Join us for our annual VanDusen Botanical Garden field trip! Enjoy the beauty of nature as we guide you through selected parts of the garden.
What to expect: Participants will split into smaller groups to enjoy the walk based on mobility, walking speed, and tour type preference. After the tour, you may enjoy the rest of the garden at your own leisure.
We will be doing a random draw of the attendees to give away some annual memberships for VanDusen, donated through their Garden Respite Fund.
Details:
When: Wednesday, June 17th from 12 PM to 12:45 PM (the guided tour will be 45 minutes long)
Where: VanDusen Botanical Garden, 5251 Oak Street, Vancouver, BC, V6M 4H1
Please gather with other participants in the plaza just outside the main doors of the Visitor Centre. The walk will start promptly at 12 PM.
The admission fee will be waived thanks to the generosity of the VanDusen Garden! This event is free of cost.
Wear comfortable walking shoes and lightweight layered clothing, and bring a water bottle.
For more information on the garden and seasonal highlights, you can review their website and bloom calendar here: https://vandusengarden.org/explore/vandusen-botanical-garden/
No pets allowed
Registration Information
Please sign up for only one of the tour options listed below:
Tour 1 (Slower): VanDusen guide will guide you through selected parts of the garden. You will be guided on a slower walk through the gardens, allowing for mobility challenges.
Tour 2 (Faster): VanDusen guide will guide you through selected parts of the garden. You will be guided on a tour further into the gardens and walk at a slightly faster pace.
Tour 3 (Mindful Nature Walk): Come join this facilitated stroll around Van Dusen Gardens as we slow down and savour the sweet scents, the vibrant colours, the sound of the wind in the trees, and the touch of the soft petals. As we allow our attention to gently rest on beauty, our minds and bodies begin to settle.
Leave feeling refreshed, grounded, and empowered with five practical skills to deepen the restorative benefits of future nature walks.Self-Guided: If you would like to attend but the tours are already at capacity, you are welcome to join the event and walk through the garden at your own leisure. This option will not have a tour guide.
About the Mindful Nature Walk Instructor: Jessie Rain Anne Smith
Hello, I am a traumatic brain injury survivor, mindfulness teacher, and lover of nature. After a car accident in 2013, I was encouraged to take up mindfulness. I thought some sort of pill or treatment would help me more, but I soon realized that mindfulness was the balm my injured brain and dyscombobulated nervous system so needed. Some practices, however, were too cognitive and others sent me into panic, dissociation, and shame. In time I learned how to modify mindfulness so I could take advantage of the power of without falling prey to the perils. I became a Qualified Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction Teacher through the University of California San Diego, completed Dr. David Treleaven’s Trauma-Sensitive Mindfulness training, and participated in his mentorship program in 2022. I founded Mindful Concussion to provide education about brain injury and mindfulness. I call my method Mindfulness for Dysregulated Nervous Systems, a gentle approach that supports people living with brain injury and related disorders. One of the key modifications I teach is spending time in nature while intentionally savouring natural beauty. I have offered Nature as Medicine workshops for brain injury survivors, for faculty and students at Langara College, and for the general public. I myself have spent hundreds of hours wandering the paths of VanDusen, soaking up beauty to calm my mind and body. Learn more, including about my forthcoming book, at at mindfulconcussion.ca