The Power of Birdwatching - Ornitherapy: For Your Mind, Body, and Soul

Long to-do lists, digital demands, life can be busy! If we allow birds and nature to slow us down, we are practicing “selfcare”. Research shows that connecting with birds and nature actively reduces stress, depression, and anxiety, while helping build a stronger heart and immune system. Wild birds offer the perfect gateway into deeper experiences with nature.

Through observation, we can learn not only about birds, but gain insight into our own lives while exploring our connection to the world around us. This fosters stewardship and bolsters conservation.

Within the program, we’ll delve into our connections to wild birds, how to maximize the wellness benefits of birding, and learn about the latest research surrounding the impact of birds on human health and why we need birds for overall wellbeing.

Speaker: Holly Merker
Mindful Network Founder

Holly Merker is a nature-based wellness specialist, professional birding guide, author, and lecturer who provides programming for people of all ages. Combining backgrounds in art therapy, nature and forest therapy, wellness counseling, and bird identification, she is a global advocate for the practice of Mindful Birding. She has co-authored two books which guide readers into optimizing the wellness benefits birds provides us, including the award-winning Ornitherapy: For Your Mind, Body, and Soul (Crossley Books, 2021), and The Power of Birdwatching (Die Kraft Der Vogel Beobachtung, Freya verlag, 2023 - available in Europe only). Holly has been the subject of numerous interviews and articles around from around the world surrounding the topic of Mindful Birding.

In 2022, Holly was honored to be the recipient of the ABA Conservation and Education Award given by the American Birding Association for her work in both those areas involving birds.

In her free time, Holly spends every possible moment practicing Ornitherapy, which she credits in helping defeat breast cancer, restoring her health mentally and physically.

Holly Merker, a nature-based wellness specialist, professional birding guide, author, and lecturer.

Host or Publisher Seabrook Island Birders