A Healing Forest: Enriching Experiences and Insights from a Nature and Forest Therapy Session
It seems hardly would anyone surprise a Lithuanian by suggesting a walk in the woods. Forests and the proximity of trees are said to be in our blood. However, the weekend nature and forest therapy sessions turned out to be an unexpected discovery for some members of the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences (LSMU) community.
A walk in Pažaislis forest, an opportunity to have a unique experience of the forest, turned into an unexpected journey into one’s self, a reminder of how closely we are related to nature, and an enriching experience with insights from other participants.
Free nature and forest therapy sessions for members of our community were organised by specialists graduating from the LSMU Forest Therapy Postgraduate Programme. Both days of the weekend, the sessions were held in the presence of the course lecturer Dr. Julius Neverauskas.
Interest in the idea was enormous: about 200 participants registered for both sessions, not discouraged by the harsh weather of the weekend. In small groups, people walked along the paths of Pažaislis forest and immersed themselves in the serenity of the therapeutic session for several hours.
The forest therapists invited people to experience the usual forest in an unusual way: to take the time not only to smell and hear it, but also to feel it, touch it, and even taste it. The encouragement to talk to the tree of your choice, to speak to it, to tell it something you might not tell any human being, was an unexpected experience for many.
The trails of the forests were followed, capturing different aspects of the forest and personal experience, listening to both the forest and oneself, stopping to share sensations and thoughts. The forest environment and the nature of the session itself invited unexpected revelations, reflection on one’s own life and relationship with nature.
Dr. Julius Neverauskas, a postgraduate lecturer in forest therapy, reminded everyone that humans have been living in nature for thousands of years, and the need to be in nature is just ” inscribed” in our brains.
The modern trend of forest and nature therapy, known as forest bathing, originated in Japan as a counterbalance to urban culture.
One form of this therapy invited people to connect with the forest through all their senses: sight, smell, hearing, taste, and touch. The second, which Dr. Neverauskas developed together with psychologist-psychotherapist Giedre Žalyte, was to add to the concept of forest therapy the elements of nature in general, from grasslands to bodies of water.
“We, as therapists, are mediators who help people to benefit from the healing powers of nature by inviting, rather than instructing, for a shared experience to share insights about themselves, their own selves, their relationship with nature, others and themselves, their life goals and meaning.
Sharing insights is a very important part of forest therapy. People respond to the same invitation in completely different ways, so by sharing thoughts, impressions and experiences, we enrich each other. Even with the same invitation in the same place, we can discover different and new things each time,” emphasised the programme teacher.
The postgraduate study programme “Forest Therapy” is organised by the LSMU Department of Rehabilitation. The programme introduces the latest achievements and possibilities of the application of natural factors and forest therapy methods in clinical practice, innovations in scientific research and practice, and imparts practical skills in the application of nature therapy interventions individually and in groups.
The forest therapy programme is designed for doctors of all specialisations, psychologists, psychotherapists, healthcare professionals, public health specialists, nursing, midwifery, occupational therapy, physiotherapy, social work, lifestyle medicine, complementary and alternative healthcare, forestry, and landscape management specialists. Professionals from other fields and professions with an interest in nature and forest therapy are also welcome to attend the programme.