This event is limited to 20 attendees. Please register below.
Sliding Scale $15-30
No pets please.
The name “forest therapy“ – sometimes referred to as “forest bathing“ – reflects the deep therapeutic benefits of being in nature. This approach to promoting health is inspired by the Japanese practice of Shinrin-Yoku.
Forest bathing is a practice of slowing down, opening senses and moving mindfully through the landscape in ways that cultivate presence and invite a person to actively communicate with the land.
When done over time, this practice supports the healing and joyful well-being that spontaneously arise in the relationship between humans and nature, known as More-Than-Human world. Studies have demonstrated a wide array of physical, mental, emotional and spiritual health benefits of forest bathing.
Forest therapy is a deeply relational practice that grows reverence and healing, not just for humans but also for nature herself. The relationship between human and nature is beneficial for both – as nature heals the person, the person comes to love and respect nature and, rooted in that reverence, a new relationship of reciprocity is founded.
As a forest therapy guide Maja invites you to explore your relationship with nature. She opens doors for the mysteries of the land and More-Than-Human-World to unfold and reveal themselves to you in a safe container. She holds space for your unique experience of connecting with nature with a carefully structured offering of gentle prompts to support moving out of your thinking brain into your body with opening senses to our outer and inner landscapes.
Maja Pisljar is a Certified Forest Therapy Guide and a member of the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides. A social worker from Slovenia who worked with disadvantaged youths, immigrants and people with special needs in her homeland of Slovenia, as well as the Netherlands, Sweden, Denmark and the U.S. She moved to the Berkshires, in Western Massachusetts, in 2017, and feels a strong sense of belonging, to both the land and the community, here.
Maja's joy and purpose is to hold space for people to deepen their connection to Nature, each other, and to our authentic selves. Her forest therapy guiding springs from years of personal and professional growth, when life challenges brought her to truly listen to the wisdom within and around her. Her work is rooted in connection to Earth, connection to our bodies and to the communities we live in. She deeply believes that bringing reciprocity into our relationship with Nature heals ourselves and the more-than-human-world itself.
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