Greetings!
We had a lovely workshop yesterday at Leslie Groves Park in Richland, focused on creating our own calm and celebrating creativity, all in relationship with the world around us.
One of the emphases in ANFT-certified forest bathing walks is represented by this key word: ALLOW.
As guides, we are there to help create a safe, welcoming, and inclusive sequence of invitations so that guests can allow in whatever happens to arise—arise in their bodies, minds, and hearts. And whatever happens to arrive in the surroundings as well!
There is a dance between these inner arisings, and the outer arisings, where the boundary between is fluid and permeable. A co-creation is at play between humans and other beings, between us and place.
This approach can be summed up as: “The guide offers the door or the welcome mat to a threshold. Nature is the healer or therapist.” In a guided walk, the aim isn’t to instruct or cajole experience, but to help allow it to arise in its own rhythms and time. No artifice, no manipulation, no priming people to “have experiences.” That restrained or minimalist ethic is the hallmark of an ANFT guided walk.
What helps you transition from the bustle of ordinary life to a nature-rich setting and a slowed-down tempo? I’d love to hear what you find especially helpful.
Cheers,
Jennifer!
here’s a nature-art creation from Saturday’s workshop
How do I “debrief” after guiding? With my own nature check-in!
Check out this brief post-workshop reflection on YouTube.
me re-connecting with the waterside catalpa tree we visit at the annual June workshop!
Need a tree-rich book that fits in your hands this summer?
Herman Hesse’s Trees: An Anthology of Writings and Paintings is a great option.
The book’s small size = easily transportable.
Short form, reflective and lush prose sections = perfect for pausing, reading, and then strolling again.
And his paintings are a wonderful complement to the words, a combination of word art and visual art that feels appropriate to the kind of book you might take to the woods or to the park. Or, even a cozy nook of your home or yard.
