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May The Forest Be With You: A Phenomenological Study Of Disenfranchised Grievers And Their Time In Nature During The Covid-19 Pandemic, Mira L. Bronstein, Amanda Schaeppia, Becky Timm, Taylor Tinkham

Master of Arts in Holistic Health Studies Research Papers

The COVID-19 pandemic began in earnest in the United States in March 2020, and a slew of challenges came with the adjustment. Individuals felt the isolation of quarantine while grieving disenfranchised losses, losses that alienate the griever from the community, and social rules of grief such as canceled events, missing friends and family, and missing milestones at work or school. One place that was not closed to the public during the height of the pandemic was the outdoors. Nature is beneficial to mental, physical, and spiritual health. In this phenomenological study, we describe how being in nature helped adult disenfranchised …