Forest Therapy

Life can get so disconnected and fragmented. Our lives get compartmentalized and we rush through our days feeling harried, numb and increasingly unaware of our need for healing connections. Separations exist between work life and home life, religious practice and economic practice, rural life and urban life. Fences, doors, and locks keep us separate from one another. Before we know it our health, relationships and overall well being are suffering. Humans were always connected to the land, until more recent decades when we began working indoors all the time. Our immune systems responded to their disconnection from nature and we witness an onslaught of physical and emotional illness in our lives. The Natural World teaches us something entirely different. When we step into the Forest and attune our senses to nature we become aware of the interconnectedness of every living thing. Reconnecting with nature mindfully is part of staying well.

Forest therapy is an embodied mindfulness practice that takes place in nature. It is inspired by the Japanese practice of Shinrin yoku, also called “Forest Bathing,” because when we are amidst trees and plants we are literally bathing in the phytoncides (essential oils) of nature. These phytoncides have been shown to increase human immune cells among other health benefits.

As a Forest Therapy Guide I facilitate your connection to the Forest, and the Forest will be your Therapist. I lead participants on a slow walk, usually a mile or less, which takes us several hours to complete. Along this walk I lead participants in a sequence of invitations that are designed to help us engage with the forest, or any place you have contact with the natural world, in a way that provides you with the wellness benefits associated with this practice. These health benefits include lowered anxiety and depression, lowered blood pressure, and building one’s immune system. These physical and mental benefits have been studied and documented, you can find links to some of the studies on the resources page.

Forest Therapy reconnects us with the wholeness and inter-relatedness of life. It reminds us that we were never meant to be alone and separate and that, truly, we never are. We have much to learn from the world as it has always existed.