When you stay here, you’re already surrounded by forest. A forest bathing session takes you further in, beyond the tiny house and into parts of the forest guests don’t otherwise see, with Tahlia as your guide.
Forest bathing (shinrin-yoku) isn’t a hike. There are no goals, no step count and no destination. You’re not there to do anything. You’re there to notice and to simply be, natural.
What happens in a session
A session is deliberately slow. We wander, often much slower than a normal walk, and you’re invited to engage your senses instead of your to-do list: the smell of damp bark, moss under your hand, dappled light moving on leaves, birdsong layered over the wind.
We’ll sit in meditation, listening to the sounds or watching the sights of the forest. I’ll offer small sensory invitations, like ‘find something that surprises you’ or ‘notice five different textures’. Depending on the weather and how you feel, you may lie on a big waterproof mat and look up through the canopy.
It’s less a hike and more a wander with your senses turned all the way up. With sitting spots along the way where we can deepen our meditation in the atmosphere of the forest.
Where it came from
Forest bathing isn’t an ancient tradition. The term was coined in 1982 by Tomohide Akiyama, head of Japan’s Forestry Agency. Japan had urbanised at breakneck speed, with a work culture so intense it has a word for death from overwork. Akiyama connected two dots: a country that’s about two-thirds forest, and a population fraying under city life. It began as public health policy, not spirituality. Japan now has more than 60 certified forest therapy sites.
What the research suggests
Studies, many from Japan, link time in forests with lower stress hormones, lower heart rate and blood pressure, and, in some small studies, higher activity in immune cells. Research on the effects is still growing. But you don’t need to believe it’s medicine to notice that a slow walk under trees leaves you calmer than when you went in.
Your guide
Tahlia is a trained Sylvotherapy coach and an experienced meditation practitioner and teacher, author of How to Meditate Easily, Effectively and Deeply. She has a deep love for this land and the beings who live on it.
The practical details
Bookings are through Air BnB Experiences. Sessions start and finish at the tiny house. If you would like to book, message me after making your accommodation booking, and I will open a custom, private slot just for you.
