View and sign up for upcoming walks on the Upcoming Walks page.

I am excited to announce the addition of Nature and Forest Therapy walks to my practice.

Nature Therapy walks are designed to help you connect to your senses and deepen your relationship with the more the human world.

On these 2 1/2 hour walks you will be invited to slow down, engage your senses, and have opportunities to share what you are noticing.

Walks end by sharing tea under the trees.

Nature and Forest Therapy walks are inspired by the Japanese practice of Forest Bathing, called Shinrin-yoku, which is the practice of connecting to nature in order to heal. In the 1980’s when the Japanese culture shifted from working on the land to more technological careers indoors, the government noticed an increase in auto-immune disease and cancer. They wondered if this increase in health problems was related to decreased contact with nature, so they began studying the results of taking people back into nature and studied the results. They found that being in the forest had many health benefits. One of which is that trees emit phytoncides, a compound that has antibacterial and antifungal qualities that help the trees stay healthy. More interestingly, they found that when we breathe in these phytonicides, our bodies respond by increasing natural killer or NK cells that kill tumors and virus-infected cells in our bodies.

In 2012 after experiencing forest bathing, along with other transformative experiences, Amos Clifford had the desire to help people have profound experiences in nature that would be accessible by everyone and would help people heal their relationship with the more than human world, so he created The Association of Nature and Forest Therapy. The Association has been training guides all over the world since 2014.

While a Forest Therapy walk differs from a traditional forest bathing walk in Japan, you may experience many of the known benefits of being in nature, such as lowered blood pressure, increased immunity, and/or a feeling of peace.

I know that when I take the time to slow down, sit in nature, and just be, I am able to witness many miracles around and within me. It is where I feel most at home, accepted, and loved. And when I leave I always feel renewed. So, knowing that people protect what they fall in love with, when I found the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy, their guide training was an immediate yes for me.

I look forward to guiding you on a Forest Therapy Walk soon!

Blessings,
Julie

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