Podcasts about forest bathing club

In today's episode, I am joined by Julia Plevan Olianksy. Julia is the author of The Healing Magic of Forest Bathing and founder of The Forest Bathing Club. She guides nature-based healing experiences and runs Organism Thinking, a consultancy bringing ecological intelligence to brands. She recently launched placebased.org to support bioregional initiatives. Our paths first crossed in a women's circle in 2019 and recently intertwined again through the algorithm of Substack. Julia writes the Substack The Earth Has a Mother about mothering through climate change and her essay on bioregioning nudged me to invite her on the podcast for this wonderful conversation.We talk about the practice of reorienting one's life personally, culturally, economically, and politically around the natural characteristics of a specific bioregion, meaning rooting deeply in place and aligning with the rhythms, ecosystems and stories of the land you inhabit.Tune in to hear more from us on:Finding belonging to a place through understanding its bioregion and ecosystemLiving more locally and regenerativelyThe cultural significance of soil in shaping community and identityObserving, witness and partaking in the natural cycles around youThe homogenisation of culture because of the internetThe impact of technology on personal connectionsTransitioning from a tech career to a more localised, nature-connected lifestyleEmbracing the healing power of nature and community engagement in a tech-driven worldWriting as a creative process and outsourcing it to AIResources + LinksJulia's Substack The Earth Has A Mother and her essay Becoming BioregionalJulia's Book The Healing Magic of Forest BathingFind Julia online through The Forest Bathing Club and her bioregioning initiative Place Based ProjectsMy book, Root and Ritual: Timeless Ways to Connect to Land, Lineage, Community, and the SelfConnect with me on Instagram @beccapiastrelliTimestamps[0:00] Introduction to Julia Plevin Oliansky[10:19] The Meaning of Bioregioning[15:57] How to Become More Bioregional[20:20] Finding Identity in a Tech Driven World[29:21] The Cultural Significance of Soil[38:22] Human Connection and the Role of AI[51:57] Signs of Spring and Witnessing Natural Cycles

Susun Weed answers 90 minutes of herbal health questions followed by a 30 minute interview Author Julia Oliansky.  Julia Oliansky, née Plevin is the critically acclaimed author of The Healing Magic of Forest Bathing and founder of The Forest Bathing Club. Since 2017, she has been guiding individuals, groups, and organizations through healing experiences in nature. With over a decade of experience in brand and innovation strategy, she is also the founder of Heal Yourself People Earth (HYPE) — a climate creative agency for those who are ready to put the planet at the center of their purpose.  Julia has a BA from Dartmouth College, an MFA from The School of Visual Arts and training in numerous healing modalities. She lives in Ashland, Oregon with her husband, daughter, and dog on a small urban orchard overlooking the mountains.

Today, I spoke to the thoughtful and creative forest bathing facilitator, consultant, designer and author, Julia Plevin. She wrote the wonderfully  entitled book; The Healing Magic of Forest Bathing: Finding Calm, Creativity, and Connection in the Natural World. She also founded the Forest Bathing Club and takes groups of people into nature to find and share their connection to that nature in her part of the world, Oregon in the US. Julia sees herself as someone here to create a more beautiful world where all beings are able to thrive and live in harmony with nature. We talk about growing up in a culture, which valued achievement over personal and planetary wellbeing, how she moved into a more creative space and a totally different place to live and amongst other things, what happens in her forest bathing groups, a practice stemming from Japan called Shinrin Yoku. I'm sure you'll agree when you hear our chat that Julia has a beautiful soul and an interesting and refreshing outlook on life, so enjoy your time outside today if you can, plug in some headphones and off we go. www.juliaplevin.com  www.forestbathingclub.com www.wildkabbalah.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/stepping-out/message

"The medicine you need is the medicine you have to offer" is what she asserts. Eco-spiritual guide, author, and nature-based designer is who she is. On this Winter Solstice episode, Julia Plevin joins me to discuss the intricacies of forest bathing. It can be a solitary practice or one to share in community. She even started a Forest Bathing Club. Julia breaks it way down about how the forest guides us (if we listen), and in return, how we can give back to the planet. You can find her website at juliaplevin.com and join the Forest Bathing Club by visiting www.forestbathing.club and on Instagram.  

