About Us ... the story
so far...
“Between every two pines is a doorway to a new world.”
John Muir
If you go down to the woods today...
Since I was a wee girl growing up in a rural community in Scotland, I have always had a connection with trees and nature.
In my adult life, I have volunteered on nature conservation projects; worked in a reconstructed ‘crannog’ - an Iron Age farmstead; and experienced walks and hikes in the woods as I have wandered a few bits of our planet, including Scotland and Japan. Recently, I have spent over 15 years in the forest industry in Scotland after graduating from Bangor University with a degree in Agroforestry. After many years of organising business events, working in business support and administration in a variety of sectors, recent times have enabled new opportunities as well as a few surprises!
The ‘office’ is now more likely to be among the trees and this has helped my own well-being as I develop a new relationship with trees and the ‘more than human world’ (a term coined in 1990s).
As we breathe with the trees and walk gently through the woods, you can switch off from technology and a hectic life for a while. You will be encouraged to slow down and
re-connect with yourself and nature. The forest is the therapist and I am the guide - I’ll open the doors for you.
The forest will offer a different experience to each person on each forest therapy session. A forest bathing walk with an ANFT guide is inspired by the Japanese practice of shinrin yoku, a term coined in 1982 by the Japanese Forest Agency, following on from research to support an increasingly urbanised population suffering from ill health, stress and effects of pollution. There is now an increasing body of research from other countries across the world, including the UK, demonstrating the benefits of time spent in nature on our physical, mental and emotional wellbeing and the recent past is likely to increase this.
Join us and reconnect with nature
If you join us on a forest therapy session, you’ll be guided through the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy's (ANFT) ‘Standard Sequence’ by being offered a series of ‘invitations’. A full forest bathing session ‘in person’ usually lasts around three hours, so let’s give ourselves some time for self-care and support our mental, physical and emotional wellbeing, while breathing with the trees and awakening our senses as we slow down.
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As a Forest Therapy Guide, I am part of a global network - currently around 2,000 guides in 65 countries including a select few of us in Scotland, with me based in West Lothian, not far from Edinburgh.
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