Forest Therapy Groups for Businesses & Corporations

Greetings!

Forest Therapy Sessions help your employees explore their relationships with self, each other, and nature through various mindfulness and bodyfulness modalities. They can be fun and uplifting, and/or deeply restorative and rejuvenating.

Team building
Prevent burn out
Increase clarity and focus

There are hundreds of restorative ways to engage the earth, and I pick them based on the land, the weather, your needs, and your goals. I’m happy to guide just your department, or all your employees in a session designed just for you!

We begin with a 15 minute guided meditation and end with tea that I've locally harvested. The activities in-between are slow and sensory. There are several opportunities to share and be heard through Listening circles. They total 2- 2.5 hours.

This sequence (also called Forest Bathing)has been proven to reduce stress!

You can see scientific evidence of the health benefits:

Stress Reduction Theory and Attention Restoration Theory here.

Nature Contact and Human Health: A Research Agenda NIH National Library of Medicine PubMed article.

"Evidence-Based Nature Therapy: Advances in Physiological Evaluation" MDPI article.

Shinrin-Yoku (Forest Bathing) and Nature Therapy: A State-of-the-Art Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health article

See the simple steps below, then Contact Me

with your theme, location request, some possible dates, and number of people. We’ll schedule a brief phone call to iron out details, and I’ll email you the final plan.

~Shannon Gorres, MDiv, MA, ANFT certified guide

Pick a Theme

New employees? Celebrating? Merging departments? Big changes? Just need to really relax?

Let me know what your intentions or curiosities are, and I’ll attune to them.

Some themes people have requested were:

“Team Building after Trust has been Low”

“10th Anniversary Celebration”

“Stress Reduction after a Long Haul”

I've led group sessions for: the KCK Schlagle Nature Library, City of Lawrence Park and Rec, Lawrence Rotary Club, Journey to New Life Kansas City, Ernie Miller Nature Center Olathe, Creighton University Omaha professors, and more.

Choose Location

You can choose:

~Hidden Valley Camp (40 acres of private wooded and prairie land inside West Lawrence). It has ample parking, groomed trails, picnic tables, roofed shelters, and latrines.

~Your own location. You can pick a park or land near you. I travel up to 15 min from downtown Lawrence for no extra cost. If further, a small travel time fee is added ($1/minute).

Each person's experience will be unique, no matter the location. Various thoughts and feelings are welcome, and I’ll hold space for individual experiences within the whole group. There is no expectation of being a certain way, other than following safety rules. :)

Payment

1-5 people $250

(ex: Leadership team)

6-10 people $350

(ex. Board of Directors)

11-25 people $500

(ex. Group of employees)

I’m happy to support larger groups by bringing an assistant; please contact me to make arrangements for this.

Payment is due at time of booking.

(Very small or start-up businesses may qualify for the non-profit rate.)

*If you're interested in ongoing sessions for employee wellness or multiple groups, please contact me to discuss scheduling and pricing that fits your needs.

Prepare

How can I describe Forest Therapy to my employees or leaders?

“Forest Therapy is a research-based framework for supporting healing and wellness through immersion in forests and other natural environments. Forest Therapy is inspired by the Japanese practice of Shinrin-Yoku, ‘forest bathing.’ Studies have demonstrated a wide array of health benefits, especially in the cardiovascular and immune systems, and improving mood and cognition.

We build on those benefits and look beyond, to what happens when people remember that we are a part of nature, not separate from it, and are related to all other beings in fundamental ways.

Heart-based Relational Forest Therapy™ focuses on rebuilding relationships with the More-Than-Human World as a foundation for healing people and the planet."

~Association of Nature and Forest Therapy (you can see their science at Research | Association of Nature and Forest Therapy)

Weather

There’s all sorts of wonderful kinds of weather to Forest Bathe in! When approached with an open mind, exploring in unusual weather can be fun and heart opening! Unless it is unsafe to be outside (lightning, dangerous heat index, or wind chill below freezing), I will keep our agreed upon date. If the weather is totally unmanageable for you, you have the option to defer once by contacting me at least 2 days ahead of time to pick a new date within a 2 week period (from the options I have available). Or I can guide you in an indoor or virtual session that day (helping you experience therapeutic relaxation with plants in your building and other indoor stress-reduction practices), and/or you can elect to purchase a new in-person session.

Respect

Shannon respects individuals' rights to participate in the way that is most comfortable for them. There is no obligation to share thoughts or engage specific activities. Each person will explore what feels most helpful for them. Shannon holds a strong container of support for the group to also support one another in diverse ways of being.

Contact Me

with any questions, or with your theme idea, location request, some possible dates, and number of people. We’ll schedule a phone call to iron out details, and I’ll email you the final plan.

~Shannon Gorres, MDiv, MA, ANFT Certified Guide