Leading in Nature

02/02/2026

💚 MAGICAL GATHERINGS: Join Fiona Collins and myself for Eryri Ni, a series of bilingual events on behalf of Y Bartneriaeth Awyr Agored - The Outdoor Partnership / Swyddog North Wales. These are generously funded by Partneriaeth Natur Leol Eryri Local Nature Partnership and Local Places for Nature, a Llywodraeth Cymru / Welsh Government initiative.

💚 Stories of the Stars: Thursday 19th February 18:00–21:00 with Fiona Collins at Plas Tan-y-Bwlch, £10
💚 Nature Connection & Self-Care: A Sensory Refresh: Saturday 28th February, 10:00–13:00 with Mia Walker in Llanberis
💚 Spells to Heal the Land: Saturday 14th March, 10:00–16:00 with Fiona Collins & Mia Walker, Pensychnant Conservation Centre, £15
💚 Honouring Blodeuwedd: Saturday 21st March 10:00–16:00 with Fiona Collins & Mia Walker at Trigonos, £15
💚 Accessible Story Walk: Sunday 22nd March 13:30–16:30 with Fiona Collins in Betws-y-Coed, £10
💚 Seeking the Secrets of Cwm Idwal: Sunday 29th March 10:00–13:00 with Mia Walker at Cwm Idwal, £10

Only the first two workshops are bookable at the moment so watch this space!

01/02/2026

Things are growing at Leading in Nature! 🌿

Happy February! It’s probably too late to say happy new year but whatever - I was "busy" having some downtime 😂 Anyway, 2026 is bringing some changes, so here's a little update.

There will now be more fabby ways to join me: I'll offer professional CPD training as before, and magical nature-based events for *everyone*!

To keep things easy to find on my page, you’ll now see three types of events:

🎓 OUTDOOR LEADER TRAINING: Professional CPD courses for my fellow outdoor leaders (Practical Mental Health Skills for Outdoor Leaders, and Bringing Nature Connection into Outdoor Leadership).

💚 NATURE GATHERINGS: Magical, deeply connected sessions rooted in myth, legend & storytelling, nature connection, rituals to connect us with the land, and nourishing self-care.

⛰️ NATURE HIKES: Guided walks and community hikes, including new funded events.

I’ll still be posting my usual wanderings and thoughts, including the odd edition of Field Notes, but these three labels will help you spot the events you want to book!

Link in bio for the full 2026 calendar - see you there 🤩

30/01/2026

Spent some quiet nature time with David WalkThis.Land on our last day of hols in the Cairngorms after attending the Mountain Training Association Winter Conference, with a walk around Loch Morlich. It was interesting to see how thickly covered the tree branches were with lichens and liverworts, and we saw quite a bit of evidence of beaver activity!

28/01/2026

Icy, windswept beauty in the Cairngorms today. It was too beautiful 💙 ❄️

25/01/2026

Good times at the Mountain Training Association Winter Conference! A day out practicing winter navigation and avalanche awareness, an update on what the MTA is planning over the next year, and last but certainly not least, a Burns Night dinner and ceilidh 🎶🎻🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿❄️🏔️

My favourite quote of the day came when I asked a fellow participant what the best part of the day was, and he said 'I didn't get lost and I didn't cry'. I'm totally nicking that 🤣

So... I didn't get lost (in fact I was surprised how well I did when walking 'blind' on a bearing to mimic whiteout conditions) and I didn't cry 😂

Photo of me credit to Steve Humm - diolch 🤗

23/01/2026

The Edge of Time - A Poem

Upon the edge of wood, upon the edge of time
The treecreeper visits me, made to search made to follow, up to the canopy seeking out the hollow
Flitting, flying, forever trying the wren is busy chasing life; the brambles bother and bracken hinders but never gives to strife
These things of nature and beauty abound, around us always given; our time is short here and blessed with peace, take time to feel and seldom driven
Upon the edge of wood, upon the edge of time... and time... and time again.
~ Neil McAllister 11/01/2026

