The Healing Power of Nature Presentation for Earth Day

Event by Cindy Ross

Alvernia University- Bernadine Hall- Lecture Hall, Reading, PA 7 pm- FREE

Here is the summary of the show…I’ll begin with my veterans in River House PA, my non-profit, where we take vets with ptsd into nature to heal. We had been working with vets for close to ten years, taking them into nature to hike, cycle, inner tube, have big campfire cookouts, was there through their rehab and relapse etc….when my husband, Todd, fell and suffered a debilitating spinal cord injury, paralyzing him.
The veterans showed up for us when the tables turned and we needed them..coming to help do tasks around the homestead, take me out mountain biking to give me a break from full-time caregiving, and most important, begin to be Todd’s coach and boot camp trainer, coming every week to do intensive physical therapy and help him recover.
I share how going for walks in nature helped me deal with the workload and stress of taking care of a quadriplegic, and how taking Todd into nature in his wheelchair helped him gain strength and peace to function in this very challenging life.
Todd learned to walk again by utilizing the adaptive Silhouette Trail at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary with its 9% grade and nine benches along the way ending at South Lookout.
Soon Todd recovered to the point where he could cycle an adaptive recumbent trike. I planned extensive bike trips on rail trails where I brought our veterans along to help Todd while they were being helped at the same time.
My presentation concludes with shots of our 800-mile traverse of the Great American Rail Trail as we hosted our vets and Todd’s Team for Recovery in riding from Washington DC to the Indiana/Illinois border. This ride was to help everyone heal but also to build awareness for the need for accessible trails and nature for the disabled and everyone who could use some peace and solace from our troubled world.