Guided Nature and Forest Therapy Walk – Saturday, May 13, 12 p.m. to 3 p.m. at High Park, 1873 Bloor Street West
Join us a Forest Therapy walk, led by certified guides, Vivian Bird (Pinehsheesh) and Lisa Deanne Smith. Different from hiking or exercise, this slow-paced, three-hour experience includes a series of sensory oriented invitations that activate your body’s parasympathetic nervous system inducing relaxation, stress release and other physical and mental health benefits. Click here for more information on Forest Therapy.
Registration is limited, free tickets will be released on 1 April at 12 p.m.: https://bit.ly/3XlyOga
About The Guides
Vivian Bird (Pinehsheesh) is of Cree descent from Northern Ontario and a member of Constance Lake First Nation. Vivian’s roots are embedded in Northern Ontario. Her work experiences in education and employment led her to recognize her deep connection with, and yearning to help others, connect with the land. She is passionate about and participates in decolonizing relationships in terms of relationship to self and the land on a personal level. She is a Forest Therapy Guide certified by the Global Institute of Forest Therapy and Nature Connection. Her commitment and mission are to help people remember their relationship with nature, with themselves and others, while focusing on the aspects of nature connection, body wisdom, slowing down, deep relaxation and heart intelligence. She enjoys guiding and invites participants to experience a journey of remembering while on forest therapy walk.
Lisa Deanne Smith is the Senior Curator of Onsite Gallery at OCAD University. Her curatorial practice challenges extractive worldviews through visual culture that equally values humans and all living beings (earth, air, water, plants, and animals, etc.). Her recent exhibitions exploring these ideas are, The Sunshine Eaters, How to Breathe Forever and How will we be with you? which featured Shary Boyle, Nick Cave, Jeremy Dutcher, Brian Jungen, Bonaventure Soh Bejeng Ndikung, Alanis Obomsawin, Ebony G. Patterson and Pejvak, among others. These projects and her drive to increase the value of experiential knowledge led her to discover Forest Therapy, also called Shinrin-Yoko or Forest Bathing. Recently, she became a certified Forest Therapy Guide through the Global Institute of Forest Therapy and Nature Connection and finds it deeply meaningful to support others (and herself) in connecting to nature in a way that is life affirming for all living beings.
