What is Forest Ecotherapy?
Rooted in Ecopsychology and the animistic worldview that everything is alive with consciousness, Forest Ecotherapy is a multi-sensory, nature-based facilitated therapy that offers experiences and tools to aid us as humans to remember our inherent interconnection with all of life and to rebond with nature— instead of modern technology and industrialization— for reciprocal healing of ourselves and the Earth.
A facilitated session in Forest Ecotherapy can be a peaceful and relaxing, as well as a stimulating, rejuvenating, playful and profound experience. Forest Ecotherapy is holistic in that it actively engages participants to deeply cultivate connections with the natural world through their not only their embodied Five Physical Senses, but also with their mind, heart and spirit as well.
While based upon the Japanese practice of Forest Bathing (shinrin-yoku) and the scientific field of Forest Medicine, Forest Ecotherapy aims to be more than a refreshing walk in the woods with physical and mental health benefits; it means to be deeply impactful and transformative in creating experiential pathways for people to form deep interrelationships with the more-than-human world as a resource and ally of mutual reciprocity.
Note that Forest Ecotherapy is not medical or clinical psychotherapy, but can be a complimentary alternative.
A facilitated session in Forest Ecotherapy can be a peaceful and relaxing, as well as a stimulating, rejuvenating, playful and profound experience. Forest Ecotherapy is holistic in that it actively engages participants to deeply cultivate connections with the natural world through their not only their embodied Five Physical Senses, but also with their mind, heart and spirit as well.
While based upon the Japanese practice of Forest Bathing (shinrin-yoku) and the scientific field of Forest Medicine, Forest Ecotherapy aims to be more than a refreshing walk in the woods with physical and mental health benefits; it means to be deeply impactful and transformative in creating experiential pathways for people to form deep interrelationships with the more-than-human world as a resource and ally of mutual reciprocity.
Note that Forest Ecotherapy is not medical or clinical psychotherapy, but can be a complimentary alternative.
Forest Ecotherapy has these distinct foci:
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LIFE FORCE ENERGY
ECOLITERACY
BEYOND THE 5 SENSES
NATURE-BASED RITUAL & CEREMONY 
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Why is being 'in nature' suddenly proven to be healing for people? It should not be a scientific mystery needed to be tested and proven by the western mind. Nature is healing for people because we are nature! Core to Forest Ecotherapy is the animistic worldview that because the Earth and all of her interconnected systems, elements and beings are alive with consciousness and spirit, it is the Life Force Energy of the interconnected living world that facilitates reciprocal healing to occur between humans and the more-than-human world, when we are respectfully and gratefully present to it. Many non-western worldviews acknowledge this Life Force as chi or prana. A rotting tree stump in the forest has significantly more life force energy and wisdom than a manufactured asphalt road, as does an ancient granite boulder, even though they all may be considered "non-living". This energy is palpable and evident in how we feel physically, mentally and spiritually when present in nature. Forest Ecotherapy focuses on teaching Forest Ecology and Ecoliteracy in the moment to participants along side of their sensory experience. Learning about the who's who live in an ecosystem community and how forests function is vital for every human at during this time of global ecological disassociation. The science of health-supporting chemicals naturally-occurring within a tree is part of this literacy, as is the mycorrhizal networks beneath the forest floor. Ecoliteracy is inclusive of both the western natural sciences as well as bioregional and cross-cultural traditional ecological knowledge. Forest Therapy is a multi-sensory-based practice. However, hearing is not the same as listening, looking is not the same as seeing. Forest Ecotherapy focuses on in-depth sensory experiences, going beyond 'the forest walk', to emphasize gentle full-body contact with the earth, as well as connecting with the more-than-human world beyond the Five Physical Senses by engaging and strengthening our inherent Intuitive/Energetic/Trans-dimensional Senses as well. In it's holistic approach, Forest Ecotherapy is overtly spiritual in comparison with other Forest Therapy practices because we cannot deny that the world is inherently animated with life and spirit. A session in Forest Ecotherapy is led by a consciously-aware facilitator and held with intentions and gratitude within a ceremonial and ritual container: a kind of mini rites of passage journey, a prayer, an opening, an offering, an active listening to and receiving from the more-than-human world, spirit world and ancestors as guides, teachers, healers and wisdom keepers. We enter the forest—or any other wild, undomesticated place— as guests asking permission and for help for healing ourselves and the planet. The practices of Forest Therapy are a reciprocal, not an extractive 'taking for our own sake' set of experiences that build upon gratitude, humility and awe. |
