Let's Take It Outdoors | May 2025
Your role in opening up Green Prescriptions to everyone.
Welcome to The Feel Good Life! A newsletter about health, prevention, empathy, and hope. Join me, Dr. Mariana, as I explore all sides of good health and a good life. New around here? Get started.
Hello!
It’s that time of the month—time for a new Green Prescription! Before we get started, I want to share some important (and encouraging) news with you.
This month is a special one for several reasons:
In May we celebrate Mental Health Awareness, which is one of our main focuses here at The Feel Good Life and our Green Prescription Club—a special community for paying subscribers. Different countries, continents, and organisations hold activities throughout the month to promote mental health awareness within their communities.
To celebrate this event, I have partnered up with RAMH North Ayrshire Wellbeing & Recovery College in Scotland to offer a tailored Green Prescription for their entire community as an added tool for mental health. (You can access it here.) The response has been quite positive, engaging and encouraging! I’m super proud of this work—and grateful to Jeanette Allan, manager at RAMH, for her enthusiastic interest in my work and for making this a dream team-work. More to come!
In this month’s Green Prescription, we are taking a next level leap! After nine months of growing The Green Prescription Club, we are now ready to birth its next stage: Becoming a Local Outdoors Leader for Better Health. Keep reading, all details below.
Because this is highly impactful work, I’m opening up this month’s Green Prescription for general access — not just for paid subscribers as usual. Feel free to share this around and spread the word.
Let’s begin!
A Quick Recap
In 2024, I created a section in my newsletter called The Green Prescription Club—a space where I share monthly green prescriptions that I create for paid subscribers, combining nature, science, and outdoors activity to serve as a tool for mental, physical and emotional health. It’s mostly a preventive medicine resource based on a movement from back in the 1970’s. Here’s what this movement is about.
In essence, a green prescription is when nature is prescribed by a healthcare provider as part of a person’s medical plan towards health recovery and wellbeing.
In 2024, we did season 1 and now in 2025, we’re halfway into season 2.
We have covered outdoors activities of all sorts: hiking, camping, night-gazing, cloud-gazing, picnic outings and more. Always encouraging safe and user-friendly activities that can be enjoyed by everyone and on any setup according to each person’s needs.
Want to take a look? I’ve just removed the paywall from three previous green prescriptions:
Become a Local Outdoors Leader for Better Health
It’s your turn to take the lead!
After nine months of using nature as an integral part of our health plan here at The Feel Good Life, it’s time to get empowered. I want to encourage you to undertake your own outdoor adventures AND lead others in pursuing better health through our green prescriptions.
You have now reaped the benefits of tending to nature and realised how it can improve your health, both in mind and body. You have the knowledge to understand how the body-nature connection works from a scientific point of view yet applied to daily life in simple ways. Your awareness on what nature prescriptions can actually do for your wellbeing has now surpassed the average knowledge, and more than that, you’ve now experienced it first hand.
This is the point where the pivot happens. The point where you know enough and feel confident enough to share this newly gained knowledge with others.
This is when you know that daring to try something new, challenging yourself, believing in your ability to feel good, and willing to connect with others matter.
Community matters.
Since this year’s mental health awareness theme is precisely community, it’s the perfect time to take the green prescriptions to the next level—towards community.
This is how it’s going to work:
You are going to become a local leader that organises nature outings for a small group within your community. You are not going to offer a green prescription (only healthcare providers can do this), but you can absolutely lead others into reaping the same benefits as you have done during these nine months of green prescriptions together.
You will be an agent of change helping create a health-revolution in your area.
You will be a ‘Local Outdoors Leader For Better Health’.
Here are the guidelines:
There are 9 green prescriptions available for you. They are accessible for paid subscribers, and as a paid subscriber, I want you to use them.
Now, in order to create your own local outdoors movement, let me give you the starter steps:
First, make a list of nearby places where you could take people on a small trip to nature. Keep in mind your community’s safety. You will be responsible of guiding a group of people towards an enjoyable experience that won’t suppose a health risk in terms of falls, risky terrain, muddy surfaces, or rocky creeks to be crossed.
