Treespeed; forest bathing with Highland Quietlife

We start with a rather profound realisation – I caught up with Moose late on a Sunday night after a drive home and during the drive I started to believe “I am enough”. Conversations earlier in the evening had got me thinking about ‘how do we know things are just good enough as they are’ and ‘how do we know when to just leave things alone and not try to change or improve’? This then led me down the rabbit-hole of realising in the last 18 months I’ve managed to shed that feeling that “I’m just not that good enough”…and most of the time I believe it. The Highland Quietlife monthly community forest bathing group in Grantown on Spey is well-established now and we talk about the importance of having that safe space to be vulnerable and heal. There is real value in meeting with the same people regularly to experience nature together. Spending time in silence but not on your own – really powerful. Why do we automatically hide our emotions? At a recent session someone pointed out that most people had experienced some sort of emotion and quickly wiped their eyes before coming back to the group – it’s ok to show are emotions right, we need to normalise it? Fondly remembering our ANFT Guide training back in January 2020 and the overwhelming emotion we both experienced that week – we had to find that breaking point to be able to fully give ourselves to the trees and find belief in the practise we were learning. One of my reasons for training with the ANFT was due to their focus on the reciprocal nature of our practise in that we need to look after the land and the land looks after us, but also focus on who has been on the land before us. I’ve always had a fascination with history, those who came before us and learning about who has been on the land before me is a magical part of the journey for me during a forest bathing session. The areas I guide in are rich in Jacobite history and during the silence of a session you can hear the folks from old around us for sure. Beautiful. Cath and Highland Quietlife can be found on www.highlandquietlife.co.uk and guides within the Cairngorms National Park in Scotland. Moose can be found in BC, on Vancouver Island www.sitkaforestimmersion.com Music by Orangery from Pixabay.

We are back! It was fantastic to sit down with Moose again and blether about forest bathing. In this episode we catch up on what we've both been up too but also talk about forest bathing with children (including digging for dinosaurs); ecoanxiety in the younger generation and how forest bathing can help; health equity and removing barriers and also the importance of letting go of any egos as a guide. We also talk a lot about our new community forest bathing group in the Cairngorms. We meet on the first Sunday of the month in Grantown on Spey and see several people coming via the Green Health Prescriptions in Badenoch and Strathspey. Get in touch for more info! Cath and Highland Quietlife can be found on www.highlandquietlife.co.uk and guides within the Cairngorms National Park in Scotland. Moose can be found in BC, on Vancouver Island www.sitkaforestimmersion.com Music by Orangery from Pixabay.

Join me as I chat with fellow guide, Jeannie during this episode; we recorded this back in December, when she was kind enough to sit down for a blether one winters evening. Jeannie guides under her company, Woodlands Breathing and is based in West Lothian, Scotland. During our chat we meander through the 'whys' and 'hows' of training to be a Nature and Forest Therapy Guide and current inspirations, making it a great episode if you are considering training or newly qualified. Jeannie has also recently taken part in a research study of the effects of Forest Bathing on Long-COVID, you can read the paper here. More About Highland Quietlife Nature heals...sitting, sharing space with nature, admiring beauty or simply playing amongst it...nature is awesome. Welcome to the world of ‘Forest Bathing’. Forest Bathing, or Shinrin-yoku is the practise of immersing yourself in nature; ‘bathing’ in the awesome goodness that trees release into the atmosphere; reaping the benefits from magic little things called ‘phytoncides’ and receiving mental calmness from the fractal patterns, vibrant shades of green and calming blues around us – what better place to do this than the Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands of Scotland. Cath and Highland Quietlife can be found at www.highlandquietlife.co.uk and guides within the Cairngorms National Park in Scotland.