When we connect with the beauty of nature, it can spark our creativity and joy. This poem was written on January's Bringing Nature Connection into Outdoor Leadership CPD day in Lincolnshire. The weather was icy, yet spontaneous poetry was born 🌳🖊️💚

Interested in the next Bringing Nature Connection into Outdoor Leadership CPD course? Please have a look in my bio or at the top of my feed for links 👆

Huge thanks to Richard Fish Outdoor Adventures for organising this weekend of CPD workshops in Lincolnshire 🙏😊

21/01/2026

Kind words from Jim of All Things Good And Nice C.I.C, who attended Practical Mental Health Skills for Outdoor Leaders in January. Thanks Richard Fish Outdoor Adventures for organising my trip to Lincolnshire to deliver this. What a great group we had 😍

Nice one Jim 👍

Jim has just completed Practical Mental Health Skills for Outdoor Leaders, led by Mia Walker, founder of Leading in Nature.

He was encouraged to attend the course because our work often sits at the intersection of outdoor activity and mental health. Also, because his achilles injury is preventing him from the usual practical adventures.
As leaders, the role is not to fix people, but to create meaningful experiences, hold space responsibly, and know how to respond when someone is struggling.

With mental health challenges becoming more visible, and the value of nature-based work increasingly recognised, this training felt essential. The course focused on recognising signs of distress, responding calmly and practically in outdoor settings, supporting anxiety or panic, and integrating mental wellbeing into risk assessment, moving beyond reaction to a more proactive approach.

Jim reported back that it was a thoughtful and practical course, with some wonderful candidates (also outdoor leaders) who were all grateful for the learning together with sharing experiences and knowledge

Thanks go to Mia for leading the course so effectively, and to Richard Fish Outdoor Adventures for making it all happen

19/01/2026

Here are last Friday's participants on Practical Mental Health Skills for Outdoor Leaders, wisely choosing to stand for one of their breakout group activities. Did you know that standing up and milling about helps bring blood to your brain, so that you learn better? This is why I always build in lots of breaks when I deliver a classroom-based day!

Speaking of classrooms, huge thanks - diolch yn fawr iawn - to Alpkit School of Adventure / Alpkit for allowing me to run this in the lovely Eryri Basecamp Loft in the Alpkit Betws-y-Coed shop 🙏🥰

Next dates for this course are on Friday 20th Feb (Betws-y-Coed) and then Sunday 8th March (Penrith). See you there! I'll pop the link in the comments 👍

17/01/2026

Every time I run Bringing Nature Connection into Outdoor Leadership something special happens. But Thursday was truly special! A robin spent a good ten minutes with us while we talked about eco-psychology in the woodland above Capel Curig. Magical 🥰

It was wonderful in other ways too. We found fascinating fungi and lichen, and against all expectations we basked in sunshine for most of the afternoon ☀️

Huge thanks - diolch yn fawr - to the for hosting the start and end of the day. The hot chocolate was yummy and very welcome after the cold ☕

The next date for this course is on 20th Februaryin Capel Curig. It's booking up fast so if you're keen, here are the details: https://leadinginnature.co.uk/event/nature-connection-cpd-feb25/👆

15/01/2026

A significant milestone today: a successful trial run for "Mental Health First Aid for Outdoor Leaders", adapted for the outdoors sector by expedition expert Mark Heighton of . It's a souped-up version of the Level 2 MHFA course, delivered expertly and sensitively.

Mark and I will be offering our two mental health CPD courses on back to back dates, because these courses complement each other so well. MHFA training equips you with an understanding of various mental health conditions, while Practical Mental Health Skills for Outdoor Leaders gives you hands-on solutions for managing anxiety, fear and panic during dynamic outdoor activities along with a grounding in what's happening in people's brain, nervous system and body when they're distressed.

The first of these "double dates" are coming up in February so watch this space 👀 😊