Last summer, a good friend and fellow forest steward James Yancey turned me onto a program that trains people as guides in the emerging field of Forest Therapy. As he described the idea behind the practice, I was instantly intrigued. We decided to go through the 6-month training program together, and thus began a journey that would change my life in significant ways.
The overall premise of Forest Therapy is that humans benefit from time spent outside among trees, provided we slow down and get in touch with our senses. There are physical as well as psychological benefits to be had by spending time in the forest, and we don’t have to go deep into a wilderness environment to enjoy them. It turns out that a couple of hours in a public park or pocket of trees in an urban environment can do the trick!
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