Join the Heersink School of Medicine for an inspiring and restorative lecture exploring the powerful link between human well-being and our connection to the natural world. In "Well-Being Through Connection: How Time in Nature Supports Physical and Mental Health," Anne Markham Bailey will guide us through practices and insights that demonstrate how time spent in nature can: reduce stress, improve mood, foster resilience, and enhance overall health.

This talk will be especially meaningful for health care professionals and anyone looking to strengthen their own well-being or support others.

About the Speaker

Anne Markham Bailey is a poet, author, and educator who serves as a teaching artist with UAB Arts in Medicine. She also teaches poetry and creative writing to incarcerated individuals through the Alabama Prison Arts and Education Project at Auburn University.

As a certified Forest Bathing Guide, Bailey draws on years of experience helping individuals reconnect with their senses, creativity, and inner calm through nature-based programs.

Bailey is the creator of Writing the Wild, a program combining time in nature with creative expression, which launched at Talladega College in 2025 in partnership with Wild Alabama’s Conservation Through Art: 50 Years of Wilderness in Alabama initiative.

Her publications include Cold Stone, White Lily (2011), Nancy Marguerite’s Chopin (2018), The Daring Egg (2020), and The Practice of Being (2022). She holds degrees from Columbia University, the University of Alabama, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham.