Breathing with the Trees: relational forest therapy comes to Leelanau County this summer

By Shelley Smith

Sun contributor

“Take a deep breath. Close your eyes or soften your gaze. Feel your feet on the earth, and the earth supporting your feet. Listen to the sounds that surround you in this moment, and notice, are you making sound too…?”

Here in Leelanau County, we are no strangers to the health benefits of slowing down and immersing ourselves in nature. Our magnificent forests, lakes and fields are treasured by locals and enjoyed by millions of visitors each year. Spending time in nature supports our physical, mental and emotional well-being. We know it, we feel it, and we live it!

But beyond just walking in the woods or getting outdoors, relational forest therapy aims to take the connection and its benefits deeper. This modern mindfulness experience is based on Shinrin-yoku, a Japanese practice of forest bathing which began in the 1980s as the Japanese government’s response to reports of their population’s increasing stress levels. They found that forest bathing could support better health by lowering blood pressure and heart rate, reducing stress hormones, and inducing a calm and relaxed state. Inspired by Shinrin-yoku and pulling from mindfulness and meditation techniques, relational forest therapy adds to the experience by inviting us to interact with nature to cultivate a felt sense of personal connection, and to honor the reciprocal relationship shared between humans and the natural world.

Kristen Ryder, a Forest Therapy Guide with The Association of Nature and Forest Therapy (ANFT) and a Yoga and Mindfulness Teacher with Leelanau Wellness Collective, is offering relational forest therapy sessions in Leelanau and Grand Traverse Counties for the third year this summer. She supports ANFT’s mission to “Nurture heart-centered relationships between all peoples and the More-Than-Human world of nature.”

When asked what inspired her journey into the forest and a deeper way of experiencing her relationship with the natural world, Ryder says, “As a Metro Detroit native I found myself missing nature and felt a longing to be closer. When I moved to Leelanau County 10 years ago and immersed myself in our natural surroundings, it fostered a reconnection and remembering of the ways I had engaged with the more-than-human world as a child. I want to offer our community a space to reconnect and remember too.”

Each 2.5-hour forest bathing experience takes place in Leelanau or northwest Grand Traverse County, and participants are limited to a maximum of eight per group to maintain a meditative environment. They receive the specific location shortly before the day of the event, usually meeting at Sleeping Bear Dunes or The Leelanau Conservancy lands, and hiking into the forest.

The session begins with grounding and orienting practices, and expressing gratitude for the land and land protectors. The guide will then offer a series of invitations for individuals to quietly wander out and interact with nature in their own ways. They are invited to slow down, explore new perspectives, and consider the trees’ perspective too. How is nature noticing us, and experiencing us?

“One of my favorite invitations is to invite participants to wander out and find a tree to lean on, then sense themselves being held by the tree, from below through the roots, alongside by the trunk, and then from above by the canopy,” Ryder shares. “Then to consider how the tree might feel holding them.”

The session closes with a tea ceremony (Ryder packs in Light of Day organic teas for the group) and a sharing circle, again giving thanks to the natural world and all it offers.

Ryder says participants often describe feeling nostalgia arise during the practices, as they remember and revisit the forgotten relationship they had experienced as a child growing and playing with the natural world. They walk away from this expansive experience with a deeper sense of being in relationship with nature again, and the inspiration to connect and share in reciprocity with the more-then-human world versus using it carelessly.

All of Ryder’s relational forest therapy experiences are offered on a donation basis, and she donates the proceeds in turn. Funds gathered are divided equally between historic land tenders: The Natural Resources Department of the Grand Traverse Band of Ottawa and Chippewa Indians, and current land tenders: The Leelanau Conservancy or Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lakeshore.

“Nature gives us so much,” she explains, “and holding space for this experience is my way of giving back.”

The practice of forest bathing gives back in other ways as well, beyond the immediate health benefits we experience ourselves, to our community and our local environment. “We care about what we feel connected to,” Ryder explains, “so as we begin to connect more deeply with nature, that leads to us taking better care of our environment. We might express our care by making more responsible and earth-friendly personal choices, or through environmental advocacy. We are connected to plants with every breath. Our reciprocal exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide supports life on earth. Honoring this relationship is natural, and vital.”

Upcoming Shinrin-yoku sessions are scheduled for July 23 from 1-3:30 p.m., Aug. 29 from 2-4:30 p.m., and Aug. 30 from 9-11:30 a.m. in Leelanau and northwest Grand Traverse Counties. Connect with ANFT Forest Therapy Guide Kristen Ryder to learn more and register at StillnessandStrengthYoga.com.