Forest Therapy — Why go with a guide?

This is a question that comes up often in this practice.

Here are a few of the major points as to how beneficial it is to practice forest therapy/bathing with a certified guide.

Firstly, forest therapy is much more than a stroll in the woods, and is better described as a facilitated nature connection experience, or a forest immersion. This is not only because the pace of the experience is slow paced, but also because this practice is about experiencing what it feels like to be fully here, as opposed to moving through nature to get to a certain destination.

Secondly, some of the incredible health benefits of a regular forest therapy practice are due to the fact that the body is fully relaxed, and has deepened into a parasympathetic state — the rest-and-digest state. It is in this state that the body and mind can truly be at rest, and therefore heal and repair. This can be difficult to attain when walking alone, as we all have the tendency to get carried away by our thoughts, and ruminate about life’s stresses or problems. As well, the urge to check our devices can be difficult to resist. By simply using our smartphones for a few moments, we have disconnected from our surroundings, and studies have shown that this can affect the benefits that being in nature has on our mental and physical health.

A forest therapy guide gently helps participants tune into their senses, shift their attention to where they are and the life that surrounds them, as well as holds the container of the experience so that the individuals can fully let go without worry of time, direction, or other preoccupations. As well, guides do not prescribe the experiences that participants should have during a walk, but rather they help to reawaken the inherent nature connection that lies within all of us — however dormant it may seem.

Lastly, certified forest therapy guides do not simply become so overnight. These are individuals who have a profound connection to the more-than-human world, and who have completed their certification with a reputable organization. The certification process typically involves a 7–10 day intensive training followed by a six month practicum, wherein individuals have mentors who help support them through their journey to be a guide. Completing this certification is an immense commitment of time, energy, focus, and work, as well as a significant financial commitment. Certified guides are also trained in wilderness first aid, so are truly ready for anything (although 99.9% of the time, they will not need to utilize these skills!) Finally, there is great work and preparation behind each walk, depending on the group, time of year, location, and the list goes on. This curated experience — given the training of the guide with their knowledge of the benefits of this practice — make it an immensely worthwhile experience.

On numerous occasions, I have had individuals on my walks who have spent their careers in the forest — and sometimes even the forest in which the forest bathing experience is taking place — and who, at the end, share that they had never quite seen or experienced the forest in this way before, and that they were connecting in an entirely new way. This is the gift of attention. And one of the many and profound gifts of this practice.

Ultimately, one of the main goals of forest therapy is for its foundations and practices to be readily incorporated into your daily life, without the need for a guide. That it may shift the way in which you connect and engage with the more-than-human world. That is, remembering to slow down, pay a different kind of attention to the life that surrounds you, as well as continue your own journey of deepening your relationship with our earth and its inhabitants. Walking down a city street may never be the same again. While this is a core intention of the practice, forest therapy guides themselves benefit deeply from being guided as well, just as a yoga practitioner continues their practice with teachers, or a psychologist with another psychologist. While it is nourishing to do so for ourselves, we aren’t always meant to do the work alone.