Nordic Journey: Nature and Forest Therapy Walk with Nordic Flavors
***Event postponed until further notice***
Location:
Holly Hill Farm, Cohasset, MA
Are you curious about getting a sense of the Nordic lifestyle? Have you heard about “Forest Bathing” and want to know how you can experience nature using all your senses? Live Nordic, Blue Stone Journeys and Mettä Nordic are teaming up to bring you an afternoon outdoors combining the practice of nature and forest therapy with the flavors of a Nordic palette.
One of the fundamental parts of Living Nordic is spending a great deal of time outdoors connecting with nature. In the North, where winters are long and summers short, people have learnt to embrace each season. Likewise, Nordic people share a unique connection with forest. Throughout history, forests have offered shelter, food and medicine. Berry and mushroom picking are common Nordic cultural traditions that are enjoyed together as a family or with friends.
Nature and Forest Therapy offers the opportunity to slow down the pace, tune in to all one’s senses connecting with nature, self and others in the group. The health benefits of spending time in nature have been well documented and include, to name a few: reducing stress levels, lowering blood pressure and heart rate while building the immune system.
Join Henna Capone, founder of Live Nordic, and certified nature and forest therapy guide, Kirsten Snow, for a gentle walk in nature, experiencing the grounding elements of nature. We’ll walk about one mile with stops along the way, and you’ll have time to spend together in the group as well as on your own.
Register here
Event Details
Fee $75 – includes guided walk, snack and a portion will be donated to preserving the natural setting where we walk.
Space is limited to 20. Registration closes Wednesday, March 25. Pre-registration and payment reserves your spot.
The walk follows a structure so it’s important you plan to be part of the experience from start to finish. If the timing is not convenient for you, we invite you to join us another time.
Although we love kids and dogs, this walk is not designed for our canine friends. The experience is geared for those over the age of 14.
You will receive an e-mail within three days of the walk providing location information and other details. However, should you have any questions, please let us know.
Kirsten: info@bluestonejourneys.com or Henna: henna@livenordicusa.com
Cancellation policy: We gladly offer a full refund if we cancel the experience due to weather or when you notify us at least 72 hours/three days before the day of the walk, if your plans change. No refund or credit is given if you do not show up on the day of the walk or cancel less than 72 hours/three days before the experience.
Kirsten Snow - Blue Stone Journeys
Forest Bathing: Reconnecting with Ourselves and the Natural World
Who: Kirsten Snow is a certified nature and forest therapy guide and a founder of Blue Stone Journeys. Kirsten leads private and public walks for groups throughout New England and will be partnering with Live Nordic on an upcoming walk in March 2020
Current Gig: Certified Nature and Forest Therapy Guide and Founder of Blue Stone Journeys
Location: How fortunate for me - outdoors - all over the world. And if participants aren’t able to join me outdoors, I can bring nature to them!
Favorite way to relax: It’s actually pretty simple, I love sitting on my deck, listening to music watching the marsh change as the water and sky move or if I want to be a bit more active; taking a walk on the beach, in the forest, snowshoeing in the fields. Creating art and cooking also get me to that place of serenity.
LN: What inspired you to become a nature and forest therapy guide?
KS: There sure is a personal story! Believe it or not, I was pretty close to purchasing a women’s
European clothing store, when I got “the call” from Mother Nature. I’d first heard of forest bathing
several years ago at a retreat I attended and then for a couple of years, the subject kept “popping up” in
magazines I was reading or on NPR. The morning after the 2016 election, I knew the world as we knew
it was going to get a bit crazy, and I knew I’d need to use all the tools in my toolbox to stay centered.
There was a little voice in my head that told me I should share some of these tools. I did not know what
that meant, until a year later, when I experienced forest bathing for the first time. As I laid down on a
lush green mound of moss, I was brought back to my childhood and a place that was special to me. It
was at that moment that I knew how I could help others … and help the planet at the same time.
"It was at that moment that I knew how I could help others… and help the planet at the same time."
LN: How can the modern-day lifestyle benefit from nature and forest therapy?
KS: We live in a world that moves at record speed, we spend less time outdoors, and more on our
devices. Loneliness, anxiety, and stress are all at record levels. We have lost our connection to nature
and the way it grounds us. Many see nature as “something else”, rather than realizing we are all
connected. Being in nature brings us back to what is authentic, that which is real – helping us to re-
connect with ourselves and the natural world.
"Many see nature as 'something else', rather than realizing we are all connected. Being in nature brings us back to what is authentic, that which is real."
LN: What are the most significant and scientifically proven health benefits of forest bathing?
KS: Studies done around the world have proven that spending time in nature is good for our health and
well-being. The Japanese have studied the benefits of phytoncides, a chemical the trees produce –
lowering our blood pressure, reducing our heart rate, and increasing production of NK cells which help
fight cancer.
"The Japanese have studied the benefits of phytoncides, a chemical the trees produce – lowering our blood pressure, reducing our heart rate, and increasing production of NK cells which help fight cancer."
