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Classes

Leveraging the transformative power of nature, we provide captivating educational experiences for residents, environmental organizations, educational institutions, government departments, businesses, mental health centers, and spiritual organizations.

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Discover Engaging Classes

PEOPLE LEARN BEST BY DOING

Immersive Learning. Experience interactive, hands-on outdoor education designed to match your group's expertise. All classes include engaging, tactile activities, even for indoor settings.

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Personal Approach to Environmental Action. Our classes and presentations introduce a paradigm shift, going beyond traditional metrics like carbon footprints and waste reduction. Instead, we harness the power of intrinsic motivation, promoting personal and environmental well-being through joyful activities rooted in proven learning strategies.

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Scalable Solutions. Choose from standalone classes or a series that spans preferred time frames. Whether you have 5 or 500 participants, our classes are customizable to align with your requirements and budget.

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Grow Resiliency

CULTIVATE LOW-MAINTENANCE FOOD AND HABITAT

Eco Gardening. Discover the art of organic gardening through our Grow Resiliency program, where participants learn to cultivate vegetables, herbs, fruits, wild edibles and medicinals in ways that flourish harmoniously with wildlife habitats.

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Lower Maintenance. Our classes teach strategies that shift the maintenance burden to Mother Nature’s strong back, giving participants more time to enjoy the outdoors.

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Below are our most popular classes.

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Ecological Design and Wildlife Habitat

  • Permaculture and ecological design

  • Low-maintenance landscape design

  • Deer-resistant landscapes

  • Sheet mulching to establish garden beds

  • Rain garden design and establishment

  • Grow a bird oasis

  • Grow herbs in turfgrass

  • Establish native prairie gardens

  • Design ever-blooming gardens


Edibles

  • Indoor seed starting

  • Vegetable and herb gardening

  • Edible forest garden design and plant selection

  • High-yield, low-maintenance gardening

  • Container and raised bed gardening

  • Composting, vermicomposting and compost tea

  • Community garden design and management

  • Wild edible and mushroom foraging


Children's Playscapes

  • Natural playscape design

  • Create fairy and gnome gardens

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Earthmind

NURTURE PERSONAL HEALTH WHILE NURTURING EARTH

Well-being and Climate Action. The Earthmind program offers an innovate approach to meeting both the personal wellness and environmental sustainability goals of universities, mental health care centers, spiritual groups, and businesses.


It provides tailored, research-based classes that address the urgent need for practical, accessible, and lasting strategies to solve climate change challenges while enhancing community health.

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Self-Motivating Environmental Action. The magnitude of our environmental challenges can lead to inaction due to feelings of existential anxiety, hopelessness, and helplessness. Traditional climate strategies, being long-term or without immediate feedback, frequently fail to provide needed comfort or tangible outcomes.

Earthmind transforms the overwhelming feelings associated with climate change into enduring daily practices that immediately and measurably improve both personal health and the climate resilience of outdoor environments. By combining environmental education with health benefits, it creates a self-motivating toolkit of adaptable and enjoyable ecological activities.

 

Wisdom of Ancestors. While every class explores distinct subjects, they all share common threads:

  • Practice mindfulness.

  • Immersion in the natural world.

  • Illuminate ways the practices contribute to mitigating climate change.

  • Share the practices with communities for widespread adoption.

 

Our intentionally slow-paced, environmental activities induce relaxation while allowing participants to tap into the wisdom of our ancestors, who lived in harmony with the land. Integrating ancient skills into modern lifestyles helps participants learn to disengage from the fast-paced world, encouraging them to slow down, observe, and reconnect with their humanity and each other.
 

Evidence-Based Approach. Classes combine several evidence-based therapeutic strategies:

  • Mindfulness: Stay present and reduce stress.

  • Horticultural Therapy: Use gardening to boost well-being.

  • Acceptance and Commitment Therapy: Take positive actions while tolerating uncomfortable feelings.

  • Dialectical Behavior Therapy: Sooth emotions and reduce sense of helplessness.

  • Cognitive Behavioral Therapy: Link thoughts, feelings and actions to feel better.

 

Below are our most popular classes.

Well-Being with Nature

  • Sensory garden design and establishment

  • Sensory prairie seeding

  • Craft nature art and sensory trays

  • Self-awareness with houseplants


Ancestral Skills

  • Mindful foraging for food and tea

  • Ancient fire-making

  • Cordage crafting

  • Wildlife observation and animal tracking


Outdoor Therapy

  • Grounding with nature

  • Managing ruminations

  • Forest bathing / forest therapy

  • Soothing the self-critic

  • Yoga outdoors

  • Rituals and altars


Outdoor Therapy Staff Training. We offer nature-based training to mental health providers and caregivers to help them understand how their unique skill set can be applied in the outdoors to enhance outcomes. Evidence-based research is reviewed while experiencing the same activities provided to clients. This hands-on approach helps professionals enjoy the benefits of the practices while learning to apply them.

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Why Nature?

LEARN OUTDOORS TO IMPROVE LEARNING

Nature’s Healing Influence. We instinctively know that we feel better in outdoor areas surrounded by the buzz and beauty of nature. Research consistently shows that connecting with nature has significantly positive impacts:

  • Eases stress, depression, fear and anxiety.

  • Improves cognitive function, sleep quality, mood, creativity, and immune responses.

  • Enhances self-belief, inspiring action and achievement.

  • Induces joy and calms survival instincts.

  • Facilitates emotional processing to navigate difficult experiences.

  • Creates a welcoming, non-judgmental, and secure setting.

  • Reawakens the innate understanding that we are inherently worthy.


Reconnecting with Our Natural Home. For thousands of years, humanity has thrived with nature. We are intrinsically linked to this nurturing environment, which has contributed to our growth and well-being. Time spent in nature allows us to shift our perspective from the individual to the holistic benefits of this healing environment.

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Local Locations

WALKING THE TALK

Sustainable Access. Whenever feasible, classes are conveniently held at residences, on campuses, and urban green spaces near to where most participants reside, ensuring accessibility without the need for polluting fossil fuel-based transportation.

Sustainable Transportation. We promote walking, biking, taking public transportation, and carpooling to encourage reductions in carbon footprints and instill the mindset that collectively, these small yet meaningful actions contribute significantly to mitigating the health impacts of climate change and pollution.

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Provided Services

LEVERAGE OUR EXPERIENCE

Our goal is to provide you with a hassle-free experience to ensure the success of your programs.

Our comprehensive services include:

  • Effortless Online Registration. Participants can securely register and pay for classes through our user-friendly website.

  • Strategic Promotion. Leverage the power of local and social media as we expertly promote your classes to a wider audience through posts and posters.

  • Funding Assistance. We can help secure funding through grants and other sources.

  • Catering Excellence. Enjoy nourishing refreshments and meals tailored to the classes' duration and participant preferences.

  • Resources. Research-based publications and materials are tailored for participants to enhance learning experiences.

  • Facility Arrangement. Let us handle the logistics—we can find and reserve suitable indoor and outdoor facilities, including overnight accommodations.

Earthmind

Next Steps

TAILORED SOLUTIONS FOR YOUR UNIQUE NEEDS

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Our classes are flexible and can be tailored to your specific goals, budget, and desired outcomes.

 

We start by talking with you to gain a comprehensive understanding of your requirements. Based on this discussion, we will craft a detailed proposal that includes a customized class/session outline, a service timeline, and a fee structure that aligns with your budget.

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Backyard Abundance

Backyard Abundance is a leading educational nonprofit that helps people create vibrant, engaging outdoor spaces that benefit families and our environment.

P.O. Box 1605

Iowa City, IA  52244

319-325-6810

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