Artwork by Amy Sides
By Jayden Presley
The Alabama Cooperative Extension System organized its first nature journaling workshop for Alabamians who need a break from their technology-driven lives.
Freelance nature journal teacher, biologist and photojournalist Amy Sides taught the class on April 19 at Brierfield State Park. The workshop lasted from 9 a.m. to 11 a.m. in the Mulberry Baptist Church and Stephens Pavilion.
Sides started the workshop by teaching participants contour drawing, which is sketching while keeping their eyes on the reference image. The point of the exercise is to relax and not worry about perfection during the process.
Then, at the Stephens Pavilion, Sides allowed participants to freely roam the area. She encouraged people to draw and journal anything they wanted to connect with nature around them.
“The color green has a calming effect on people,” said Sides. “The compounds that the trees release that we breathe in have wonderful benefits for our bodies.”
Sides emphasized the health benefits of nature journaling, such as decreased anxiety and lowered blood pressure.
Lynn Dickinson, a regional ACES agent for Forestry, Wildlife and Natural Resources, also said people should use nature to increase mental and physical health.
“This is built for everyone. It doesn’t matter the age – children could be doing this, the elderly can do this,” said Dickinson.
Michelle Giddens, the Bibb County Extension Coordinator, said the Extension program started in 1862. The point of ACES is to bring knowledge from research and colleges and put it into the hands of the people to make their lives better.
She and Dickinson both said the goals of the Extension program are to serve Alabama citizens. Now in a post-COVID setting, many people are still dealing with the negative mental health effects of lockdown and losing vital interaction with others.
“Nobody wants to talk about it,” said Giddens.
She hopes that the nature journaling workshop will reach people the ACES otherwise would not attract. Services or events organized by the Extension program rarely ever charge people to participate.
“I think there are ways that we can offer to help people with their mental health, whether it’s through trying to work with different towns in Bibb County to get more mental health services or help people realize that this is a better choice coming to Brierfield State Park on a beautiful day,” Giddens said.
Along with feeling more at peace mentally, Sides hoped the participants will continue the journaling practices outside of a nature journaling workshop.
“Hopefully they’ve taken away the fact that they can do this and that they don’t have to be anxious about it,” she said. “This is kinda like a mindfulness practice, you know, calming and meditative.”
Sides has taught nature journaling to mostly homeschoolers for four years. She studied biology at Tulane University and came to the University of Alabama for a second undergraduate degree in photojournalism.
For the past few months, she has broadened “Nature Journaling for Everyone” to adult classes. Here are the dates for upcoming workshops:
- Mount Laurel Library April 27th, 2023 10 a.m. to 12 p.m.
- Hoover Library May 16th, 2023 6 p.m. to 8 p.m.
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