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Tall pine trees looking up

A very warm welcome to The Thinking Tree.  

We provide guided walks, forest bathing, workshops and courses that facilitate a deep connection with nature; mindfulness techniques are at the very heart of our work with an emphasis on gratitude, self-compassion and letting-be. 

The connection between humans and nature is broken; we live in cities and towns and our windows look out onto urbanicity.   We are not separate from nature; we are nature, and here at The Thinking Tree, our mission is to heal the relationship we have with nature.  Natural mindfulness can awaken our deep, innate connection with nature, revitalize our natural perception, and start the process of rediscovering our true nature to create an embodied awareness of not only ourselves but also of the plight of the natural world.

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Natural Mindfulness simply means being present in nature; fully aware of yourself and your surroundings by engaging with all your senses. 

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We know that being out in nature makes us 'feel good' - the wind in our faces, the rustling of the trees, the sunlight dancing through the leaves and the earthy aroma of the forest floor.  We forget our troubles while in nature and stress levels decrease leaving us feeling relaxed and rejuvenated.  There is a reason that being in nature makes us feel like this - is it just because it's a break away from the rigours of everyday life, the recollection of childhood memories playing in the woods or is it more primal than that?  American biologist E. O Wilson hypothesised in 1984 that humans are hard-wired to have a biological need to connect with nature because that's where we come from, and we have learned to love the things that have helped us to survive.  He called this the biophilia hypothesis.  We are now moving away from biophilia to what Richard Louv phrased as 'nature deficit disorder' in his book 'Last Child in the Woods'. Nature-deficit disorder (NDD) contributes to a diminished use of the senses, attention difficulties, conditions of obesity, and higher rates of emotional and physical illnesses.  Louv posited that NDD comes about because of "the proliferation of electronic communications; poor urban planning and disappearing open space; increased street traffic; diminished importance of the natural world in public and private education; and parental fear magnified by news and entertainment media"

bridge nature trees path
bridge steps nature woodland forest

However, all is not lost!! Researchers in Japan found that our bodies have a profound a physiological reaction to spending meaningful time in nature; forest bathing and natural mindfulness promote:

  • lower blood pressure

  • lower pulse rate

  • lower concentrations of the stress hormone cortisol

  • lower sympathetic nerve activity

  • greater parasympathetic nerve activity

  • increased NK (natural killer) activity (Natural killer (NK) cells are effector lymphocytes of the innate immune system that control several types of tumours and microbial infections by limiting their spread and subsequent tissue damage)

and therefore the health benefits of 'forest bathing' come from evidence-based research that has been peer-reviewed and replicated by other researchers all over the world.

Please take the time to look at the guided walks, workshops and courses and the free natural mindfulness resources we offer.

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