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Accredited Forest Bathing+ Guide Training
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with Gary Evans, TFBI Founder
NEW 2024! TFBI Academy Launches
We’re delighted to launch The Forest Bathing Institute Academy.
Following many requests, we’re expanding our training to a range of online (study at your own pace) courses that can strengthen your connection with nature and help you get more from your Forest Bathing practice.
Personal development and growth of awareness are at the heart of our work. All TFBI Academy courses encourage a greater sense of serenity and peace within. So you can facilitate greater feelings of connection with nature, whichever course you choose.
“An incredibly powerful and inspiring mindfulness and meditation course”
Bev, Module One, January 2021
Our Mod 1 & Mod 2 courses are combined: online and in-person
We run combined courses; theory online and practical in-person immersion sessions. We have found many benefits to this approach, it allows students to learn in different locations around the UK and further afield, as well as reducing accommodation costs.
The practical ‘immersion’ element of the forest bathing course is now like a mini-retreat; with the theory covered online we can just concentrate on practicing forest bathing and enjoy other complimentary relaxation techniques such as yin yoga and sound baths. This provides our trainees with a safe space to open their hearts and find an even deeper connection with nature.
To ensure we a ‘COVID safe’, we continue to observe relevant UK government guidance.
Are you interested in learning more about the relaxation and healing ability of nature, and in sharing the beauty of woodland environments with others? If so, our Forest Bathing+ training will be perfect for you.
Our training could take you to a new level of self awareness, after all forest bathing guides help others relax deeply, so above all you need to know how to relax and open up yourself!
You will be joining a fantastic dedicated team of like minded people who will support and encourage you.
FB+ guides come from many different walks of life, for example, therapists, teachers and others who have retired from a previous career or looking to move out of a desk job towards something more fulfilling. One thing they all have in common is that they value self development.
Once qualified, you can run your own FB+ events or work alongside TFBI in delivering their program of events, often in partnership with organisations such as the RHS, RSPB, Forestry England and many more!
For the right person, becoming a FB+ guide should be one of the most rewarding experiences of their life.
Dame Judi Dench - Our Patron
“I am delighted to be a Patron for The Forest Bathing Institute. As humans, we have such a deep connection to trees and woodland. Forest bathing allows you to focus on that connection, engaging all your senses. In Japan, this immersion in nature has been studied for decades; and it is now practiced by millions of people to help them relax and recharge.
“Training to be a forest bathing guide opened my heart and my mind.”
Susanne, TFBI Forest Bathing+ Guide
- Industry leading course
- Fantastic team support
- Ground breaking research
- In-depth training
- Focus on personal growth
- Paid work opportunities
What does a FB+ guide do?
As a Forest Bathing+ guide, you are not simply showing someone the route through beautiful woodland – you are facilitating the ability of each person in the group you lead to connect mindfully with the nature around them. Sessions elements:
- Experience nature using the senses
- Sharing thoughts and experiences as a group
- Grounding and short meditation
- Usually 2-3 hours for 1-20 people
Every element of a FB+ session is backed up by science. Find out more about the research here.
What do we look for in our guides?
As a FB+ guide it is likely you will be:
- Curious about nature and well-being
- Open minded and willing to learn
- Environmentally conscious
- Wanting to help others
- Have previous experience of self-development
- Have a mindfulness practice
Whatever your experience, we provide full training in FB+ as well as meditation and mindfulness.
Find out what some of our FB+ Guides have to say here.
What's included in our training?
Our intensive FB+ course:
- Runs over 8-12 months
- Explores the history and science of FB
- Includes pioneering TFBI led research
- Mindfulness and meditation training
- Full support from trainers and other guides
- Free FB+ sessions
All designed to develop you as a guide and equip you with everything you need to carry out FB+ sessions with confidence.
You can see full details of the course here.
Why train with TFBI?
At the TFBI we believe we have developed the most comprehensive training available in the UK today. Additional benefits:
- We have paid work opportunities for trained guides.
- Government funding for vulnerable persons
- Some of the most experienced guides in the UK
- Pioneering University research programmes
- Connections with major landowners and nature/wildlife charities e.g. RHS, National Trust, RSPB, Forestry England, National Parks.
- Counselling support and personal development
Find out more about our research here.
What happens after I qualify?
- When you qualify as a FB+ guide you will be able to set up and run your own public Forest Bathing+ sessions.
- If it is the right fit, you may be invited to join TFBI’s team and run events for the Institute. TFBI is rapidly expanding both the range of locations it offers FB+ in as well as its NHS, social prescribing and government vulnerable person programmes – we need dedicated, caring guides who share our ethos and want to contribute to the Institute’s development.
- You may wish to boost your skills to enable you to work with a wider range of individuals e.g. you will need to take additional Mental Health First Aid training if you want to work with vulnerable groups or NHS/government-funded programmes.
Our Forest Bathing+ Training Locations
Our training locations have been carefully selected for their beauty, seclusion and quality of forest. We recommend you look at each location to see which will suit your needs, not just in terms of proximity but also the facilities available. Where accommodation is available it is on a first come first served basis so we recommend booking early if you wish to stay on site.
Harry Edwards, Shere, Surrey Hills AONB
Based in the Surrey Hills AONB, an area of ancient woodland and rolling hills, only 30 minutes from London.
Hill Farm, Tintern, Monmouthshire
Set in 15 acres and located on the Welsh slopes of the Wye Valley AONB an area of ancient woodland.
NEW! Scotland, Glenmore Lodge, Cairngorms National Park
Ancient Caledonian Forest & UK’s Largest National Park
The Caledonian forest is a truly unique ecosystem in the British Isles, a remnant of the wilderness that once existed.