The Cold – love it or hate it, for some, there is a fear of the cold or a hatred, for others a beauty of the peace that snow can bring (I'm in that camp). I love guiding sessions in winter and this episode starts with Ana’s first experience of guiding a session in the cold, (podcasting 101 – press record at the very start! So, what started as an anecdotal chat before we really started was actually interesting so it’s part recorded!) You still get the gist though. I met Ana in January 2020 (before lockdown was a ‘thing’) as we trained with the ANFT to be nature and forest therapy guides. Ana Leilani Ka’ahanui is a Co-Founder and the Director of Experiential Programs with Capital Nature. During this episode we start off in the cold and with discussions including Chris Hemsworth of all things, before we get down to the mission of Capital Nature and the importance of reciprocity. Ana’s work inspires me to do more great things and to keep growing and developing my own practise – hope you enjoy! More about Capital Nature: Capital Nature is a nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing nature into the lives of Washington Metro area residents and visitors. We are a fiscal 501c3 project of Green Spaces for DC. We believe people are healthier, and our communities more resilient when nature is part of our lives. We envision a Washington DC region where a culture of nature engagement and stewardship thrives—where daily contact with the natural world supports human wellbeing and ecological health across our communities. Capital Nature provides information on the region’s many available, but not always known, nature events: from forest walks to citizen science adventures to educational workshops and stewardship projects. We collaborate with partners and friends to create new opportunities for nature engagement, and invite all to share their stories of experience with the natural world. Through Capital Nature’s Biophilic Practice Group, we develop nature-based designs and strategies for wellbeing and community health. Useful Links Capital Nature https://capitalnature.org/ iNaturalist https://www.inaturalist.org/ You can read more about Ana’s nature story in this article. (pages 12-19) Craigsfarm Community Hub, West Lothian, Scotland http://craigsfarm.org.uk/ Also, if you need a bit of colour in your life check out https://www.instagram.com/explore/tags/thedailyrainbow More About Highland Quietlife Nature heals...sitting, sharing space with nature, admiring beauty or simply playing amongst it...nature is awesome. Welcome to the world of ‘Forest Bathing’. Forest Bathing, or Shinrin-yoku is the practise of immersing yourself in nature; ‘bathing’ in the awesome goodness that trees release into the atmosphere; reaping the benefits from magic little things called ‘phytoncides’ and receiving mental calmness from the fractal patterns, vibrant shades of green and calming blues around us – what better place to do this than the Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands of Scotland. Cath and Highland Quietlife can be found on www.highlandquietlife.co.uk and guides within the Cairngorms National Park in Scotland.

The Podcast is back!….well kind of……but I need your help – and I’m not very good at asking for help. Give episode #21 a listen, it’s a hard one, not because there is anything especially upsetting but because I am incredibly self-conscious about how my voice sounds at the moment. I’ve tried to keep it short but have tried to explain where the podcast has gone over the past months. For all my 42 years of life, I have always relied on my voice and being able to blether to people, laugh and talk about stuff when it needs to be. As much as I try to write things rather than speak, (I am one of those people who has a book in them somewhere), I am just much better at speaking and talking it through, over the last few months that has been taken away from me and my head is now at the point of bursting with things I have to say! This podcast needs to get back on track and at the moment I need you to help me with that, as I cannot expect anyone to listen to my croaky awful voice alone! The only way I’ve been able to talk for these 7 minutes or so for this episode, is force my voice and I’ll pay for it tomorrow I’m sure. Give it a listen and if you feel inclined get involved and give me a shout to talk about your own nature experiences. You’ve maybe been on a session with me in the past, you are maybe a guide with your own practise or just quite simply, you want to talk about nature…. Please get in touch and lets see if we can make something work. More About Highland Quietlife Nature heals...sitting, sharing space with nature, admiring beauty or simply playing amongst it...nature is awesome. Welcome to the world of ‘Forest Bathing’. Forest Bathing, or Shinrin-yoku is the practise of immersing yourself in nature; ‘bathing’ in the awesome goodness that trees release into the atmosphere; reaping the benefits from magic little things called ‘phytoncides’ and receiving mental calmness from the fractal patterns, vibrant shades of green and calming blues around us – what better place to do this than the Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands of Scotland. Cath and Highland Quietlife can be found on www.highlandquietlife.co.uk and guides within the Cairngorms National Park in Scotland. Moose can be found in BC, on Vancouver Island www.sitkaforestimmersion.com