The Japanese practice of “shinrin-yoku” literally means ‘forest bathing.’ Essentially, it’s about reconnecting with nature in a deep, personal, primal, visceral way. It’s about re-engaging with nature as the living entity it is, as opposed to taking it for granted and using it for our purposes. Julia started The Forest Bathing Club in the San Francisco Bay area after returning to California following design school in NYC. Having spent so much time in a big city, she realized her soul was calling out for it; she had lost her way of ‘being’ in nature and needed a reawakening. The mental and physical effects of being so disconnected were very real for her and had to be addressed. As a designer, innovation strategist, and futurist, Julia experienced a sense of what Environmental Philosopher, Glenn Albrecht, called Solastalgia: Existential distress caused by environmental change… often embodied in a sense of powerlessness or uncertainty. Julia said what she had learned about who she was and the work she was doing didn’t feel true to her anymore. “Nature is innovation,” she explains to Laura. “We need to remember it… remember it’s already here. The Original Instructions are hidden in plain sight… we simply have to tap into them.” They include asking for permission, engaging in reciprocity rather than ‘doing to…’ She encourages others to consider the Earth as a person we are in relationship with, and as with any healthy relationship, we need to spend time together, accept one another as each is, offer and receive gifts, and spend time in conversation… not just speaking, but also actively, deeply listening. We need to revisit and reclaim our individual relationships with nature. “If you watch kids, they have a way of being in nature… they do it intuitively, inhabiting their animal body,” she explains. They experience awe and are energetic and appreciative of what they discover in nature; we need to experience that and allow it to seep into our bones, our bodies, our very being. This practice can help us uncover the limiting beliefs that keep us small and remind us of our true nature, our true power. If we allow ourselves to be fully present in our world, we will notice that whatever is in bloom will grow to its fullest potential with no fear, insecurity, worry about what other flowers, trees, bushes, etc., are doing around them. It’s not a competition. There’s room for all of us to be in full bloom. Julia shares some insight about the medicine wheel, in which each point on a compass is a phase or cycle of our growth, experience, wisdom, and engaging in the world in various roles. “Unfortunately,” she says, “we become ‘olders’ not elders. We need the full circle – youth brings energy and elders bring wisdom.” But to offer that wisdom we need to be open, connected, engaged, learning, growing, and understanding… not simply taking up space. Laura and Julia wind down the conversation with a brief discussion of the transformation process as observed in butterflies – from caterpillar to chrysalis to butterfly. In the chrysalis stage, the process is governed by “imaginal cells” which having the knowing of the new form coming into being. Perhaps the kindred spirits we meet along our journey are like imaginal cells in our lives, there for a reason to help us as we are becoming the next best version of ourselves. If you’re interested in learning more about Julia’s work and the Forest Bathing Club, check out these links: The Forest Bathing Club Julia’s Work The Healing Magic of Forest Bathing – Julia’s Book Psychology of Place Julia’s Bio Julia Plevin is a nature connection guide and author. As the founder of the Forest Bathing Club, she has more than a decade of experience guiding individuals and groups of people into the forest, where the practice of shinrin-yoku helps calm the mind and create space for wellness and prosperity. Julia taps into the power of Nature to design transformative healing experiences. Through studies with Shamanic Reiki masters, Shugendo Buddhist monks, Mayan elders, Bhakti yogis, and Renewal rabbis, she has developed a unique program that both respects and transcends tradition and brings us back into direct connection with Source. Having healed herself from a decade-long saga of chronic illness through connection to Nature, Julia believes that true healing happens when we take our healing into our own hands and is passionate about empowering people to tap into Nature as a way to heal themselves. Whether you’re an urban dweller or a mountain resident, Julia’s practice aims to help improve our lives through deeper connection, alignment, and attunement with Nature. Julia’s work has been covered widely in outlets such as CNN, Outside Magazine, Business Insider, The New Yorker, and Sierra Magazine, and the Forest Bathing Club has more than a thousand members from around the world. Her first book, The Healing Magic of Forest Bathing: Finding Calm, Creativity, and Connection in the Natural World, came out in 2019 (Ten Speed Press).  

