Teen Venture Birds & Beyond with Holly Thomas & Holly Merker – G25070311
Join us exploring the beauty of Ghost Ranch – with the birds and other natural wonders as our guides. We’ll immerse ourselves in activities like birding walks, stargazing, owling, canoeing or kayaking, yoga nidra, and night prowls that encourage us to experience the joy, curiosity and awe that come from time in nature.
We’ll share some basic birding techniques and also dive deeper into how tuning into the natural world can be a gateway to well being. We’ll also create a group mandala from found objects that inspired us during the week – culminating in the art show at the end of our time together. And there’ll be plenty of time for story telling and sharing – along the side of a stream or perhaps around the campfire.
Get ready for a week of exploration, making new friends, and connecting deeply to your sense of wonder. We can’t wait to meet you!
Your birding enthusiasts and fellow nature lovers,
Holly M and Holly T
Instructors
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Holly MerkerHolly Merker is a Mindful Birding specialist and professional birding guide bringing over a decade of experience in directing teen birding camps for both the American Birding Association and the National Audubon Society. She a certified nature and forest therapy guide, award-winning author, and is co-host of the Mindful Birding Podcast along with Dr. Holly Thomas.
Holly combines professional backgrounds in art therapy, wellness counseling, mindfulness mentoring, environmental education, and bird identification, to create programming that connects people to birds and nature for the therapeutic benefits for personal wellbeing, while fostering a sense of stewardship for our shared earth.Growing up, Holly spent time with her artist father who spent annual sabbaticals living in northern New Mexico, igniting a deep love and connection with the Land of Enchantment. Holly is excited to share birding and beyond with teens amidst the beautiful landscapes and unique habitats of Ghost Ranch!
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Holly ThomasHolly loves sharing two of her greatest passions – birding and mindfulness!! She began a love affair with birds as a child and discovered mindfulness through her father’s meditation practice.
Her career path took her to UC Berkeley, where she got a PhD in Physiology and researched stress and the inflammatory response in an effort to understand how our bodies recover from injury and how we can optimize well being.
Over many years, Holly noticed that often the way she felt when she was birding, exploring nature, was the way she felt when deep in meditation. That brings us to mindful birding – the weaving together of birding with mindfulness practice.
Holly is a registered yoga and Mindfulness Meditation teacher, also trained in Mindfulness Based Stress Reduction, and Brain Longevity®. She leads birding outings and workshops, is a founding member of the Mindful Birding Network, and co-hosts The Mindful Birding Podcast.