Shimmering Light Herb Circle

FOREST BATHING

also known as

Forest Therapy, Forest Immersion,

or Shinrin-Yoku :)

Next Forest Bathing Walk:

Sunday, August 28th, 1-4pm

Shimmering Light Farm

Forest Therapy is an emerging pathway to healing ourselves and our planet!

An avalanche of scientific evidence now backs what nature lovers have always known—we are happier, healthier, and less vulnerable to stress when we spend time outdoors. The forest is a particularly rich environment to enhance our health and well-being, and Forest Bathing is a prescription for just this.

Guided Forest Therapy walks usually last from 1-3 hours, and can help us reconnect to ourselves, our communities, and the more than human world. And when we slow down and spend time in the forest, we can remember that we are not separate from the natural world but completely supported by it.

"The most peaceful and inspired that I have felt in recent memory!" - Carrie, participant

Other benefits include:

improved immune function, including an increase in NK cells which protect against infections and cancer
regulation of blood pressure
decrease in stress hormones
reduction in anxiety and depression
increased creativity and energy
improved sleep
generally improved cognitive function, and reduced cognitive decline in older adults
improved quality of life in those suffering from Alzheimer’s and dementia
reduction of symptoms associated with ADHD, trauma, psychosis, and addiction
increased feelings of well-being, including gratitude, generosity, patience, motivation,
life satisfaction, and selflessness

Participants are frequently inspired to reciprocate the abundance offered by our Earth with more careful and loving stewardship of her.

Private Forest Bathing walks can also be scheduled for you or your group

in the city, the suburbs or in the stunning Bristol hills.

We can access the magnificent support of nature anywhere.

To be whole. To be complete.

Wildness reminds us what it means to be human,

what we are connected to rather than what we are separate from.

― Terry Tempest Williams

For more information on the benefits of Forest Bathing and other nature connection practices, check out these links.

https://www.doseofnature.org.uk/the-science

https://www.webmd.com/balance/news/20190611/forest-bathing-nature-time-hot-health-advice

YOUR FOREST GUIDES

Barb Monsour

Freshly certified through the Association of Nature and Forest Guides and Programs, Barb recently returned to the Rochester area after 22 years living and raising children in the Syracuse area.

Barb connected with Forest Therapy about five years ago through a newspaper article shared by a friend. She had recently journeyed through some particularly difficult life events and found the woods of Central New York and the Finger Lakes region very healing—as significantly healing as her supportive community of family and friends. It felt like perfect timing to have been trained during the pandemic, as the program kept her focused on heart-centered nature connection practices.

Trained also as a health and medical professional, Barb has been encouraged to see the growing body of scientific evidence to support what we forest lovers have always known—spending time in and with the natural world is simply OUTSTANDING for our overall well-being!

Deb Denome

Deborah Denome is an Educator, Horticultural Therapist, Herbalist and Certified Forest Therapy Guide. She is passionate about the expansion of human consciousness as it informs our Interdependence with All Things. Deb's greatest joy is in helping individuals to deepen their own relationship with the Earth, each other, and our own true nature. She finds Forest Bathing/Shinrin-Yoku to be a profound yet simple and accessible path to expanding these connections.

Since 1997 Deb has served as Director of Shimmering Light Farm & Renewal Center. Her previous corporate career was in international training and publishing and she was the 2008 Canandaigua Athena Award recipient for her work promoting women in leadership. Deb is blessed to live and play at Shimmering Light Farm in South Bristol, NY. Here, overlooking Canandaigua Lake, she raised three fascinating young adults, tends abundant herb gardens, and dances as often as possible.

We both look forward to meeting you on the trail soon!!

TESTIMONIAL

“This was a new way to experience the forest that is healing and life changing. You will never walk in the woods the same way again! You can be healed by the forest.

The connection and the peace were beyond words. The world would be a much more peaceful place if the whole world were taught how to do this.”

Forest Bathing participant, Bani Aello