Julia Plevin is the founder of Forest Bathing Club and author of The Healing Magic of Forest Bathing  A lifelong lover of nature, she first realized the effect that nature had on her mental health and wellbeing while pursuing her MFA at The School of Visual Arts in New York City. Her graduate design thesis became all about the health issues caused by disconnecting to nature and the way to heal them — to reconnect back to nature. Ever the designer, Plevin started the Forest Bathing Club on Meetup.com in 2015 as a minimum viable product — just to see if it was something people desired as much as she did — and has ever since been in awe of the journey it has taken her on and humbled by the people and resources who have been drawn to this work. She's spent time in old-growth forests around the world, trained with Mayan elders and met so many inspiring people who are also working in service of the trees. As the club grows and evolves, her aspiration is to inspire people to jumpstart their personal journey of reconnection to nature. It's the way forward. For more of Julia’s work, visit www.juliaplevin.com

Linda Lombardo, of Voice of Evolution Radio, joins Todd Lejnieks on Edgetalkers to welcome Julia Plevin. Julia is the creator of The Forest Bathing Club and author of The Healing Magic of Forest Bathing (Ten Speed Press, Spring 2019).  "I used to think there was something wrong with me because despite having a B.A. in History from Dartmouth College, an MFA in Products of Design from The School of Visual Arts, and experience working with design luminaries at IDEO, SYPartners, and fuseproject, I could never quite fit into any of the boxes that I was supposed to go in. I felt that my purpose was to offer my creative gifts to the world but that this world was not made for me." - Julia Plevin

Todays episode is with Julia Plevin. Julia is the creator of The Forest Bathing Club and author of The Healing Magic of Forest Bathing (Ten Speed Press, Spring 2019).  She is an artist, designer, healer, speaker, author, daughter, sister, and friend relentlessly working to create the world she believes in and  wishes to inhabit.  She is also the co-founder of Trouble Makers, Inc and the founder of Mermafly — a new hybrid healing and design studio that works with clients to help them gain clarity and realize their vision.   SCIENCE HAS PROVEN WHAT WE'VE KNOWN ALL ALONG, Luxuriating in the forest lowers stress levels, increases creativity, improves immunity, and makes you more content and clear.

This week on the Unconventional Life show is Julia Plevin. She is an eco-spiritual guide, author of the book “The Healing Magic of Forest Bathing: Finding Calm, Creativity, and Connection in the Natural World”  and founder of the of Forest Bathing Club.  Julia has a decade of guiding people into the forest to reconnect with their spirit and physically heal themselves. Julia shares what exactly forest bathing is and some guidelines to start your own forest bathing practice. 

Julia Plevin, nature connection guide and author, is the founder of the Forest Bathing Club, Julia has more than a decade of experience guiding individuals and groups of people into the forest, where the practice of shinrin-yoku helps calm the mind and create space for wellness and prosperity. Through studies with Shamanic Reiki masters, Shugendo Buddhist monks, Mayan elders, Bhakti yogis, and Renewal rabbis, she has developed a unique program that both respects and transcends tradition and brings us back into direct connection with Source. Her work has been covered widely in outlets such as CNN, Outside Magazine, Business Insider, The New Yorker, and Sierra Magazine, and the Forest Bathing Club has more than a thousand members from around the world. She recently published her first book, The Healing Magic of Forest Bathing: Finding Calm, Creativity, and Connection in the Natural World. In this conversation, Julia describes how she came to be involved with forest bathing and what the work means to her and those she guides through the experience. She is actively engaged in bringing forest bathing to the world.  Following the conversation, Ricky reflects on the nature of healing from an energetic perspective, where he believes forest bathing is doing its deepest healing work. Links: http://forestbathing.club To purchase Julia’s new book: https://amzn.to/2XVmPrG

Improviser and writer Marlee Grace talks with Julia Plevin, the creator of Forest Bathing Club about Marlee’s book: How To Not Always Be Working.