For this episode we had the chance to chat with Ben Page. Ben was one of our trainers in LA in 2020 as myself and Moose began our journey to become Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and among many things he is now, also a published author. 2021 saw the release of his book, ‘Healing Trees; a pocket guide to forest bathing.’ Ben’s book is beautiful and comforting. Delivered in short, easy to read chunks, it is an easy read not because it is simple, but because it just flows and tricks you into reading more than you intended. His text flows in and out of dreamy illustrations and weaves its way into your soul – all done in a relaxing green shade of text! As Ben points out, this is not a book that you are checking how much more there is to read as you go along, you can just read it and enjoy. Fun fact - Ben loves cats and due to lockdowns, now knows most of the cats in his neighbourhood…. one of the unexpected facts we learnt about Ben during this recording! There is a little bit of interference during the recording, not too bad, but I feel I should acknowledge it, I think three time zones and my wonky Highland internet was too much for our platform! There is also one or two naughty words – sorry, they don’t normally get past the trees, but they did this time. You can find more information about Ben at www.integralforestbathing.com More About Highland Quietlife Nature heals...sitting, sharing space with nature, admiring beauty or simply playing amongst it...nature is awesome. Welcome to the world of ‘Forest Bathing’. Forest Bathing, or Shinrin-yoku is the practise of immersing yourself in nature; ‘bathing’ in the awesome goodness that trees release into the atmosphere; reaping the benefits from magic little things called ‘phytoncides’ and receiving mental calmness from the fractal patterns, vibrant shades of green and calming blues around us – what better place to do this than the Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands of Scotland. Cath and Highland Quietlife can be found on www.highlandquietlife.co.uk and guides within the Cairngorms National Park in Scotland. Moose can be found in BC, on Vancouver Island www.sitkaforestimmersion.com

Welcome to our third podcast series. I’ve taken a while to get myself in gear for this one and that is mainly to my own pressurising and sometimes paralysing standards and expectations – I’m sure we can all relate to that at times! I’m really pleased that the first full episode of this series (episode 2) can be Ben Page. Ben was one of our trainers in 2020 and in 2021 he released his book; Healing Trees, a pocket guide to Forest Bathing, so hope on over to episode 2 and have a listen! More About Highland Quietlife Nature heals...sitting, sharing space with nature, admiring beauty or simply playing amongst it...nature is awesome. Welcome to the world of ‘Forest Bathing’. Forest Bathing, or Shinrin-yoku is the practise of immersing yourself in nature; ‘bathing’ in the awesome goodness that trees release into the atmosphere; reaping the benefits from magic little things called ‘phytoncides’ and receiving mental calmness from the fractal patterns, vibrant shades of green and calming blues around us – what better place to do this than the Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands of Scotland. Cath and Highland Quietlife can be found on www.highlandquietlife.co.uk and guides within the Cairngorms National Park in Scotland. Moose can be found in BC, on Vancouver Island www.sitkaforestimmersion.com

Do you ever have that overwhelming urge to stop and appreciate the wonder of the place you live or location you are in? Sometimes it’s too easy to forget and be busy rushing from A to B; we all need that reminder to just stop and see and breathe for a moment. During this shorter episode, Cath holes up in the greenhouse before a visit from the Tawny Owls as the sunsets behind the trees and we chat all about remembering to say thank you and appreciate nature around us. More About Highland Quietlife Nature heals...sitting, sharing space with nature, admiring beauty or simply playing amongst it...nature is awesome. Welcome to the world of ‘Forest Bathing’. Forest Bathing, or Shinrin-yoku is the practise of immersing yourself in nature; ‘bathing’ in the awesome goodness that trees release into the atmosphere; reaping the benefits from magic little things called ‘phytoncides’ and receiving mental calmness from the fractal patterns, vibrant shades of green and calming blues around us – what better place to do this than the Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands of Scotland. Find me at https://www.highlandquietlife.co.uk/

This podcast recording was an experience for many reasons; Cath sits with the sunrise in the Cairngorms, Scotland and Moose sits by a campfire and under a full moon on Vancouver Island, Canada. A sunrise gives us the chance to wake up with the day and everything around us; a time of quiet reflection; story telling with friends; meeting new friends and in some cases being invaded by a couple of polite Clydesdale Horses! Anyway, tune in, enjoy and next time you get the chance, get up for the sunrise and welcome the day. More About Highland Quietlife Nature heals...sitting, sharing space with nature, admiring beauty or simply playing amongst it...nature is awesome. Welcome to the world of ‘Forest Bathing’. You can book onto a guided sunrise or full moon session this year here https://www.highlandquietlife.co.uk/calendar Forest Bathing, or Shinrin-yoku is the practice of immersing yourself in nature; ‘bathing’ in the awesome goodness that trees release into the atmosphere; reaping the benefits from magic little things called ‘phytoncides’ and receiving mental calmness from the fractal patterns, vibrant shades of green and calming blues around us – what better place to do this than the Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands of Scotland. Find me at https://www.highlandquietlife.co.uk/

