WELCOME

Name: Forest Therapy and Nature Connection
Address: Toronto, ON, CA

Forest Therapy Walks in the heart of Toronto with certified guide Lisa Deanne Smith

Forest Therapy, slow paced guided walks, is an evidence-based therapeutic practice designed to:

improve your physical and mental health
activate your parasympathetic nervous system (the body’s state of rest, relax and digest)
expose you to the natural chemicals or essential oils produced from plants and trees that encourage natural killer (NK) cell activity in the human body (NK cells are cancer-fighting proteins that seek and destroy tumor and virus-ridden cells)
connect you to community
activate and deepen your instinctive stewardship of land, plants, trees, water, air, etc.

What Can I Expect

Guided forest therapy walks are a slow paced physically undemanding practice taking place in a park or along a forest trail. As your guide, I will offer a series of invitations designed to bring you health benefits through connecting with our natural surroundings. Each invitation is followed by a short discussion about the experience. The walk concludes with locally foraged tea and a light snack. I am trained to utilize the best practices for bringing you safely into this relationship with nature. A forest therapy walk is an opportunity to slow down, feel relaxed, gain personal insight and activate your body’s parasympathetic nervous system inducing relaxation and stress release. Walks are 2 to 3 hours in length.

About Your Guide

Lisa Deanne Smith is a certified forest therapy guide and the Senior Curator at Onsite Gallery, OCAD University in Toronto, Ontario. Her curatorial practice led her to discover forest therapy. After using forest therapy to support her health during the pandemic, Lisa decided forest therapy needed to be a regular practice in her life and went on to receive her guide training through The Global Institute of Forest Therapy & Nature Connection. Lisa finds it deeply meaningful to support others in connecting to nature in a way that is therapeutic and life affirming for all living beings.
She holds a Master of Fine Arts (Cranbrook Academy of Art, Bloomfield Hills, MI) and an AOCA (OCAD University, Toronto, ON).
She has curated many exhibitions. Her curatorial projects that led her to discover Forest Therapy include: The Sunshine Eaters, How to Breathe Forever and How will we be with you?
Lisa is First Aid and CPR certified.

Types of Forest Therapy Walks

Public Walk: join a group of 4 to 8 people
- $40 per person (sliding scale available for those in need)
Private Walk for Organizations or Corporations:
- Please contact me directly to discuss your needs through the form below

Dates and Locations

The Sunshine Eaters Forest Therapy