Experience the healing power of our wild world.
We invite you to immerse yourself in the forest and experience your deep connection with the natural world, as you join one of our monthly forest bathing walks in Conserving Carolina preserves. The walks are led by Dr. Mattie Decker, a certified Nature and Forest Therapy Guide. Mattie is also a mindfulness teacher, a Zen practictioner, an Episcopal oblate, and a retired professor of education. She is certified in wilderness medicine and first aid. Mattie likes to share this saying from her forest bathing mentors: “The forest is the therapist. The guide opens the door.”
Many forest bathing walks will take place on our beautiful Transfiguration Preserve in Bat Cave, NC. Additional walks may be planned for other places of wonder that Conserving Carolina has helped protect. In addition to forest bathing walks, we look forward to offering special events that incorporate music, art, photography, writing, or foraging for edible plants into the forest bathing experience.
FIND UPCOMING FOREST BATHING EVENTS
Reserve Your Spot
Due to the limited group size, registration is required. Please RSVP on the specific event page. You must bring this signed Participant Agreement.
Suggested Donations
A donation of $30 is suggested for forest bathing walks, for those who are able. Donations are not required and the amount of your gift is entirely up to you. Donations of $35 or more will include Conserving Carolina membership benefits. Your donation gives back to the forest, allowing Conserving Carolina to protect more wild places and reconnect more people with nature. Prior to the event, you can make your donation online here. If necessary, you may bring cash or a check made out to Conserving Carolina to the event
What is Forest Bathing?
The practice of forest bathing encourages you to slow down, relax and reconnect with nature by quieting the mind and awakening the senses. Join a certified forest therapy guide for a relaxing two to 2.5 hour stroll through the forest in our stunning Blue Ridge Mountains. Through a series of invitations, you will have an opportunity to focus on being present in the moment, deepening your connection with nature and community, and enjoying the many gifts nature has to offer.
Forest bathing is a walk in nature during which your guide will share mindfulness practices and invitations designed to connect you more deeply to your inner landscapes as well as the world around you. Inspired by shinrin-yoku, the Japanese art of immersing oneself in a forest environment, forest bathing walks invite guests to spend time in nature in a way that invites healing for both us, our fraught ecosystems, and our community.
SEE STORIES AND reflections ABOUT forest bathing
What to Bring
Forest bathing walks are held outside, in a variety of weather conditions. Please remember that temperatures in higher elevations can be significantly lower than in town and rain is always a possibility. Bring whatever you need to be comfortable on a gentle walk in the forest. We recommend that you bring:
- Participant Agreement Form (required)
- Your own cup or mug for the tea ceremony
- Water
- Warm layers
- Rain gear
- Comfortable close-toed shoes
- Sun protection
- An open heart and mind
Check the specific calendar event listing to see if there is anything else you need to bring for the unique forest bathing event that you are attending.
Understanding Forest Bathing
Most of us are new to the practice of forest bathing, or forest therapy, which derives from the Japanese practice of shinrin-yoku. As you deepen your understanding, here are some thoughts to consider:
Forest therapy is best seen as a practice, not a one-time event. Developing a meaningful relationship with nature occurs over time, and is deepened by returning again and again throughout the natural cycles of the seasons. Like yoga, meditation, prayer, working out, and many other worthy endeavors, shinrin-yoku is a practice. And because it is a practice, it is best to learn it from a qualified guide.
It’s not just about taking walks in the forest. The walks are important, but there are other core routines that we can do that will help in our deepening relationship with nature, and in the exchange of health benefits between humans and the more-than-human-world. We often incorporate some of these practices in our guided shinrin-yoku walks, particularly the practices of sit spot, place tending, and cross-species communication.
Forest therapy is not an extractive process, where we treat forests as a “resource” from which we extract well being for humans. Instead, it is a deeply relational practice, characterized by a sense of loving and tender connection. This connection leads naturally to an ethic of tenderness and reciprocity. Forest therapy is about creating relationships between humans and the more-than-human world, in which the relationship itself becomes a field of healing and a source of joyful well-being.
Learn more from the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programs
Testimonials from Nature and Forest Therapy Walks with Dr. Mattie Decker
- “A unique and spiritual way to experience the beauty of nature an have appreciation for the history of this land, the present gift of how this land is used and gratitude for what it will continue to be in the future. Mattie helps us experience the forest with all 5 senses.”
- “A forest therapy walk opened me to an experience of the forest beyond words—one that invited communion with not only the trees, but also fungi, insects, shrubs, feathered friends, and numerous and varied sounds—a music of its own. To others I say, Come and see the grove of trees (forest) through the eyes of the senses. Walk away refreshed, renewed, and more aware of your place, as Mary Oliver writes, in the ‘family of things.’”
- “The experience is something that everyone should try at least once. Practicing mindfulness is easier said than done, but this forest is so beautiful. Mattie was a wonderful guide full of knowledge and a questioning spirit. She made this whole journey today very enjoyable.”
- “Mountains and trees and waterfalls, oh my! The beauty of the area consumes all of the senses in a delicious, aesthetically pleasing experience. Dr. Mattie does a beautiful job of allowing us to explore and feel the environment with all of our senses.”
- “Very enlightening and soulful experience! I really enjoyed Mattie’s direction and her voice, very calming and yet had so much strength to it.”