One of my first words was 'dog' and it was certainly one of my most used words (probably is now truth be told). I think there has always been at least one dog in my life since I was 8 years old, the first being a little Westie called Pip who was the dog I had always asked for. Currently, there are three in our family home, all rescue Greyhounds; Newt, Edie and Clover and we foster for an awesome rescue called GAGAH (Give a Greyhound a Home). Nadine Mazzola has written a wonderful and award winning booking called 'Forest Bathing with your dog' and so we started to explore just how different it is if you let your dog be your forest guide! Moose and I both have sighthound / lurchery type hounds and so life can be excitable at the best of times. Moose heads out with Leia and I have newly adopted Clover as my guide...... it is very similar to Forest Bathing with children....... More About Highland Quietlife Nature heals...sitting, sharing space with nature, admiring beauty or simply playing amongst it...nature is awesome. Welcome to the world of ‘Forest Bathing’. Forest Bathing, or Shinrin-yoku is the practice of immersing yourself in nature; ‘bathing’ in the awesome goodness that trees release into the atmosphere; reaping the benefits from magic little things called ‘phytoncides’ and receiving mental calmness from the fractal patterns, vibrant shades of green and calming blues around us – what better place to do this than the Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands of Scotland. Find me at https://www.highlandquietlife.co.uk/

"Being told by the universe and humanity to stay put is an opportunity to explore our surroundings...….it's OK to just go and sit for 10 minutes and just listen to what's around you." - said by two wise Nature and Forest Therapy guides! It's true though eh! It's only this past year I've learnt and permitted myself to just sit and take time out, even if only for 15 minutes. Yes, if people compliment me on this skill, I leap to the defense to justify why I have sat for a period of time and done nothing... sound familiar huh?! More About Highland Quietlife Nature heals...sitting, sharing space with nature, admiring beauty or simply playing amongst it...nature is awesome. Welcome to the world of ‘Forest Bathing’. Forest Bathing, or Shinrin-yoku is the practise of immersing yourself in nature; ‘bathing’ in the awesome goodness that trees release into the atmosphere; reaping the benefits from magic little things called ‘phytoncides’ and receiving mental calmness from the fractal patterns, vibrant shades of green and calming blues around us – what better place to do this than the Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands of Scotland. Find me at https://www.highlandquietlife.co.uk/

I like to look for the good things and positive outcomes in life, but... it's been a funny old 12 months huh? I'm not going to say the C word or the P word (you can go figure those out yourself), but I am going to acknowledge that sometimes it's been hard to find the positive! However, remotely guided Forest Bathing sessions - who knew these could be a thing!? I resisted guiding remotely for a while but eventually gave it a go and could see the power that still emitted from the forest and surrounding nature and could hear and witness the effects participants experienced. Here, we chat with Pete about how he found the remote session he attended compared with in person sessions. What we did discover is he needs supervision else he gets lost in the woods..... More About Highland Quietlife Nature heals...sitting, sharing space with nature, admiring beauty or simply playing amongst it...nature is awesome. Welcome to the world of ‘Forest Bathing’. Forest Bathing, or Shinrin-yoku is the practise of immersing yourself in nature; ‘bathing’ in the awesome goodness that trees release into the atmosphere; reaping the benefits from magic little things called ‘phytoncides’ and receiving mental calmness from the fractal patterns, vibrant shades of green and calming blues around us – what better place to do this than the Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands of Scotland. Find me at https://www.highlandquietlife.co.uk/

Are you as weary of staring at video calls as we are? It would seem we certainly both reached our limit on the same day and headed into nature to reconnect and switch off, forming, without realising it, a threshold into the 'more than human world'...... however our ways were quite different! We also touch on how you can find that connect with nature if you are an urban dweller and the joys of forest bathing with your dog! More About Highland Quietlife Nature heals...sitting, sharing space with nature, admiring beauty or simply playing amongst it...nature is awesome. Welcome to the world of ‘Forest Bathing’. Forest Bathing, or Shinrin-yoku is the practise of immersing yourself in nature; ‘bathing’ in the awesome goodness that trees release into the atmosphere; reaping the benefits from magic little things called ‘phytoncides’ and receiving mental calmness from the fractal patterns, vibrant shades of green and calming blues around us – what better place to do this than the Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands of Scotland. Find me at https://www.highlandquietlife.co.uk/

A year on from starting our journey as Nature and Forest Therapy Guides, this week we touch on our fears, group acceptance and feeling safe in the dark. More About Highland Quietlife Nature heals...sitting, sharing space with nature, admiring beauty or simply playing amongst it...nature is awesome. Welcome to the world of ‘Forest Bathing’. Forest Bathing, or Shinrin-yoku is the practice of immersing yourself in nature; ‘bathing’ in the awesome goodness that trees release into the atmosphere; reaping the benefits from magic little things called ‘phytoncides’ and receiving mental calmness from the fractal patterns, vibrant shades of green and calming blues around us – what better place to do this than the Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands of Scotland. My co-podcaster and fellow guide is 'Moose', or Michelle and she can be found on Vancouver Island, BC. Find me at https://www.highlandquietlife.co.uk/ Follow me at https://www.facebook.com/highlandquietlife and https://www.instagram.com/highland.quietlife

