15th Anniversary - DC - Saturday Forest Bathing
Description
Registration is required to join this event. There is a $25 Fee to attend.
Please join us and our Forest Bathing guide, Ana Ka'ahanui, who will guide us for another soothing, meditative "Forest Bathing" Experience at Dumbarton Oaks in Georgetown. This is a private event for W Connection Members ONLY.
What is Forest Bathing?
Forest bathing, or shinrin yoku, is the simple practice of taking in the woods through the senses for health benefits. The benefits are immense: boosted immunity, lowered blood pressure and heart rate, improved attention, and mood, and hitting the reset button on life. The Japanese have enjoyed shinrin yoku for decades as a regular public health initiative.
This two-hour program encourages you to slow down and take in Dumbarton Oaks through all your senses. During this walk through the beautiful gardens, our guide Ana Ka'ahanui will share with us the science of loneliness and how experiencing and connecting with the beauty of nature can be an antidote to loneliness. Forest Bathing is another wellness technique that can help empower widows to move forward. The forest bathing walk consists of three ‘invitations’. Each time our guide will prompt you to reflect on a particular aspect of the natural world around you, give you time to wander and meditate throughout the garden collection, and then reconvene to share reflections. At the end, Ana will provide tea and snacks as we process all that we have experienced during our Forest Bathing.
Bio: Ana Leilani Ka’ahanui is Co-Founder of the DC metro area nonprofit Capital Nature. Her organization’s mission is to connect the people and visitors of the DC area to the abundance of nature in the region. She has been a forest bathing guide since 2020 through the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programs and is devoted to sharing this nature-based mindfulness practice throughout the DC region. She has worked at the U.S. Green Building Council since 2003 in various capacities that connect people to the green world. Ana is passionate about using the natural and built environment as a tool for learning and healing. Her favorite word is “wonder.”
Here are a few reminders for our walk:
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Dress appropriately for the weather and the terrain, for moving slowly, for sitting on the ground. Layers are suggested.
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Wear comfortable shoes.
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We will have some lightweight REI stools to lend out. Or consider bringing a yoga mat, waterproof cushion or blanket for your comfort when we sit. Lawn chairs are not recommended as we’ll be carrying our seats when we walk.
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Bring water!
DC Area City Nature Challenge Planning Committee
Meeting Place:
We will meet Ana at the entrance to Dumbarton Oaks Park on R Street NW at the top of “Lover’s Lane” ( across from 3058 R St NW)
Directions:
https://maps.app.goo.gl/
About Dumbarton Oaks:
"Dumbarton Oaks is a Harvard University research institute, library, museum, and garden located in Washington, DC. The institution is the legacy of Robert and Mildred Bliss, collectors of art and patrons of learning in the humanities. The museum houses world-class collections of Byzantine and Pre-Columbian art, two areas of interest to the Blisses. A third revolves around the historic garden, which Mildred Bliss created in close collaboration with renowned landscape designer Beatrix Farrand. Since 1940, when the Blisses gifted the estate and collections to Harvard University, Dumbarton Oaks has supported research in Byzantine Studies. Later it embraced Pre-Columbian and Garden and Landscape Studies.
We really hope you will join us!
Board Host: Jeanne Jacobwitz
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