~ John Muir

What is Forest Therapy and Relational Forest Therapy™?

Forest Therapy is a practice that supports health and wellness through guided immersion in forests and other environments to promote the well-being of both people and the land. It is inspired by Shinrin-yoku, the Japanese practice of “Forest Bathing.” In Forest Bathing, people spend time in forested areas to enhance health, wellness, and happiness. We go beyond the public health focus, to help people deepen their reciprocal relationship with Earth. We are pioneers of the strand of forest therapy called Relational Forest Therapy™.

In Relational Forest Therapy, people are guided through a clearly defined sequence of invitations to slow down, allow the senses to open, and experience the environment to deepen the reciprocal relationship between participants and the beings in the natural world. This supports the wholeness and well-being of both. These Slow Walks in the Forest are typically one- to two-kilometers long and fit for all ages and physical conditions.

Invitations are open-ended. There is no expectation for what participants should experience or receive. Guides are not therapists. Support for wellness, personal development, and perhaps healing comes to participants from their interaction with natural environments. The sole aim of guided activities is to create and sustain safe, meaningful, and relational contact between participants and nature.

Why Relational Forest Therapy™?

 

• The improvement of human health. People are more stressed, anxious, and depressed and have more chronic health conditions. Forest Therapy provides a pathway for people to remember how to immerse themselves in nature to rest from all that consumes them in their daily lives.

• A greater sense of connectedness. Jacques Cousteau once said, “People protect what they love.” A heartfelt, embodied relationship with nature naturally leads to a love of nature and recognition that we are nature.

• Greater degrees of freedom in how we relate to the world. Somatic work with the Earth and our bodies provides participants the opportunity to remember the nature of relationship and the way we are all connected. Embedded in this expanded community, we experience greater degrees of freedom in how we explore the world, and in what we are able to learn about ourselves.

• Click here for research on the benefits of forest therapy.