Keep Looking Up

A warm, welcoming guide to birdwatching and its therapeutic and healing effects from a licensed therapist and amateur birder.

As human beings, our instinct is to nest with those we love, migrate where the best opportunities await us, and find our flock for solidarity and support. Yet all of these instincts can become a battle when we are struggling with depression, isolation, and trauma.

 

But what if we could find camaraderie and comfort in our own backyard? What if we could be inspired by peering through the branches and leaves to find a flash of feathers and birdsong?

 

Licensed therapist Tammah Watts shares her emotional journey of overcoming chronic pain and finding resilience by connecting to the natural word of birds. Her revealing exercises, helpful tools, reflection "ponds," and journal prompts will help you:

  •  Dip your toe into birdwatching from the comfort of your own home

  •  Reduce symptoms of stress, pain, depression, and anxiety

  •  Increase focus and concentration

  •  Find acceptance and alignment with the spirit and beauty of birds

 

Through the practice of observing and connecting with our feathered friends, we can find a place for reflection, self-discovery, and being grounded in the present. Tammah Watts has served the community as a licensed marriage and family therapist, working with children and their families in the mental health field for more than 35 years. After suffering a neurological injury following a routine surgical procedure, she found herself unable to return to the work she loved. Yet her experience as a therapist, mother, wife, grandmother, daughter, and friend, has helped her to chronicle her own personal struggles to overcome physical and mental health challenges through the powerful healing of birdwatching.