Reflections on Training to be a Forest Therapy Practitioner

13th November heralded the final online session of my Forest Therapy training with Light Box, and with all my assignments submitted, the completion of my training which began the previous July. The session brought mixed feelings as it would mean the last contact with my supportive trainer, Ava Maginnis, and with the rest of my cohort. A huge part of the experience has been connecting with such diverse practitioners across the country and learning how they found their paths and what work they are doing out in their communities.

A week or two later, I have felt in a more celebratory mode as my certificate of qualification arrived and my young person indulged me in a photo shoot in the park.

For anyone considering this type of training, I can only speak in positives, as a result of the thoughtful insights I gained, the evidence base which I am now determined to be an ambassador for, and the inspiration it has offered for me to pursue such restorative practices. I would be happy for anyone who is considering the training to reach out with any questions they have.

A few words on the experience of training with Lightbox also. I am one of a growing community of middle aged women in the UK who has had to learn that firstly, they have been overcoming ADHD their entire lives undiagnosed, and secondly, that hormonal imbalances caused by peri-menopause were going to play havoc with those symptoms. Against this backdrop, I personally found this particular course to be so accommodating to my way of learning due to the flexibility it offered. The portfolio of small assignments were delivered in one go with one overall deadline. This enabled me to approach the assignments in whatever order I wished, flitting from assignment to assignment as my interest was piqued, and for me this was a revelation compared to a more academic approach.

I'll finish by offering up some lyrics which feel really resonant to my visceral experience of forest therapy, even if perhaps from an arguably incongruous source:

"If we disconnect

We ain't gotta be aligned

We can redirect

Everything that's on our minds, let it go

Change up your frequency and

You'll see how easily you'll disconnect

From everything that's on your mind"

I'd love to hear from anyone who connected with these lates ramblings!