Julia Plevin is an author and entrepreneur. She is the founder of the Forest Bathing Club in San Francisco. She started studying the mental health consequences that people suffer from when they don't get enough time in nature. After this she decided to dedicate her life to getting people back to a state of nature and thus the Forest Bathing Club was born. (0-10 minutes) Subscribe Sign up with your email address to receive news and updates. Email Address We respect your privacy. Thank you! What is Forest Bathing? She explains how it comes from a Japanese practice called Shinren Roku which literally means luxuriating in nature. It is essentially a practice where you go into nature and do nothing but attend to the present moment. It comes from a period where the Japanese started doing lots of research in the 1980s into the health effects of being in nature and how it lowers the heart rate, levels of cortisol and stress. When did you first start Forest Bathing? Julia says she has always loved being in nature, but it was only when she started living in New York that she became aware of the lack of nature and how that would affect her mental health. She started doing her graduate work on the mental health effects of being disconnected from nature in 2015. The forest bathing club was born out of this research. Is the Forest Bathing club a business? Forest Bathing is a community organization. They usually do an event that is a co-creative event where people bring something to share with the whole group, an offering back to nature. Sometimes they do charge, but usually it is to ensure that they can afford to make the experience a supportive one for all participants. When did you first start getting into mindfulness and how does that relate to your love of nature? Julia says she has been doing yoga since she was 15 years old and was aware of mindfulness, but didn't really know what was. She never wanted to do the meditation at the end of the class. She loved being in nature but she would always be running through. She then started to realize the importance of slowing down and finding that more mindful state of being. How does it feel to go from spending a lot of time in nature and then back into the city with all its frantic energy? Julia explains a story of how one day she was running through Sutro park in San Francisco and a guy stopped her and asked her "Do you know why there all these ribbons around the trees here?"She was like "I'm just trying to run here. Don't bother me". He responded by saying that "These ribbons mean they are about to cut down these trees". She became aware of what was going on and realized that someone had to shout at her in order to really pay attention. She says that this man told her about how they planted Eucalyptus in the park 140 years ago and now UCSF (who owns the land) is trying to cut them down. It is feared that they might be looking to build more housing there under the guise of reforestation. She talks about how in order to write her book about Forest Bathing she found a small cabin by Stinson beach and spent time deep in nature every day. As new communities form new cities or we restore old cities, how do we ensure proper access to nature as a byproduct of living in cities? Julia says that its important to make space in new cities for nature, but Forest Bathing is actually practiced where the city meets nature. Its the integration of urban and wilderness areas. She brings up an important point that as humans we usually separate nature from urban environments, but we forget that human beings are a part of nature and so is everything we create. The streets and buildings are all part of nature as well. While in your cabin in Stinson beach, how long would you spend in between times in nature and time spent with other people?Stinson Beach is a beach town in the summer, but Julia was living there during the winter so she didn't have much contact with other people except for a friend who lived up the road. Its also only 45 minutes away from San Francisco so she could also come back pretty quickly.Stewart mentions that the most difficult thing for him when practicing in nature for long periods of time was coming back into an urban environment and being hit by the wave of frantic energy that most people spend their lives in. Most people who live in cities are always on, always under a sympathetic nervous system response. How do you deal with coming back into the city and the hustle and bustle? Whenever Julia would find herself coming back to the city and getting stuck in traffic she would look at a tree on the side of the road and this would remind her that she still can find an avenue of relaxation when surrounded by urban chaos.She also mentions that when humans look at nature we go into a soft focus which calms us down as opposed to a hard focus when scanning the environment for danger which many of us are doing all the time. Just looking at nature lowers stress. She would reminder herself that every breath she is taking is nature and all the people surrounding her are part of nature. In times of stress she would continuously repeat this. (10-20 minutes) In your meditation practice do you use mantra? Yes she has picked up various practices like this over the years studying with various teachers. One in particular she picked up from Llyn Roberts when working with her for five days in the Hoh rainforest which is the largest temperate rainforest in the world. Llyn wrote a book with Sandra Ingerman. Julia was called to live in the Hoh forest with llyn. She reached out to Llyn about research for the book. There was a synchronicity where Llyn had reserved the dates that Julia wanted to come see her in the Hoh for another client, but that client couldn't actually make it so it worked out perfectly. While in the Hoh rainforest, Llyn gave Julia a few simple mantras. One is "Out of my head, into my body, my heart and the earth". This can be done while putting your forehead into the ground and letting go of thoughts. She has another one that she uses. She went to Japan and lived with a shegendu monk. Shegendu buddhism is a lineage of Buddhism that holds that nature holds the ultimate truth. If you want to learn you have to go out into nature. The monk asked her "do you feel a connection with the universe?"She said "somedays, but somedays not". This guy also gave her a mantra that she uses with certain hand positions. She says her name out loud and says the date. She says "I'm grateful to be born in a human body. Today I connect to the universe and I aim to use my connection to serve the highest good."This reminds Stewart about the traditional