Verla Fortier introduces her podcast "The Outside Mindset Show" and discusses her experiences with nature and community walking initiatives in London, England.

The conversation features Alison Palmer, who shares details about the Walk and Talk movement she and her colleague started in Wimbledon Park, which has since expanded to multiple locations and attracted thousands of participants.

They discuss the benefits of walking groups for social connection and community building, with Alison highlighting her work in education and Verla sharing her positive experiences organizing similar walks in her own community.

Walk and Talk

Alison Palmer on Linkedin

For peer reviewed research on how your time spent in green space can change your mindset, balance your nervous system and your heart rate please go to verlafortier.substack.com and check out my books Take Back Your Outside Mindset: Live Longer, Stress Less, and Control Your Chronic Illness and Optimize Your Heart Rate: Balance Your Mind and Body With Green Space

Dear Baby Brooks,

As you will come to know, you and your parents love to be outside. Although you live in the big city of London, you have beautiful life spent outside. I am your Nana and I came to spend over a month in your house when you were just 2, and then 3 months old.

If You Could See What I See

I see you outside in your back yard or in a nearby park at least 5 times a day. I see how you are spending your time falling in love with the people and your world around you.

Brooks, with a name of tree and water spirits, you are safe in a world of love. Your mom and dad share you easily with family and close friends. They seem to know that the more love we give to you, the more love there is to go around. And I am beginning to realize that being brave might be the same with them too.

You are a Dream Sleeper

You are a dream sleeper. If you could see how this saves us and restores us every night. Although you are just 3 months old you have slept all through the night in your own room. Your mom (my lovely daughter in law) sleeps since she gave you your “dream feed” at 11 pm to help you to sleep through the night. Your dad (my son) comes into your bedroom at 0700 am. You greet him with smiles that create rapture while you move your legs and arms with the excitement of new daylight, love, and attention.

As soon as you get on to the diaper change table – which we now call your massage table – you smile as he tells you how beautiful and amazing you are. He massages your arms, feet, legs, shoulders, and tells you how lucky we are to have you in our lives. You smile, look into his eyes and coo something gentle that feels and sounds like you feel the same way too.

Your Mornings Outside

It is late August 2025 and your dad gives you your bottle after he wraps you in a warm blanket, takes you in his arms to the outdoor couch in your soft green backyard. On either side white jasmine flowers bloom and give off a heavy sweet scent of summer. The front facing wall is lush green bamboo.

The evening before, your mom pumps breast milk so that your dad can give this to you in your bottle in the morning. This is her way of giving your dad the great gift of you fixing your eyes on your dad’s eyes as you hum pure sounds of mmmmm with each draw of that magic breast milk. You snuggle deep into your dad’s arms. He is in heaven and you are too.

Your dad wakes up before you do, getting ready for work so that he can spend every minute he can with you before he leaves for work. Once when I thought it was time for him to go to work he said “I get to have 5 more minutes with him Mom” with a smile as he moved around the backyard with you in his arms.

see full transcript on Verla Fortier's substack

For peer reviewed research on how your time spent in green space can change your mindset, balance your nervous system and your heart rate please go to verlafortier.substack.com and check out my books Take Back Your Outside Mindset: Live Longer, Stress Less, and Control Your Chronic Illness and Optimize Your Heart Rate: Balance Your Mind and Body With Green Space

This is Verla Fortier of your Outside Mindset show. This podcast is about taking back your outside mindset by exploring and practicing new ways of noticing when you are outside close to nature whether you live in the city or country. For peer reviewed research on how your time spent in green space can change your mindset, prevent disease, balance your nervous system and your heart rate please go to my Substack website https://verlafortier.substack.com. Find my best selling books on Amazon Take Back Your Outside Mindset: Live Longer, Stress Less, and Control Your Chronic Illness and Optimize Your Heart Rate: Balance Your Mind and Body With Green Space. Thank you for providing a review of my books.

Today it is my pleasure to speak with Pearlette Ramos. Let me read you her bio and then we will chat. To learn more please visit https://threeextraordinarywomen.com

Pearlette Ramos was born in poverty and raised in the projects, Pearlette's home environment was riddled with alcoholism, mental illness and domestic violence. Due to the trauma, Pearlette fled her parents’ home when she was 15 years old and moved in with an older brother. Within twelve months she was pregnant, married and a high school dropout. Tragically, after living four short months Pearlette’s baby girl, ChaviElle, died of acute bronchial pneumonia. Devastated by her daughter’s death, she channeled her heartbreak into studying. First obtaining her GED, she applied and was accepted into college, then law school – becoming the first in her family to graduate from both.

After practicing law for 11 years, Pearlette went back to school and obtained a doctorate degree in psychology. She has raised two daughters, ages 27 and 36, while globetrotting around the world—having visited the seven continents and more than 80 countries.

4:02 Film is called Three Extraordinary Women who experienced extreme trauma in their childhood and how they went on to make meaning of that experience in their lives and each one became a social justice and human rights advocate in the world.
4:43 They tell their story as they climb Mount Kilimanjaro with the idea that we each have a personal Kilimanjaro. And they each have a collective Kilimanjaro - giving voice to children and women globally.

5:23 My personal story and connection with nature. I grew up in poverty and had a TV. I was about 10 years old I saw the legendary film maker Jacques Cousteau.

Full transcript of this episode is at https://verlafortier.substack.com

For peer reviewed research on how your time spent in green space can change your mindset, balance your nervous system and your heart rate please go to verlafortier.substack.com and check out my books Take Back Your Outside Mindset: Live Longer, Stress Less, and Control Your Chronic Illness and Optimize Your Heart Rate: Balance Your Mind and Body With Green Space