On April 2nd I began a 4-month training program to become a certified Forest Therapy Guide.  The program is offered through The Forest Therapy School.  This week, I wanted to explain what I’m up to in Thursday Thoughts.  Let me begin at the beginning, and hopefully it will all make sense by the end!

Ever since I was a child, I have loved trees.  There was an oak tree in our yard in Wadsworth, Ohio and I spent countless hours climbing up that tree and sitting in her branches, just watching the world go by.  Spending time outside among trees makes me happy and grounded.

I went to Elon University in Elon, North Carolina for college.  In Hebrew Elon means “oak tree”!  There is a section of campus that has gorgeous old oak trees, and graduation takes place outside “under the oaks.”  When students begin our studies, we are given an acorn.  When we graduate, we are given an oak sapling to plant out in the world.  I brought my sapling home to Wadsworth and the tree was planted in the same spot where my childhood oak had once lived.  The oak tree from my childhood had sadly become diseased and had to be cut down.  The Elon Oak at my childhood home is now glorious!  I even wrote a letter to the new home owners when my parents sold the house in 2020 to tell them about my (now their) Elon Oak in the hopes that they will take care of this particular tree and please not cut the Elon Oak down!

Soon after Neill and I began our relationship, I began going fishing with him all over Eastern Connecticut.  Sometimes Neill’s fishing spots are not ideal for walking.  I began my own version of forest bathing as I would sit with Neill as he fished.  Why forest bathing?  I read a book in 2020 by M. Amos Clifford called Your Guide to Forest Bathing: Experience the Healing Power of Nature.  The meditative practice of forest bathing resonated and was a life-saver during the pandemic.

In 2020, I went on my first silent retreat at Eastern Point Retreat House in Gloucester, MA.  My spiritual director on retreat, Sister Pat, would give me a different nature walk to try each day after our time together.  That silent retreat and specifically spending time meditating in nature boosted my spirit at a time when my spirit really needed boosting.   

Fast forwarding to the present—2024 is my final year in the UCC’s Next Generation Leadership Initiative.  Being part of the program entails the Pension Boards of the UCC providing funding for approved continuing education opportunities.  As I wrestled with what could be the culminating Learning Covenant for NGLI, it came to me: forest therapy!  From there, all these threads knit together to form a concrete action plan.  A member of my NGLI Cohort recommended the Forest Therapy Guide training through The Forest Therapy School specifically.

Spending time being intentionally mindful in nature has been transformative.  Ultimately this training will help me share this mindfulness practice with others.  Becoming a trained and certified Forest Therapy Guide is a way for me to have the tools to guide individuals and groups in a forest bathing experience.  It’s a form of ecotherapy. 

In the months ahead, you will inevitably be hearing about some of what I’m learning along the way.  Because the classes, homework, and readings are certainly on my mind and heart.  I am back in school for a few months in some ways!  If all goes according to plan, I will graduate on July 16th and can offer forest therapy walks to our congregation and beyond in the future.  It’s pretty cool thinking about how all of this has come together and how it all began daydreaming in the branches of that oak tree long ago.

Love,
Pastor Lauren 

Top photo by Rev. Lauren Ostrout and photos of my Elon Oak Tree over the years captured by Debbie Lorincz.

Thursday Thoughts 4/18/24