Second, get creative and come up with activities you want your group to experience during the outing. Do you want it to include a fun picnic? A book club? A more challenging hike towards a nearby mountain? A calm knitting experience in nature? A yoga or Tai Chi outing? Give your community a purpose to go out into nature. Make them feel excited not just about the walk but about the experiences and stories that will be shared.
Extra tip: Depending on what you choose as an activity, make a list of what your attendees will need to take with them, e.g., comfortable walking shoes, waterproof jacket, warm clothing or light summer clothing, a blanket to sit on the ground, mosquito repellent, a bathing suit, solar protection, a hat, an extra pair of socks, plasters, a book, binoculars, a notepad, sunglasses, a willingness to enjoy and meet new people, you name it. Make it clear so that everyone’s prepared.
Third, choose a date in which you’d like to experience your first outing as a leader. Give yourself ideally a month to plan ahead. This is important for two reasons: 1) so you can have enough time to spread the word and let interested people find you, and 2) so you can see who joins your group list, study their needs, and plan a route accordingly.
Fourth, make a flyer that you can spread through social media and local boards (at the library, coffee shop, city hall). You can make it by hand on paper, or ask someone you love to make it for you. Canva is a user-friendly website to make flyers online that you can then print or send out via email, Whastapp groups, and other channels.
Important info to include on a flyer or activity announcement:
Date
Time
Activity
Duration
Meeting Point
Challenge level of the activity (Is it for beginners, intermediate, or experienced people?)
Equipment or accessories they will need
A contact email or number for further information
Fifth, when you have it all set, start sharing and promoting it around. One week prior to the activity, send a message to everyone on the list to confirm their attendance. Three days and one day prior, send a reminder to all confirmed attendees with all info and details. There is never too much knowledge. You want to be safe and make sure everyone will be safe and ready to enjoy the outing.
Last but not least, make yourself a badge! You’re the leader and you will be leading people into a nature experience. Tag yourself so everyone can recognise you. I have made a logo for you as an outdoors leader for better health so you can print it on a t-shirt, a hat, a tote bag, a bracelet or anything you want. Here’s the Local Outdoors Leader for Better Health logo so you can access it, print it, and use it accordingly.
Welcome to your new role!
Phew, That’s a Lot to Ask!
I completely understand that this may be an overwhelming idea and you may not feel ready to do it! It’s okay. In that case, the important thing is just to take tiny steps.
Here are some suggestions:
Ask a friend to go out for a walk.
Get together with a couple of friends to catch up about life.
Invite some colleagues to go for an after-work bite.
Ask a neighbour to join you for a short weekend hike nearby.
Go for a nice ice cream with family.
If you don’t feel ready to take these steps yet, then watch what I’m gonna be doing. Over the next few months, I’ll be showing you how I’m going to do this thing: create my local outdoors group experience. If you sign up to paid, you’ll be able to watch me organise these activities. You’ll have access to everything behind the scenes. I’ll share live updates, tutorials and guidance for you to use whenever you feel ready.
This month, I take the lead. Maybe in a few months times, you’ll feel ready to follow in my footsteps. ;)
BONUS! — A Green Prescription For Mental Health Awareness Week
As I mentioned in the intro, this year I have partnered up with RAMH North Ayrshire Wellbeing & Recovery College in Scotland to offer a tailored Green Prescription for their community in order to celebrate Mental Health Awareness Week. It’s been a huge success! And it’s open to everyone. You can access it here below.
Get advantage of it! Includes their tailored green prescription (by yours truly) and my video explanation of it for easier understanding.
Let’s Get Social
As always, remember we have our own Substack accountability thread for every month’s Green Prescription to comment, ask and share, as well as our private Whatsapp group. *Accessible to paid subscribers only.*
For questions or special inquiries, feel free to contact me at thefeelgoodlife@substack.com.
I hope you love this month’s news, updates and activities!
Can’t wait to see you stepping into your new role whenever you’re ready.
See you next month!
Love,
Dr. Mariana
