Coming to Our Senses

connect with nature for wellbeing:

a hands-on, interactive online course

Next start date: April 8th

An introduction…

…to Forest Bathing, Jan’s approach to nature connection, and why you might like to join the course.

Hands-on, and interactive

This is a practical course:

  • You learn through experience - not just about Forest Bathing, but by diving in and doing it from day one!

  • The weekly videos demonstrate relaxing activities to practise in your neighbourhood.

  • These activities encourage you to slow down and explore nature through your physical senses.

  • They have a magical effect - we pause our constant thinking, and sink into an absorbed and tranquil state.

  • Research shows it’s highly beneficial for our health and wellbeing - even 20 minutes has lasting benefits.

This is an interactive course:

  • We share the journey with a global cohort of people, all exploring our own local nature wherever we live.

  • We meet in a private online community forum, and in regular live Zoom calls, to share our experiences.

  • You’re supported by your fellow students and myself every step of the way.

This is a course for anyone:

  • It’s suitable for people of any background, lifestyle, fitness level or ability.

  • You don’t need a forest - you get to know the nature around where you live in fresh and fascinating ways.

  • The activities are flexible to your other commitments - you can practise at any time in the week to suit you.

  • Suitable for busy people - we suggest one hour a week will bring you lasting benefits.

  • No previous experience is needed - anyone can benefit, from total beginners to Nature Connection Guides.

  • There are three options to suit your needs, a short taster, a full course, or a professional version.

Kind words from past students

Choose one module … or the full year’s program

  • Forest Bathing for joy!

    A whole year of joy!

    Start anywhere you like in the cycle

    Each week you’re offered a new activity, which guides you to connect with your local nature through your physical senses. These playful experiences help us sink into a calm, open and focused Forest Bathing state of mind.

    Each module takes 6 leisurely weeks to explore a theme through activities, poetry, quotes, and science showing how connecting with nature benefits our wellbeing.

  • Forest Bathing for wellbeing

    Hearing nature afresh

    Start date: 8th April 2024

    In modern-day life our sense of hearing is often overstimulated by man-made noise. Our mind seeks rest by tuning out, meaning we also miss the beauty of natural sounds.

    This module’s weekly listening activities help open our ears and minds by noticing the natural sounds around us in fresh and intriguing ways. Many students are astonished by what they discover in their everyday life.

  • Forest Bathing for presence

    Presence in nature

    Start date: 20th May 2024

    Our inner physical senses, are largely ignored in modern-day life. Developing awareness of these senses is closely linked to improved mental health, self-awareness, and better relationships.

    This module explores our local nature through this sometimes mysterious inner world. Students comment that this has been a revelation and brought a new sense of ease.

  • Forest Bathing for connection

    Feeling nature afresh

    Start date: 1st July 2024

    Our sense of touch often becomes less sensitive after childhood. Modern-day life offers us mostly hard flat surfaces, so our mind becomes bored and switches off.

    This modules engages our brain’s curiosity to reclaim our tactile sensitivity. Students say that rediscovering the richness of this sense in their daily life is captivating and deepens their relationship with the natural world.

  • Forest Bathing for relaxation

    Pause for August-September

    The full course guides you to experience nature in fresh and delightful ways through the seasons.

    We cover seven themes over 10 months, and we take a pause over Aug-Sept.

    You can join the cycle at the beginning of any of the themes, or enrol in a single module as a taster.

  • Forest Bathing for health

    Smelling nature afresh

    Start date: 7th October 2024

    Our sense of smell is neglected in modern-day life and tends to grow dull, meaning we miss out on the benefits that nature’s smells have on our physical, mental and emotional wellbeing.

    Exploring nature through smell can be fascinating, and many students notice that reawakening this sense adds a whole new dimension to their daily life.

  • Forest Bathing for creativity

    Creating with nature

    Start date: 18th November 2024

    We are all born with creativity, but it often gets left behind after childhood. This is unfortunate, as engaging our creativity is not only deeply satisfying, but is also known to reduce stress and improve mental health.

    This module’s activities are designed to reawaken our playful side. Past students have noticed how surprisingly absorbing and restorative they found these simple practices.

  • Forest Bathing to reduce stress

    Seeing nature afresh

    Start date: 30th December 2024

    Our sense of sight tends to be both over-emphasised and intensely focused in modern-day life. This is linked to increased levels of stress.

    This module’s activities develop a softer focus and open our eyes to new enchanting ways of seeing our world. Past students say they’ve become more aware of the beauty in their daily lives, in the most unexpected places.

