Forest therapy guide touts benefits of a walk in the woods
Spending some time in the woods will make you feel better, says a Kelowna forest-therapy guide
Kelowna’s Lindsey McLellan loves to tip-toe through the forest sans shoes. Thus her barefoot goddess nickname and email address.
She also adores hugging trees, crouching on fallen logs, laying on mossy outcroppings, skimming her fingertips over creeks, dangling over waterfalls, examining light-reflecting cobwebs and befriending little bugs.
Generally, she loves spending as much time in the woods as possible soaking up its positive vibes. And she wants you to join her. McLellan is an Association of Nature and Forest Therapy-certified guide who will take you on a health-boosting hike.
“The Japanese call it shinrin-yoku, basically it’s the same thing as forest bathing,” she said.
“The benefits of forest therapy are numerous. It will improve your immune system, reduce stress, anxiety and depression and even benefit those recovering from surgery.”
McLellan positions forest therapy “more about being than doing.”
While you’ll lightly hike in the forest for two-and-a-half to four hours, this isn’t necessarily about exercise.
Just by being in the forest and being open to its benefits, you can benefit from the natural chemicals secreted by trees, especially evergreens, called phytoncide.
The chemicals have been scientifically proven to boost immunity, mood and feelings of wellness.
Spending time in the forest also decreases the stress hormone cortisol in humans and leads to an overall feeling of robustness, McLellan said.
On McLellan’s therapy hikes, there are also lots of stops to do what she calls invitations, which are little talks or intentions about reconnecting with your senses and soaking up nature.
Participants are urged to reach liminal space, a realm beyond your usual feelings and experiences to embrace timelessness and the ultimate in benefits from the forest.
McLellan knows some people may be scared off by all this touchy-feeling, hippie-dippy, airy-fairy sentiment.
“I tell people just to give it a chance. Use it as an introduction of what to expect in the forest and the benefits,” she said.
“There is safety in groups. So if we go out as a small group and we can share what we’re experiencing, I can guarantee they will be pleasantly surprised by what happens when they slow down and soak it in. There will be a feelings of light, wonder and joy. We have to have a tea ceremony at the end of our walks to help people come back to reality.”
McLellan has set up a Facebook business page called Forest Therapy Kelowna.
For her first forest therapy walk, 16 people signed up.
“That was amazing for just getting started,” she said.
“I’m trying now to keep group size to five to eight people so everyone gets the most out of it.”
People can join a group that’s put together from the Facebook page or book McLellan for a customized one-on-one experience, an outing for a couple, a small group marking a birthday, anniversary or special event, a corporate outing or a work-or-sports-team building exercise.
Prices for small groups are $40 to $60 per person and a one-on-one experience is $100.
Some of McLellan’s favourite places for forest bathing are Scenic Canyon Park, Mission Creek Park and KLO Creek Park.
McLellan is also leading a series of tree walks for the Central Okanagan Regional District’s Environmental Education Centre for the Okanagan (EECO).
The next two-hour session in that series is July 7 for $15.
As a teenager, McLellan suffered with chronic migraine headaches that forced her to be home schooled.
She discovered after walking barefoot in the forest she emerged feeling like another person, headache free.
While she walks barefoot in the forest as much as possible and encourages others to do so as well, she realizes most people will want to wear running shoes, hiking boots or sandals.
Since discovering that forest connection, McLellan, now 25, has travelled the world spending months at a time in Mexico, Central America, Hawaii and Asian.
She also spent a year in Italy as a nanny learning Italian and teaching the kids she was looking after English.
Throughout all her travels, she sought out forests for daily reboots. “It’s a necessity in my life,” she said. Now back in Kelowna, where she was born and raised, McLellan is still a nanny, but has a flexible schedule that allows her to lead forest therapy walks.
The job also allowed her to get away for eight days to take the guide training from the Santa Rosa, California-based Association of Nature & Forest Therapy.
“I’m still learning how to run a business,” she said.
“But the forest calls to me. If I can sustain myself with what I love my true life purpose will really have found me.”