Sally Wren Stevens
Forest Therapy Guide
When I am Among the Trees
by Mary Oliver
When I am among the trees,
especially the willows and the honey locust
equally the beech, the oaks and the pines,
they give off such hints of gladness.
I would almost say that they save me, and daily.
I am so distant from the hope of myself,
in which I have goodness, and discernment,
and never hurry through the world
but walk slowly and bow often.
Around me the trees stir in their leaves
and call out, “Stay awhile.”
The light flows from their branches.
And they call again, “It’s simple,” they say,
“and you too have come
into the world to do this, to go easy, to be filled
with light, and to shine.”
Some of my earliest memories are of playing under the trees as a young child. I recall feeling a deep connection to them and a sense that they were always there for me, both as playmate and confidante. I would sit perched up in the majestic branches of a favorite maple tree and joyfully wonder the hours away. Other times, I’d sit at her strong base, extruding roots nestling me in as I’d bring my worries, sorrows, and wishes to be heard. I’d wonder how she might guide me if we could have a conversation, and often, not soon after, next steps and solutions would come to me. As a young girl, I felt a sense of kinship under-the-tree canopy and this natural-start has significantly shaped the work I do in the world as a Shinrin Yoku Forest Bathing Guide, Director of a 100% outdoor “forest school”, and as a Nature & Placed-based Educational Consultant.
In Shinrin Yoku Forest Therapy, we like to say that “the Guide opens the door, and the forest provides the medicine”. On each guided walk with me you will be provided with a series of gentle invitations that are designed to bring you back into your sensory body. These invitations help you to slow down, tune in, and feel connected to your body, which often leads to a state of wondering mind. The wondering mind is a place of open, calm, peaceful possibility.
I have been a practicing Shinrin Yoku Forest Therapy Guide for nearly a decade now. This work brings me great joy and I hope you will come Walk the Wonder Path with me.