
HIDASTA
Forest Therapy & Mindfulness
with Dr. Mattie Decker

Join us for a special session of forest bathing. Sunday “sacred saunters” provide space for contemplation and reflection in nature, opening and closing with a sharing circle. Each of these offerings will be led by Mattie Decker and will allow plenty of space for individual exploration in ways that respect each person’s unique needs.
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Sunday, February 12th 2023: 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Sunday, March 12th, 2023: 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Sunday, April 16th, 2023: 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Sunday, May 14th, 2023: 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Sunday, June 11th, 2023: 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Sunday, July 9th, 2023: 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Sunday, August 13th, 2023: 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Sunday, September 10th, 2023: 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Sunday, October 8th, 2023: 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Sunday, November 12th, 2023: 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
Sunday, December 10th, 2023: 1:00 PM – 3:00 PM
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“People ought to saunter – not hike! Do you know the origin of that word ‘saunter?’ It’s a beautiful word. Back in the Middle Ages people used to go on pilgrimages to the Holy Land, and when people in the villages through which they passed asked where they were going, they would reply, “A la sainte terre,’ ‘To the Holy Land.’ And so they became known as sainte-terre-ers or saunterers. Now these [trees] are our Holy Land, and we ought to saunter through them reverently, not ‘hike’ through them.”- John Muir
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Mattie is a certified Nature and Forest Therapy Guide. She is also a Zen practitioner, an Episcopal oblate, and a retired education professor, and she is certified in wilderness first aid. This event is one of our monthly forest bathing walks. Forest bathing is a practice from Japan that has been gaining attention in the West. Forest bathing is not about getting exercise. It’s not about hiking to get somewhere. It’s about being present in the forest, taking it in. It’s about creating relationships between humans and the more-than-human world.
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Registration is required. For questions, contact drmattie.decker@gmail.com or call: 828-333-3508
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Transfiguration Preserve is a member of the Wild Church Network
https://www.wildchurchnetwork.com/
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