Meet your guide…

Holly has a background in art therapy, but today employs nature and birds to achieve the same result for of mental, physical, and emotional wellness in her work as a certified Nature and Forest Therapy Guide (ANFT) and Mindful Birding leader. 

Holly is currently pairing her professional backgrounds in art therapy and over twenty years of bird guiding and environmental education, with coursework in MBSR, and the practice of Forest Bathing to create rich sensory experiences through nature-based wellness programs customized for her clients.

Holly's gently guided experiences incorporate accessibility for all mobility levels and are designed to be welcoming and inclusive to all people. She has professional experience working with children K-12, people with dementia and age-related cognitive impairment and is comfortable working in all settings and habitats in the outdoors. 

After using nature, especially birdwatching, for its therapeutic benefits while undergoing treatment and recovery from breast cancer when she was a young mom, Holly is dedicated to sharing the message that birds and nature can be powerful companions in all of our wellness journeys, bolstering the body's defenses against disease and boosting mental wellbeing. Holly promotes these concepts as lead author of the award-winning book Ornitherapy: For Your Body, Mind, and Soul (Crossley Books, 2021) which guides readers into deeper and more mindful experiences in nature through birds.

Holly has a passion for community/citizen science and has been the state coordinator for the Cornell Lab of Ornithology's eBird project in Pennsylvania since 2005. She's also an avid contributor to iNaturalist, and believes that by contributing our findings in nature, we are paying forward, giving back, and benefiting our own wellbeing. 

When not guiding Forest Bathing or Mindful Birding experiences, you might find Holly working for National Audubon's Hog Island Camp in Maine, the American Birding Association, Hillstar Nature, or counting migrant raptors at the beautiful Hawk Mountain Sanctuary along Pennsylvania's Kittatinny ridge in fall. 

eBird Profile: https://ebird.org/profile/MTExOTQ/US 

iNaturalist Profile: https://www.inaturalist.org/people/hollycybelle