk to a mental health provider, please contact them at Mental Health.  Staff and therapists at SHaW offer a holistic and collaborative model of care, recognizing the physical and mental health benefits of spending time in nature.

There are a variety of services at SHaW that can aid in mental health support. They offer mindfulness workshops and meditation which are only enhanced by intentional outdoors time.

References:

  • Meredith, G. R., D. A. Rakow, E. R. B. Eldermire, C. G. Madsen, S. P. Shelley, and N. A. Sachs. 2019. Minimum time dose in nature to positively impact the mental health of college-aged students, and how to measure It: A scoping review. Frontiers in Psycholology 10: 2942. 10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02942
  • Rakow, D. A., and G. T. Eells. 2019. NatureRx: Improving College-Student Mental Health. Cornell University Press, Ithaca, New York.
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UConn Library Wellness Guide

The Library contains a wide variety of resources for mental health and wellness that are categorized by topics and primarily available electronically. For NatureRx related materials, check out "Movement, Exercise & Getting Outdoors" and scroll down to "Getting Outside into Nature."

Events and Opportunities

NatureRx offers and supports a variety of events intended to make students, faculty, and staff feel better from spending time in nature. Below are some past and current events.

Forest Bathing with Reagan Stacey

On April 29th, 2022, NatureRx joined the Office of Sustainability on a forest bathing meditation walk in the Hillside Environmental Education Park (HEEP). Forest bathing is the practice of immersing yourself in nature in a mindful way, using your senses to derive a whole range of benefits for your physical, mental, emotional, and social health. It is also known as Shinrin-yoku in Japan. ‘Shinrin’ means forest and ‘Yoku’ stands for bathing.

Homer Babbidge Workshop

On Thursday, May 4th 2023, Cindi hosted a workshop with the UConn Library to educate students, faculty, and staff about NatureRx and the benefits of spending time outside, especially during high times of stress like finals week. After covering a brief history of NatureRx at UConn, Cindi guided the group to the UConn Botanical Conservatory for a tour of the greenhouses. Cindi is also the Director of the Conservatory at UConn!

I Thrive Naturally

This fall semester, I Thrive Naturally unfolded as a two-week initiative organized by NatureRx at UConn to boost scientific understanding of the benefits of spending time outside and to promote the many ways to engage with nature on the UConn Campus at Storrs. Whatever your comfort level or prior interest in the outdoors, I Thrive Naturally offered events, opportunities and inspiration designed to open your eyes to the ways that engaging with Nature will help you be healthier, happier and more attentive you.