Hot chocolate, chocolate brownies and snow...... welcome to family Forest Bathing! After recent guest Pete coined the phrase 'treespeed', this and our future podcasts will focus on our nature connection and 'what are we noticing?' - a fundamental element to any Forest Bathing session. Cath tried out family sessions in the Scottish snow, tackled iced up footpaths and mountain bikers and the Moose had the most magical deer / prisms / water droplets experience ever!! More About Highland Quietlife Nature heals...sitting, sharing space with nature, admiring beauty or simply playing amongst it...nature is awesome. Welcome to the world of ‘Forest Bathing’. Forest Bathing, or Shinrin-yoku is the practise of immersing yourself in nature; ‘bathing’ in the awesome goodness that trees release into the atmosphere; reaping the benefits from magic little things called ‘phytoncides’ and receiving mental calmness from the fractal patterns, vibrant shades of green and calming blues around us – what better place to do this than the Cairngorms National Park in the Highlands of Scotland. Find me at https://www.highlandquietlife.co.uk Follow me at https://www.facebook.com/highlandquietlife and https://www.instagram.com/highland.quietlife

Join myself and Moose for a diverse chat with Pete Wright about ultra running, learning to just stay in the moment, brain injuries and the importance of acceptance. Pete was a Forest Bathing sceptic before I trained and he took part in his first session, now he talks about "Tree speed" and well and truly sees and has received the benefits himself. "It's about being in the moment and just letting it happen." #ultrarunner #braininjury #headway #reasonstorun #environmentalprotection #forestbathing #naturetherapy Cath and Highland Quietlife can be found on https://www.facebook.com/highlandquietlife and emailed on highlandquietlife@outlook.com

"I'm completely not OK" one of those realisations we all get at some point or another. But what do we do with that thought? How many of us bury it and ignore it? How often do we actually stop, feel it, do something about it and importantly share it with someone else?!? This episode was recorded mid-October and me personally, I was not OK, but I'm grateful I have some tools to help me recognise that and importantly act upon it. This podcast explores more about how we act upon the 'wonky' feelings, setting goals and remembering who we are and why we are here. We blether about Higher Powers, nature connection, fear and choosing to take the power out of the problem. A big shout out to one of my 'happy places' that I mention; the Inverness Botanic Gardens http://www.invernessbotanicgardens.co.uk/ Cath and Highland Quietlife can be found on https://www.facebook.com/highlandquietlife and emailed on highlandquietlife@outlook.com

Season 2 of our Forest Bathing podcast kicks off with the most perfect of forest fairies; Leigha Horton of Minnesota based Nature and Forest Therapy company, Silvae Spiritus. The beauty of this girls company name sums her up; Silvae Spiritus is Latin and translates to "the breathing of the forest" - pure beauty in words. During this podcast she talks the 'whys' and 'how's' of Forest Bathing, with a slightly odd diversion to tortoises, before we get it back on track and focus again! "It felt like the universe hit a giant tuning fork and my heart vibrated in response." Leigha is a qualified Nature and Forest Therapy guide just like myself (Cath) and Moose, as trainer and mentor, she has been there since day one of our training. She was the perfect person to call upon to kick of season 2. You can find Silvae Spiritus and Leigha and Travis at https://silvaespiritus.com/ Cath and Highland Quietlife can be found on https://www.facebook.com/highlandquietlife and emailed on highlandquietlife@outlook.com

With the end of our training to be Nature and Forest Therapy Guides in sight, its time to round-up our experiences and look to the future! Highland Quietlife https://www.facebook.com/highlandquietlife

A 'solo walk' can be such a powerful event and it's deeply personal. Sunset to sunrise or sunrise to sunset, your choice; walking on your own; no communication with other people or screens, just you and the 'more than human world'. My first Solo Walk was an important finale to my intensive training week in LA, six months later my next walk was from sunset to sunrise and it felt like a suitable tribute to my practicum training and becoming a Nature and Forest Therapy Guide. Here, Moose and I discuss our own experiences, Coyote visitations and even get gate crashed by a bat (...or not!) Highland Quietlife https://www.facebook.com/highlandquietlife