Frequently Asked Questions
What is Forest Bathing?
Forest Bathing is an immersive sensory experience at a leisurely pace, exploring what's right in front of you and allowing the cacophony of thoughts, or so-called, “life in the tamed world” to fall away. It follows a standard sequence of invitations over a 2 hour period that frames the walk but does not impose restrictive rules.
Why is Forest Bathing so important to physical and mental wellbeing?
A burgeoning body of evidence shows that spending time in natural places improves the health and wellbeing of humans young and old. Trees are little furnaces, showering us with invisible phytoncide aerosols that have the effect of boosting our immune systems and decreasing cortisol levels, blood pressure, and heart rate. They do wonders for your spirit and mental wellness. But you don’t really need science to tell you; you feel it.
Why did you write, “The Inside of ME” children’s book?
Being in nature in a slowed-down way matters. It balances out children’s higher-energy activities, like playing sports or skateboarding. We live in a biosphere, a superorganism where everything is connected. I wanted to show the slower, simpler ways of connecting to nature because when children feel and experience this inter-connection, they grow into “resiliency-enhanced” adults.
What is Eco-lit writing?
Mythical scholar Martin Shaw, in his book, Courting the Wild Twin, writes, “The business of stories is not enchantment. The business of stories is not escape. The business of stories is waking up.” Eco-lit writing has many definitions having to do with our inter-connection with the rest of nature. In my eco-lit writing, I extend an invitation to “wake up” to the beauty of the everyday, to the recognition that we belong to the natural world—we are wild nature, and though our society distracts us from being in relationship with Earth as deeply as we once were, that is a choice we are making, and its one we can unmake.
You know, it’s kind of counter-cultural to suggest that a tree has something to teach us, that a tidal pool can and should stop us in our tracks, that one can be led to a discovery of riches, having nothing to do with money. Maybe if we let it, the roller coaster of our deeply broken world can become still and then, wonder of wonders, covered with sweet vines of climbing hydrangea and blackberry.
What do you mean by “Noble Contribution?”
Each of us has something the world needs that is ours uniquely to contribute. Noble Contribution is the intersection of our set of gifts and skills with the world’s aspirational needs.
The gains awaiting us when we claim our inner sovereignty go far beyond external status and the acquisition of stuff but to the absolute essence of our existence: Humankind’s natural longing to contribute to something greater than personal gain—and the paradoxical inner richness we receive as a result. When everyone is about the business of their Noble Contribution, the world moves in the direction of healing, beauty, and peace.