understanding of mantra and how many teachers will argue that you need a mantra in Sanskrit because Sanskrit is a holy language that is able to make all the sounds that a human is capable of making which other languages cannot. Stewart says he doesn't buy into this, but the idea behind mantra was that you connect to a deity through Mantra and Julia's mantra fits this purpose. Can you describe the feeling you get when you are in nature? She says she can try and will do so through a story. When she first started writing the book, she was really stressed out about the process of writing and deadlines. She started getting imposter syndrome and questioned who she was to be writing a book about nature when stress was still a constant struggle for her. This feeling of stress became a sort of bullshit meter. She started to use it as a trigger to practice all the techniques she was learning from these people. She learned that its great to learn all these techniques but there is no point where the anxiety will somehow stop for good. It always comes back. Even today when she has a big decision to make she had to go to a redwood grove and just sit on the earth and let it take all the stress. When she uses the practices and techniques they seem to work for what she needs them for.There seem to be two trends for a certain part of millennials: a move back to nature and a tendency to live out of vans. How do you see both of these trends playing out and connecting together over the next five years? Julia says that she sees a lot of awakening around the benefits of nature. People are in such a grind all the time. They have stressful jobs and then in order to mask the stress they start drinking or shopping. When people start to spend more time in nature, they realize that they need way less to be happy. All of a sudden instead of stressing out about the job, they find way more joy in what's growing in their backyard. People are starting to wake up and ask themselves the question: What am I doing with my life and why? As people start to move into nature more, Julia questions what will happen to cities.Stewart explains how cities evolved because they centralize knowledge and talent in one geographical location and idea exchange almost happens by osmosis. People are stimulated to innovate in cities. Now with the internet this process is becoming more decentralized. This couldn't happen really with older people because they are used to transmitting ideas person to person, but with people who are younger they are more able to do this on the internet almost naturally. So the necessity of living in a city might change and young people might end up living in nature more. This could be a positive change but might also put stress on natural ecosystems.Julia brings up the point that when people are living in a city they have a much smaller ecological footprint. Stewart explains how self driving cars will also started (30-40 minutes) What is the main practice or technique you have used the most over the past 30 days? She says that she does the sun salutation described above pretty much every day.Julia also asks people "What do you get from nature?" People start with saying food, water, and then they eventually realize that they get everything from nature. Then Julia asks people "What do you give to nature?" People usually realize that they never really thought about this. What do people do when they go forest bathing? Julia starts by saying that its easier to describe what forest bathing is not. It is not a hike and it isn't being lead in the forest by a naturalist. Some people come regularly, others come just once. Basically on a forest bathing trip they start off with describing where people are geographically. If they are in the Presidio, Julia starts off by explaining what is the cultural, historical and natural environment and its significance. She also talks about where they are cosmically, for example talking about whether we are in a full or new moon. Everyone has an opportunity to share their name, where they are coming from, and an intention for the experience. Throughout the forest bath there is nothing you have to do. You can sit underneath a tree and thats it. As a group, Julia leads different meditations. She leads people into connection with their five senses. There are games and shamanic journeying. It depends on what is going on in the environment. At the end, there is a council where people can share their truth. After this there is a tea ceremony where people drink something from the forest around them. The next one is on the 29th of April with an organization called Kismet. How did you find your voice on your journey to create Forest Bathing? Julia says that it has been difficult to find her voice. When you start to share things like mindfulness and meditation, there is no way to do it in without authenticity. There is no other option besides practicing what you preach. Its really hard to find your voice.In the beginning, she would speak one way with someone and then another way with a different person. Part of finding her voice was to speak from a place of authenticity all the time. This is scary. What is your definition of yoga? The union of breath, body and movement. Julia says that Yoga is a really powerful way to move energy through her body. She says that Forest Bathing is just one part of the pie. The forest is very grounding and contains an earth energy. She found out that she was actually too grounded and she needed a different energy. She started going to Hot yoga classes to find some more fire energy. This reminds Stewart about the original form of yoga which changed once pictures started to enter the technological milieu. It's pretty clear from the historical record that the yoga we practice today in studios has very little connection with the practice of yoga as it has traditionally practiced. Many people think that the movement side of yoga was actually more of a dance. There was little to no thought put to how the poses looked to an external observer. Julia explains how she is leaving for Guatemala tonight and the retreat she is about to go on. What will you do on the retreat? Its a group of reiki healers and there will be a lot of Mayan astrology. If you have one piece of advice for someone picking up a meditation practice? Find something that works for you. Its important to find your own voice. When Julia first started training to become a yoga teacher she found that she tried to copy what the instructor said, but instead she realized its important to live the practice so that it comes through you without trying or efforting. That it flows out of you.