Join us for Forest Bathing with Ruth Silver – April 21th 1:00pm – 4:00pm @ Iroquois Shoreline Woods Park

This three-hour event will give you a taste of the practice and allow you to experience the physical and emotional benefits that nature has to offer.

While forest therapy is an open ended practice, it may offer you an experience of wonder, exploration in nature and relaxation through your senses. Everyone will have an encounter unique to them; you may notice things you haven’t before, or you may feel different in subtle ways. In this practice, the forest is doing the work, I will simply offer invitations for you to experience what the more than human world has to offer. While immersed in nature we slow down, tune into our senses, and allow for deep connection, introspection, reflection and sharing.

Guided Forest Therapy was inspired by Shinrin-Yoku, the Japanese practice of Forest Bathing. It was developed in the 1980’s as a response to a health crisis caused by intense stress caused by the tech boom and rapid urbanization. More and more scientific evidence shows that this time spent in the forest “reduces stress hormone production, improves feelings of happiness and creativity, as well as lowers our heart rate and blood pressure, boosts the immune system and accelerates recovery from illness.” Practices that promote connecting with nature are integral for our balance and wellbeing.   Forest therapy is a practice that helps people to rediscover and rebuild their relationships with the natural world through guided immersions in forests or other outdoor places. More than just a walk in the woods, this is an opportunity to slow down, to be present, and to reconnect with nature through your senses, in any way that feels right for you. A Forest Therapy Walk is all about the journey, not the distance covered; the forest trail terrain is flat and accessible to most abilities.