This event is limited to 20 people. All adults over 18 are welcome to participate. Duration is approximately 3 hours. Pre-registration is required with donations going to the Canadian Mental Health Association.
Contact Raelene at office@helpingnatureheal.com or 902-229-5220 to save your spot!
Donations are gratefully accepted and will be donated to the Canadian Mental Health Association in the name of Tim and Anne Freeman, owners of the Freeman Forest.
The Helping Nature Heal motto is “Restoring the Earth … Restoring the Soul”. Join us for some Forest Bathing!
What is Forest Bathing?
Join us for a contemplative, moonlit experience in the enlivened forest Rosmarie Lohnes has lovingly restored over many years. This guided experience in the Freeman’s Forest is about slowing down and engaging your senses in a magical, natural setting. It’s designed to help you open yourself up to the power of the moon and the energy of universe; to invite clarity into your life and to let go of your stress.
Imagine walking quietly on paths in the woods under the mystical glow of the full moon. Your shoulders drop just thinking about it. Did you know that soaking up the lush scenery, clean air, and supreme quiet of the forest can do more than refresh your mind and recharge your batteries? This therapeutic modality known as forest bathing (or shinrin-yoku, a Japanese term that means “taking in the forest atmosphere”), may also foster a lingering health boost.
By helping to reduce your stress, forest bathing has been known to lower blood pressure, and increase anti-cancer proteins in the body. Breathing in phytoncides (a class of compounds released by trees) also appears to stimulate immune activity in the body.
Whatever your motivation, forest bathing can ease you into a slower pace and don’t we all crave that?
What to Expect
You will meet the group at the entrance to the Freeman’s Forest, and enjoy a silent walk onto the beautiful land. While walking to the pathway system designed by Rosmarie herself, you will be asked to set an intention for your experience, in silence or shared with others. Your choice.
Once arrived at the point of departure, Rosmarie will guide you on a reflective and contemplative walk through a mature forest with an enlivened understory, new plantings, pathways and spectacular points of view.
You will glean insights into Rosmarie’s own extraordinary healing path on the very same land. You’ll learn to appreciate the rich diversity and phenomenal energy reverberating in the forest environment. You’ll confront your fear about being in the woods in the dark. You’ll soak it all in and open your heart up to the smells of the forest, the sounds of chirping birds heralding your arrival, the sight of dancing shadows and gently swaying branches. Ultimately, you will experience the interconnectedness of all living things.
Along the way, you will be asked to collect and carry small momentos you find: a stone, a branch, a leaf. At the end of the forest bathing experience, you will be asked to leave the lovingly carried object in the forest, a gift of yourself, imbued with your spirit, forever living on in the space after your departure.
You will leave refreshed, inspired at having been in community with others seeking solace in the forest. You will breathe more deeply, with peacefulness as your companion for the drive home.
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Photo by Kym MacKinnon on Unsplash