I recently had a positive experience taking in all the benefits of being in nature, when I met up with a small group of people who are part of the disabled community, just like me at Evergreen Brickworks, which is in the Bayview and Eglinton area. During this group we spent time practicing forest bathing, soaking up the sunshine, and trying a 5‑senses activity to help us connect more deeply with nature. For example, using our sense of smell to see what we could smell, or using our sense of hearing to see what we could hear.
In this post, I will include some fun facts about joining this group. For example, by joining this group that lasted 4 weeks, I chose to take part in an activity that reduces stress, helps with relaxation, improves mood and sleep and reduces blood pressure. There are many more benefits to being in nature, however it’s too many to list.
Every week, I would learn something new about Evergreen Brickworks whether it was more fun facts about being in nature overall or some of the history about Evergreen Brickworks itself. This was my second time participating in a group like this and I would definitely join again if I had the opportunity!
In this last paragraph I wanted to talk a little about the overall accessibility of Evergreen Brickworks. Most of the paths I took during this group were paved or had packed down gravel that made it easy to drive my power wheelchair on.
However there are some parts of Evergreen that are not so inclusive as they have stairs and really narrow pathways. But, as someone who is disabled I will always find some type of barrier anywhere I go, and hopefully one day we won’t even have to think about accessibility because it won’t be an afterthought.
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