Where Nature Meets Soul: A Writing Walk in the Woods
Saturday, August 8, 2026 9:00 AM to noon | Greene Valley Forest Preserve, Naperville, IL
Sound Familiar?
Your mind is spinning. Your body is tense. Your stomach is churning. Your throat is tight. And life is just… hard.
Journaling helps a little - and also feels like it’s not enough.
You want something more directed. Less free-flow of thoughts, but also not as boxed in as a specific prompt.
You’ve tried the prompts thing and you felt confined.
You’ve tried bullet journaling and gratitude journaling and buying pretty pens and notebooks - it all seemed cool at first, and also didn’t really get to the heart of you - of the story you need to tell, if only for yourself.
You’re Not Alone
I’ve been there, my friend. Journaling always left me feeling like “that’s it? How does that even help?” Which is odd as I’m a prolific published author. I was great at telling stories that needed to be told, and terrible at unearthing my own story through the written word.
One day, I had a thought. What if I could tell my story through the written in a different way? What if everything the “gurus” teach us about journaling is wrong?
That cracked open a door for me to play a little bit.
Using my belief that Nature is our first teacher and the Tree of Life is our map, I started playing with the idea of writing WITH Nature to share both my story and whatever story Nature needed me to tell in that moment.
It changed everything!
How it Works
Most advocates of Nature Journaling talk about sitting in a peaceful spot in Nature and allowing your thoughts to flow. The theory being that a peaceful natural setting will help ease your inner tensions and allow you to journal more freely, more effectively.
Most advocates of Nature Journaling talk about sitting in a peaceful spot in Nature and allowing your thoughts to flow. The theory being that a peaceful natural setting will help ease your inner tensions and allow you to journal more freely, more effectively.
While there is likely some validity to this, I personally never found it overly useful. Writing IN Nature vs anywhere else still left me feeling like “and…?”
Until I started writing WITH Nature.
Here’s how it works:
Walk in Nature - any favorite spot will do - until something calls to you.
Sit with that plant, rock, animal, insect, whatever to learn their story.
Write it down.
Ask yourself how it relates to what’s happening in your own life.
Apply it to the Tree of Life map to figure out where you are and how to get where you need to go.
Wind up with the actual clarity, inner peace, direction, and ease you’ve been trying to find through more traditional journaling techniques.
Your Guide: Sarah Woodard
I'm a Kabbalist and Certified Shamanic Practitioner who spent years mapping 40+ spiritual traditions onto the Tree of Life - demonstrating that they're all teaching the same navigation process in different languages.
At Wisdom Grove, I help people move past dogma and gatekeepers to find authentic connection with the Divine. Nature is our first teacher. The Tree is the map. Unity is the foundation.
I also take Nature photos, live with three cats and 70+ named plushies, and believe your spiritual path should fit YOUR life - not someone else's ideal.
Your Spot is Waiting
Discover what your soul has been saying.