  • Forest Bathing for connection

    Connecting with nature

    Start date: 10th February 2025

    Our direct personal relationship with nature has largely been lost in modern society. Yet this beautiful connection lies dormant within each of us, just waiting to be rekindled.

    This module’s activities guide you to explore your neighbourhood with intriguing ways of noticing, and students say they feel a renewed sense of love, respect, and belonging with the natural world.

Choose your plan

Forest Bathing in the park


Single Module

£45
Start date: 20th May 2024

Join us for 5 weeks of Forest Bathing activities, supported by our online community and your course guide, Jan.

✓ New Forest Bathing activity each week

✓ This fee is deducted if you upgrade

Forest Bathing for wellbeing


Full Course

£320
Next start date: 20th May 2024

Join us for 10 months of Forest Bathing activities supported by our online community, plus live video calls with Jan and your fellow students.

✓ Supportive community to learn together

✓ This fee is deducted if you upgrade

Forest Bathing in your work


Professional Course

£430
Next start date: 20th May 2024

Join us to earn 30 CPD Credits while learning some fantastic skills to bring to your workplace. You choose the pace, taking 2-10 months.

✓ 30 CPD Learning Credits

✓ 1-2-1 support calls with Jan

What’s included

What's included Single Module Full Course Professional Course
Course length 5 weeks 10 months 2-10 months
Time needed each week 1 hour 1 hour 1-3 hours
Access to content 6 months 1 year 1 year
Weekly Forest Bathing activities
Peer support in community
Support from course guide
14-day satisfaction guarantee
One live video call per module
Follow-on community
Two 1-2-1 support calls
Follow-on professional community
30 CPD Learning Credits

Scholarships

Feelgood Forest Bathing wants to be part of the solution to our urgent global problems. One way we do this is by supporting people who are working towards a peaceful, fair and environmentally sustainable world.

A percentage of the course places are gifted as scholarships to individuals and organisations who are actively working for a new vision of the future. This can be in any field including education, health, peace, regenerative agriculture, conservation, community building, the arts…

If you’re eligible for this scheme or know of an organisation that could benefit, you can apply for a scholarship below or contact us to find out more.

Frequently Asked Questions

  • No problem! This course is intended for everyone from total beginners to experienced Nature Connection guides. We will guide you step-by-step, whatever your starting place. As the learning is based on your own unique experiences, you will have something to contribute from day one.

  • Each week the new course content is released on Monday and you can take part in your own time to suit your lifestyle. You have a week to practise the activity and share your experience with our online community. If you have a busy week, no problem, each week's content is stand-alone so you cannot fall behind, and you can return to anything you missed later on.

  • Once we start to look around with a Forest Bathing mindset, we realise nature is everywhere. The course walks you through a series of fun activities to unearth this fresh way of noticing what is around us in our daily lives. By practising these activities in your own neighbourhood, you will come to see it in delightful new ways. Before you know it you’ll be madly in love with this wonderful new feeling, and amazed that you missed out on it for so long!

  • The course was created during Covid Lockdown, so most activities offer a variation for people who cannot leave their home. Many of the wellbeing benefits of Forest Bathing come from the state of mind we sink into when we engage with these activities — calm, relaxed and alert. If we are ill, tired or too busy to go the park, the activities can be practised while sitting at a window, offering many of the same benefits for our physical and mental health as if we were in a natural space.

  • Students who complete the full course will receive a certificate of attendance from Feelgood Forest Bathing. Students who successfully complete the Professional Development Course will also receive an official certificate for 30 Professional Learning Credits through the CPD Certification Service.

Hi, I’m Jan. I began working in nature connection in the 1980s, taking city children into the woods to meet and become comfortable in the natural world. I fell in love with this work, as it brings together my care for people’s health, nature and our beautiful planet.

Today I combine my decades of training and experience both in healthcare and in nature connection, by running a practical online course.

My vision is that everyone will have the opportunity to develop a direct personal relationship with their local nature, for the sake of their own health, the future of society and the natural world. When we connect with nature, we fall in love, and what we love we protect.

I live in the UK, and when I’m not working as a physical therapist or nature guide, I’m often to be found in my vegetable garden, walking, cooking world food or making willow baskets.

By the end of the course, you will have:

  • Learned delightful ways to connect with the beauty of your local nature

  • Built stress resilience and improved your health and wellbeing

  • Discovered a deeper sense of belonging in the natural world

  • Developed the skills to become a confident independent Forest Bather

  • Begun an adventure that will continue deepening for the rest of your life