Reflections from Our Participants
Seeing the Forest Differently:
How a familiar landscape can become a place of deeper connection—and how that connection might grow into care.
Some of the feedback that has stayed with us most has come from people who already lived surrounded by extraordinary forests.
They knew the beauty of trees. They had access to woodland, sometimes just beyond their own back doors. Yet after walking with us, some described discovering a different way of being in those familiar places.
For our presentation on reciprocity and stewardship, these reflections matter. They offer glimpses of what can happen when we slow down enough to experience the forest with greater attention, tenderness and openness.
A familiar forest, encountered differently
Among the comments Cali remembers most clearly are people describing their experience as life changing, and one participant saying they would never see their forest back home in the same way again.
These are recollections from conversations during our guiding. What stayed with us was the depth of feeling behind them: something had shifted in the way participants experienced their relationship with nature.
A similar sentiment appears in our published testimonials. Misha, visiting from Russia, described the experience this way:
“It’s a whole new view on being in the forest.”
Misha also expressed an intention to continue forest bathing at home.
That possibility is meaningful to us. A guided walk takes place along one trail, on one particular day. What someone discovers there may accompany them into the places they return to afterwards.
The woman who rediscovered a leaf
One encounter has remained especially vivid.
A woman from Oregon told us that she lived at the edge of a forest, with large trees in her own backyard. Yet she had never felt a leaf from her own maple tree in the way she experienced a leaf during our walk.
During our sensory invitations, we encourage participants to touch bark, a leaf or moss gently, with the tenderness they might bring to holding a dear person’s hand. We invite them to notice texture, temperature, delicacy and the quality of their own attention.
The leaf in her hand became an encounter with something she had lived beside for years.
For Cali, this remains a powerful illustration of how familiarity and intimacy can be different experiences. We may recognise a tree immediately, yet still have much to discover in the way we attend to it.
A forest close to home can hold possibilities we have scarcely begun to notice.
What participants describe taking with them
Our published feedback reflects several aspects of this experience.
Cheryl, from Seattle, already loved outdoor activities but described a tendency to move through them hurriedly and without focus. She valued the opportunity to slow down and absorb her surroundings.
Rebecca, from Oregon, described the exercises as “simple but affecting” and anticipated returning to them throughout her life. Fang, from Beijing, also valued learning practices that could continue beyond the guided experience. These comments express intentions to carry something forward, rather than confirmed accounts of what happened later.
Other reflections bring attention to the human relationships within the experience. Laura, from Belgium, described feeling welcomed and recognised, alongside connection with nature and the guides.
Together, these accounts suggest that the setting, the invitations and the way people are accompanied can all contribute to a meaningful encounter.
For us as guides, warmth and trust help create room for curiosity. Participants can take their time, share what they notice and discover their own way of relating to the place.
From attention to relationship
These reflections help explain why our guiding places so much emphasis on how we arrive and how we attend.
We invite participants to pause at the forest threshold, become aware of their presence and consider the living community they are entering. Later, a gratitude practice offers space to acknowledge what they value and what the experience has brought into focus.
Our hope is that these invitations make room for a relationship to develop.
A tree someone passes every day may become a living presence they feel connected to. A patch of woodland may begin to carry personal meaning. A return visit may bring greater awareness of seasonal changes, small details or signs of disturbance.
These are possibilities we seek to encourage. Each participant’s experience remains their own.
What the feedback tells us—and what remains to be explored
The reflections shared here come from remembered conversations and selected testimonials across our walks and retreats. They give us valuable insight into how some participants experienced their time with us.
They are not a formal evaluation of the programme, and they do not establish whether participants subsequently changed their behaviour or took action to protect forests.
That distinction helps us identify the next question in our work:
How can we support a felt connection with nature so that it continues as care?
In our own lives, a sense of belonging and concern for the living world are closely connected. That experience informs our guiding and our belief that stewardship may deepen the relationship further. We want to explore how participants experience that connection themselves.
Future follow-up could invite people to tell us whether they returned to a familiar forest, continued a sensory practice, noticed something new or found a way to contribute to its protection. Their answers could help us understand what lasts, what support is useful and where our hopes need to be tested against experience.
An invitation that continues after the walk
For us, a meaningful forest therapy experience opens a relationship that can continue beyond the session.
A participant may begin by noticing the texture of a leaf. Later, they may become curious about the tree it belongs to, the place where it grows and the conditions that allow it to flourish.
We cannot assume where that attention will lead. We can offer opportunities for it to grow, and practical ways for gratitude to find expression.
The question we would like participants to carry home is simple:
Now that this place means something more to me, how might I care for it?
