Forest Preserves of Cook County 2023 Winter Brochure

Winter in a climate like Cook County can take a toll on your health, both physically—since you’re hibernating from the cold—and mentally, since you’re more separated from other people. But taking the road less traveled into a setting like your local Forest Preserve could make all the difference—and be just what the doctor ordered. “Often times, people feel closed in, and isolated,” says Claudia Gunter, conservation and experiential programming aid in the Forest Preserves of Cook County’s South Zone. “Especially when they might not have knowledge of some of the things they can do. There’s Experience the Health Benefits of the Woods in the Wintertime always an opportunity in the Forest Preserves to try something new, and meet someone new.” Those opportunities can include exercise for the body—like ice skating, snowshoeing, cross-country skiing, sledding, or simply going on a winter hike—as well as expansions of the mind and soul. The latter span watching the Northern lights, getting to know flora and fauna that can be observed during the winter, writing in a journal to record what you’re seeing and feeling, and peacefully meditating in the forest, known as “forest bathing.” Contined, page 36 16