100 Wild Hours: A Mindful Photography Journey
Transform your life through a regular nature + mindful photography practice.
Welcome to 100 Wild Hours, simple weekly mindful photography prompts that invite you to weave nature and creativity into your daily life to help you cultivate mindfulness, belonging, and a sense of place.
Why Mindful Photography?
Think of mindful photography as a doorway—to yourself, to nature, and to the world.
Nature is incredible, in that it’s around us, and available, all the time. Add in a creative focus and some attention to engaging your senses, and we have a powerful mechanism for bypassing our thinking minds and immersing ourselves in the present moment.
When you practice mindful photography, you enter a world where the lens of your smartphone becomes your window to joy, creativity, and a deeper connection to nature and yourself.
You begin to see the world with new eyes – eyes that are open to beauty and wonder. Your mind becomes clear and focused, free from the worries and stresses of everyday life. The act of capturing images becomes a form of meditation, allowing you to find peace and stillness within yourself.
What Mindful Photography Is NOT
Unlike traditional photography, which often focuses on technical skills and “capturing” specific subjects, mindful photography emphasizes the process of truly seeing and experiencing your surroundings.
Mindful photography is not about “capturing” beautiful images or taking a technical approach; it’s about receiving the gifts of the natural world, witnessing the present moment, and expressing yourself creatively.
It’s also about making space—for yourself, for creativity, and for new perspectives. Each photograph tells a story – your story. Your photographs become a reflection of your unique experience of the world.
Why 100 Wild Hours?
20 minutes in nature has been shown to be the amount of time that results in a significant drop in cortisol levels. For me personally, it’s this magical threshold where the body and mind seems to settle into the beauty of the present moment. 20 minutes a day on most days of the year ends up being about 100 hours, hence, 100 Wild Hours! The tracking part is completely optional; if keeping track of your minutes and hours is motivating to you, then please do it and share! This is YOUR journey.
Ready to join us? If you haven’t already, you can subscribe here:
How it works
💌 Each week on Thursday I’ll email subscribers a mindful photography invitation - a way of feeling, sensing, being, noticing that encourages us to slow down, connect with our surroundings, and cultivate a deeper awareness as we create images.
🌳 You’ll put your phone in airplane mode, take a few minutes to “drop in” to the present moment (don’t worry, I’ll provide tips for how to do this), and then take a slow, mindful wander with your smartphone, capturing images that speak to you related to the weekly invitation.
📸 You’ll reflect on your images and what they mean to you, and choose one or two to share, along with the story behind it, in the community chat.
✏️ You can track your minutes/hours if that’s motivating to you (let me know in the comments if you’d like me to create a tracking sheet or app!)
Monthly Gatherings
🌟 Once a month (ish) I’ll host a virtual gathering where we can practice deep nature connection and creativity together. Think things like mindful photography retreats, forest bathing, journaling sessions, etc. These will be available to paid Wilder Life members.
Each week’s mindful photography invitation will also be linked below (the full archive of invitations are available to paid members), so that you can scroll through the invitations and pick a different invitation if the one for the week doesn’t resonate with you, or you want to try more!
I truly can’t wait to see what you discover, and share our perspectives on the world with each other.
- Jenny
Weekly Mindful Photography Invitations
Members can access a downloadable list of 52 weekly mindful photography invitations here. 👇