Tam (they/them) is a certified forest guide, trainer, mentor, and educator with the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy, founder of Toadstool Walks and co-founder of Acorn Programs, a business & practice development bridge program for guides. Tam is passionate about the ways that forest therapy can build collective empathy and compassion to deepen and broaden relationships, by supporting health and healing for all beings and exploring how we seek and find belonging in the natural world through story and immersive experiences.
Regarding my past I was not necessarily been connected to nature anymore than any other earthling. If anything I think I was a little more disconnected. I grew up in the suburbs outside of Boston and had lived in Boston since 1998. I would say I’m more disconnected from nature than say, a farmer or someone who has lived in a more rural area or humans that are more reliant on being in a relationship on a daily basis for basic things like food and water and that sort of thing. But for me – as a kid I never really grew up hiking or camping much – but as an adult – now I love to do those things and being outside and recreating.
At one point I really got into meditation which kind of lead me towards this path. Although I don’t call what I do now meditation because – while there’s some similarities, and some similar health benefits — it fairly different than my understanding of the formal meditation practices I’ve been interested in.
There’s so many different lineages and styles of meditation that – some are very specific in you go about the practice. My general understanding of meditation is more of your back upright, with good posture, and your airways are really clear and your relaxed but not so relaxed that you’re sleeping – paying attention to your breath and kind of watching your thoughts come and go, just letting things settle so you can go back into your life and be say, less compulsive – know how to pause before reacting. We make decisions constantly – to not be so reactive and have more choices about how we respond to everything that happens to us on a daily basis. So you’re being still, and noticing what arises with neutrality, watching your thoughts. That’s my understanding of meditation.
The practice that I’m trained in, and that I guide in, is called Forest Therapy – and it’s a fairly specific – it’s an experience that lasts 2-3 hours typically- but it can be integrated into longer or even shorter workshops. I’m actually doing a couple of day-long retreats this summer out on the Boston Harbor.
So the difference between sitting or walking meditation and guided Forest Therapy is – we’re not just neutrally noticing what is – we’re actually focusing on what feels good – with the big emphasis on the senses – the freedom to be whatever we need to be. I concentrate on a lot of invitational language.
I go out of my way to tell people that you don’t have to sit upright, you don’t have to be still and quiet – that’s not the goal – you can move around, you can wiggle, and be comfortable. It’s rare that we are invited in a guided program to truly find our own comfort. I want people to just be themselves – they can be weird – whatever you need to do to settle yourself. I feel that meditation can be a bit more goal-oriented – to notice thoughts. I guess the goal of forest therapy would be to notice physical sensation. It’s not so much mindfulness – I often use the term bodyfulness. We take in information through our senses, and our mind then sorts it which then leads to a whole range of possible responses. All the different ways our nervous system can respond – our aim is to not go in the direction of fight or flight – our aim is rest and restore.
Through forest therapy I’m trying to help people to activate the parasympathetic nervous system, having them slow down and notice what things smell like, what things look like – all the different colors, different textures. We really are just trying to open up our senses. If we don’t use our senses regularly, they dull. We’re all living with dull senses if we’re constantly on a computer or scrolling on our phones. There’s so much research out there on all the positive impact of being outside, being in nature in being in natural light, being under a canopy in the forest. There’s no “a-ha” moment around nature in particular, it’s more just this kind of knowing. I don’t think I’m special to know it. I think we all know it to different degrees. It’s more that I just really feel like myself and I feel really good when I’m in nature. I feel like I can relax in a different kind of way than I can when I’m walking down a busy urban street, for example. Its about this sense of belonging. So many people these days are feeling this disconnect. During the pandemic – where did people go? Many navigated toward nature because there were so many places that were closed. Nature is our natural habitat. It’s what cures us.
TAM HAS AN EVENT JULY 24th – See Community Hubb Events Calendar