Join OARS and author Florence Williams for an extraordinary four-day program of immersive nature connection. Featuring enrichment for both mind and body, we’ll explore the practices and research behind finding solace, renewal, and even transformation in the wilderness.

Featuring

Florence Williams is the best-selling author of The Nature Fix: Why Being in Nature Makes us Happier, Healthier, and More Creative, and HEARTBREAK: A Personal and Scientific Journey, which won the 2023 PEN award for literary science writing. She also wrote and hosted the Audible Original podcast series, The Three-Day Effect, about the magical benefits of being outside for at least three days, which features an OARS-outfitted research trip on Lodore with a group of veterans having their brains scanned at various intervals down the canyon! From her work as an environmental author, her many years as a contributing editor for Outside Magazine (see her recent article on the power of awe here), and her practice as a certified teacher of nature and forest therapy, Florence has much wisdom to share about the science and research behind the human connection to nature. She frequently speaks to such groups and corporations as Google, The Nature Conservancy, and the Smithsonian Museum, and she loves leading transformative retreats in deep nature settings.

About This Trip

We will start each day on the Green River with peaceful sound meditation, hearing the water and birds echo across sandstone walls, followed by optional beach yoga and stretching. Ideal for first-time rafters, our days on the water will feature fun, splashy Class II and Class III rapids punctuated by delicious lunches on pristine beaches. We will stop at magical places to explore and swim, marveling at geological curiosities, rich human histories, and spectacular hiking opportunities. We’ll learn and practice simple but powerful nature immersion exercises such as sit spots and observational journaling that tap into our innate ability to find perspective, awe, and wisdom in the beauty and life around us. As we float, the guides will treat us to interpretive talks as we take in prehistoric fossils, ancient Native American cultural sites, and Wild West hangouts.

Evenings are for group sharing and discussion. As the guides prepare a delicious riverside dinner, we’ll dive deeper into the research and evidence supporting the science of awe, why nature can be an antidote for many things that ail us in modern life, and how time in the wilderness provides a rare window of opportunity for renewal, transformation, and finding hope and stability through big life transitions. During this journey, we will experience the rare gift of slowing down in nature. We’ll open our senses to spectacular wild country, make new friends, and learn immersive, regenerating skills to take home with us. 

Please note that this trip will be alcohol-free.

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