Forest Bathing
Movement Pathways Walks seeks to guide practices that encourage deeply felt connection to ourselves and nature. We are nature, and through conscious connection, we grow in community, learning from and honoring the land.
Trust the Land
What is Forest Bathing?
Movement Pathways forest bathing walks are a time to be in nature. We will consciously draw our attention to our relationship with the natural world. This practice encourages an embodied experience in and with nature rather than a fitness hike or a naturalist walk. Each walk starts with sensory practice, tuning in to both our outward senses and interoceptive senses, and we will then explore various invitations. Lastly, I will prepare a forest tea and snacks as we wrap up our time together! I love Forest bathing because it is adaptable and appropriate for a very wide range of physical abilities and ages. When we come together, I am there just as a guide; the real teacher, nurturer, and healer is nature!
A typical walk lasts 2-3 hours and requires no special knowledge or equipment. We will not be walking the whole time; there are many times to stop, sit down as needed.
As we say at ANFT, “The Forest is the therapist, the guide opens the doors.”
Other Offerings:
Lunch and Learn
This hour-long experience will give you a taste of what a nature therapy walk feels like. We will practice embodiment, play with an invitation that will bring us into relationship with nature, share some of our thoughts with each other, and enjoy a small snack. This is great for small groups, corporate teams, non-profit groups and more!
Short Walks
Similar to Lunch and Learn, this briefer experience is appropriate as part of a celebration, wellness day, or festival. Combined with other events Forest Bathing provides a beautiful time to let thoughts flow, practice deep listening, and create a moment of calm.
Yoga and Nature Therapy Connection
In this 90-minute experience, we will begin with Yoga, including light stretching/movement and guided breath in nature. This practice primes our bodies and minds to move deeper into our experience of connecting to the land and the many beings around us. During this shared experience, you will have the time to shift your perspective away from the everyday, stepping into a sense of flow with nature. We will explore open-ended invitations, spend time reflecting as a group, and lastly, I will prepare a forest tea party! When we spend conscious time in nature, we experience a cascade of physiological benefits, including improvements to our cardiovascular, nervous, and immune systems. During this Yoga/nature therapy connection, you will tune in to your body wisdom and into nature as a nurturer and teacher. I am just the guide, as we say at ANFT, “Nature is the therapist and the guide opens the doors!” I look forward to sharing this practice with you soon
Special Occasions
Are you seeking a meaningful experience to share with a friend, family, or partner? Perhaps you want to mark a birthday, anniversary, or share time in a new way. Forest Bathing might be a great choice. During this shared experience, you will have the time to shift your perspective away from the everyday, stepping into a sense of flow with nature. Each experience is unique, as this is an open-ended, self-driven practice. Throughout the walk, we come together to reflect and share, strengthening our bonds with nature and each other. The walk starts with embodiment practice, we tune in to sensation, and then we will explore various invitations. Lastly, I will prepare a forest tea party! I love Forest bathing because it is adaptable and appropriate for a very wide range of physical abilities.
FAQs
-
ANFT forest bathing walks with Jil are a time to be in nature. Think of it as a practice of consciously drawing our attention to our relationship with the natural world. This is not a fitness hike or a naturalist walk, rather, it is an embodied experience in and with nature. The goal is to foster a deeper connection to the land and ourselves
-
A typical walk lasts 2-3 hours and requires no special knowledge or equipment, we will not be walking the whole time; there are many times to stop, sit down as needed.
-
Supporting Land Back for me means committing to uplifting Indigenous sovereignty everywhere, while supporting the rematriation of land and stewardship.
If you're unfamiliar with the Land Back Movement, I encourage you to support and learn more through the work of NDN Collective, an Indigenous-led organization advancing Indigenous sovereignty and self-determination.
For those of us living on Turtle Island who are not indigenous, I highly recommend the book Becoming Kin by Patty Krawec. It offers a powerful invitation to understand our place in the story of colonization and how we might live in good relationship with the land, indigenous communities, and ourselves.
-
If you have any questions or would like to book a walk please reach out jilstifel@gmail.com
-
The beauty of forrest bathing is that it is for anyone! Here’s some examples:
Couples
Families
Small groups
Corporate lunches (get out of the office for a day outdoors!)
Partnerships with Parks, Gardens, Nature, and Environmental centers
-
These walks take place on the ancestral homeland of the Monongahela people who were later replaced any the Shawnee, Delaware, Osage and Lenape. This land is colonized as Pittsburgh, PA which exists on both ceded and unceded territory. We respectfully acknowledge the care that has poured into this place by the traditional indigenous humans and their more-than-human kin. We lift up the current and future members of these nations. We act to support a future in which this land is returned to their stewardship in ways that create deep healing for all the human and more-than-human inhabitants of this place. Acknowledgement must move beyond knowing and into action, for more resources, see “What is the Land Back Movement.”
