COLLABORATE WITH VAL,
a certified Forest Therapy guide

 

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Coordinate a day trip for your students with an optional overnight to stay in the 'Lemon Lodge' or tent camp on the bluff overlooking the beautiful Buffalo River in Lewis County, TN about 15 minutes drive from several exits on the historic Natchez Trace Parkway.

Have you heard the term 'Forest Bathing' also known as "Shinrin-yoku" in Japan?

 

Val, your host and the founder/director of Camp Wonder Wander, is a certified guide and the Forest is the therapist. This nature immersion is a slow experience focusing on the senses in the natural surroundings which often leads to mindfulness (without tech/phones). This is not a naturalist walk nor a hike.
 

Forest Therapy as a practice is informed and inspired by the Japanese process that started in the 80s. That decade saw a rapid increase in economic prosperity and urban growth, but the health care system began to see a rise in issues such as cancer and high-blood pressure. The government then conducted much research with focus groups and the results revealed the benefits of spending time in natural surroundings. In this process they discovered that trees emit Phytonocides to help each other heal and battle diseases, and that humans can absorb these when 'bathing' in the forest air which increases the NK (natural killer) cells. It makes sense that humans in the urban world were disconnected from the Japanese indigenous land and nature found more commonly in other parts of their country.

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We can start our walk when you first arrive, or we can begin after your yoga class ends. There are several lovely spots for your outdoor yoga class near the bluff overlooking the river. The walk is approximately 3 hours including an introduction and covers about 1/4 of a mile including a stop on our Buffalo River frontage. The group will receive a series of invitations, but there are no rules or requirements and it is recommended that each person engage and interpret the invitations as they desire in the moment. The experience will culminate with a final sharing opportunity and tea with fresh snacks.

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LOCATION: Near Hohenwald, TN in what's known as the Western Highland Rim region of mid-south Tennessee
- approximate driving distances from

Columbia, TN - 50 minutes west

Spring Hill, TN - 1.25 hr south and west

Franklin, TN - 1.5 hr via Natchez Trace south then west

Nashville, TN - 1.75 hr via 65 south to Saturn Parkway, then south, then west

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Florence, AL - 1.25 hr via Natchez Trace north then west

Huntsville, AL - 2 hr north and then west primarily on rt 64

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