Alderroot Healing & Renewal
Now Booking: What is mine to do? A 3 week virtual class
Forest Therapy Walks
Enjoy a forest therapy walk, a mini-retreat that leaves you feeling grounded and refreshed.
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I was certified as a Forest Therapy Guide by the Association for Nature and Forest Therapy (ANFT). I have been guiding forest therapy experiences since 2018 and love its capacity to quickly bring participants into states of ease, calm, and connection. Forest Therapy is a slow, guided, mindful walk and series of invitations to help you slow down, awaken your senses, and connect with the earth in a deeply personal way.
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Forest therapy, also known as forest bathing, is a nature connection experience inspired by the Japanese practice of Shinrin-Yoku. This nature-based experience offers the chance to step away from the stresses of daily life and to find healing and nourishment through intentional engagement with the land and other beings.
Forest therapy supports healing by offering the opportunity to radically and intentionally slow down, rest, take a break from technology, and to renew your sense of connection with the living earth. The healing impacts of forest therapy increase over time and support long-term health and wellness. Research has shown that forest therapy allows the nervous system to relax, boosting immunity, reducing anxiety, depression, and stress, improving cognitive function, and improving sleep. Through a series of guided invitations, forest therapy creates a sense of embodied presence that enables you to access new ways of being, including more joy, curiosity, playfulness, spaciousness, and awe--states that are so important to cultivating resiliency in this era of dramatic change.
Forest therapy practice is a great complement to traditional therapy and to anyone on a healing journey who may be experiencing anxiety, transition, burnout, relationship challenges, grief, or dis-ease. Forest therapy will boost your sense of overall well-being, immunity, and resiliency.​
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"A deep awareness of the gifts of the earth
and of each other is medicine."
Robin Wall Kimmerer
Heather created and taught a forest therapy graduate course at Portland State University and has led forest therapy walks for non-profit groups, student groups, and for wellness groups such as Legacy Cancer Support. She also leads walks through Alderroot Healing & Renewal and for the public at Leach Botanical Gardens.
Heather will design and lead a walk or series of walks for your employee group, wellness group, or spiritual group customized for your specific goals, time frame, and location.
Forest therapy supports healthy relationships and offers people a sense of authentic connection and belonging.
A 2 hour walk for a group of 5-12 participants, generally costs about $500.
Current Offerings
Fall offerings are complete for the season. More offerings coming soon.
Sessions are offered rain or shine, exact meeting locations and what to bring provided upon registration.
What is a Forest Therapy session/walk?
Our 2- 2.5 hour forest therapy sessions take place in forests near Portland Oregon. Each session includes intentional connection to the senses, a slow walk, guided invitations to enhance presence and connection, and a tea ceremony with snacks. Sessions are limited to a small number of participants so that we may connect with one another in meaningful ways.
These sessions will provide a calm anchor to your life and healing effects that will support and nourish you. Be guided into your body and senses and into beautiful relationship with the more than human world, while also having the opportunity to share the experience in connection with a small group of other humans.
Forest therapy works because it helps us rest our bodies and minds, but it is also a balm for the spirit by sparking our imagination, creativity, connection to the earth, and sense of belonging.
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