Support Your Well-Being By Connecting to Nature

Slow Down & Connect For Rest
Experience Nature With Our Certified Nature & Forest Therapy Guide

6-Week Program

New & Notable

We’ve Walked With…

Screen-Shot-2018-04-10-at-9.16.31-PM-300x300-min

What is Forest Bathing?

Forest Therapy (shinrin-yoku, Forest Bathing) is a research-based practice for supporting healing and wellness through immersion in forests and other natural environments. The decades old practice originated in Japan and is known as shinrin-yoku, which literally translates to “taking in the forest” or “forest bathing”. Studies have demonstrated a wide array of health benefits, especially in the cardiovascular and immune systems, and for stabilizing and improving mood and cognition. Your Nature & Forest Therapy Guide builds on those benefits and looks beyond to what happens when people remember that we are a part of nature and are intrinsically connected to all other beings in fundamental ways.

Forest Therapy is a practice. It is open-ended; there is no prescription for what a person “should” experience, or what benefits they “should” receive. Instead, it is a practice of developing a deepening relationship of reciprocity, in which the forest and the practitioner find a way to work together that supports the wholeness and wellness of each. In Forest Therapy, there is a clearly defined sequence of guided events that provides structure to the experience, while embracing the many opportunities for creativity and serendipity offered by the forest and the individual inspiration of each guide. This practice, developed by ANFT has become the most-widely used framework for Forest Therapy in the world.

“The forest is the therapist. The Guide Opens the Doors.” -ANFT Founder M. Amos Clifford

Experience Forest Bathing

What We Offer

Forest Bathing Walks in the Beautiful State of Vermont & Global Online Programs With Our Trained & Certified Nature & Forest Therapy Guide.

Join A Public Group Walk

Forest Bathing Life Program

Private In-Person Walks

Virtual Forest Bathing

“ I have never, ever in my life, taken 2 hours to walk 1/4 mile – and enjoyed it so much. You were right, it was quite different from anything I’d done, yet it all seemed so natural I had to wonder why I had never thought of doing it myself. Thus, the power of Forest Bathing! You are a wonderful guide -> I felt very comfortable with you right from the start, and so delighted in sharing the delights of my own small forest with you. You definitely shined a new light. ”

-Carolyn Aldridge

1 2 3 4 5 6

Forest Bathing: A Deep Cleanse Among the Trees

An anxious 7 Days reporter’s article describing our Forest Bathing Walk in Shelburne.

Forest Bathing Walks

Private One-on-Ones, Private Groups or Public Group Walks, choose what’s best for you. Take part in the experience of slowing down and tuning in to Nature through all of your senses.

The Walks

Health In The Modern Day

As we spend less time in Nature and more time indoors in front of the screen, we end up feeling mentally fatigued, stressed and physically altered. Our Guided Nature Mindfulness Walks have the ability to restore the body, mind and soul.

The Benefits Of Nature Connection

Physical Health

Having clean air to breath, water to drink and green space to exercise and immerse yourself in is beneficial to your physical well-being.

Mental Wellbeing

With exposure to the calming effects of Nature, people experience less anxiety, stress and depression. The results are in: Nature can significantly increase your overall mental well-being.

Nature Conservation

Through developing a meaningful relationship with Nature and experiencing its Awe, we can strive to conserve our natural world for generations to come

See All of Nature’s Health Benefits

Sign Up For The Newsletter!

Receive information about the Upcoming Nature Connection Walks. Once a month e-mail will also include tips, interviews from professionals, anecdotes, blog posts and special offers for subscribers. Become more informed about the ways to connect to the Natural World!

*Nature Connection Guide guarantees that your email address will not be sold to or shared with other companies.

“Nature holds the key to our aesthetic, intellectual, cognitive and even spiritual satisfaction.”

-E.O Wilson, Author of Biophilia

Association-Nature-Forest-Therapy-Guides

Duncan Murdoch

CERTIFIED NATURE & FOREST THERAPY GUIDE Duncan is a Certified Nature & Forest Therapy guide living and working in Vermont. He grew up on the shores of Lake Champlain where his deep connection to Nature was formed. Following his passion for art, he moved to NYC where he lived and worked as a professional actor for 14 years. Nature called him to become a horticulturist so he transitioned to become a NYC parks department gardener which lead him to a life of nature (re) connection. After receiving his Nature & Forest Therapy Guide Certification from the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy (ANFT) in 2015, he began his practice in New York City guiding the first forest bathing groups in Central Park. He then moved back to his home state in Vermont in 2015 and began his work with the Intervale Center growing and planting native trees where he now serves as the Land Stewardship Coordinator. As a wellness practitioner, he is part of the UVM Integrative Health Practitioner Network and frequently conducts forest bathing experiences throughout Vermont and the world, in-person and online with his organization, Nature Connection Guide.