Forest Therapy Trail
in the Sandhills of North Carolina
Forest Therapy Trail
** This trail is currently in production, please check back in fall 2024 **
“There is no medicine you can take that has such a direct influence on your health as a walk in a beautiful forest.” Dr. Qiang Li
A designated Forest Therapy Trail experience is afoot in the North Carolina Sandhills!
Forest therapy, also known in Japanese as Shinrin-Yoku, is a mindful immersion in the forest atmosphere while paying attention to your unique sensory experience. Forest therapy has been shown to offer many health benefits, including stress reduction, mood enhancement, improved immune function, lowered blood pressure, enhanced cognitive function, increased energy, accelerated recovery from illness, better sleep, social connection, and sense of eco-consciousness. It is a space to give our minds and bodies a rest from the thinking and doing work of modern life in order to spend time attending to our being and all of the senses we have been given to receive the world we live in. Forest therapy offers a natural and accessible way to improve mental health and well-being.
Guideposts will offer invitations to experience the forest on the designated forest therapy trail, and you are welcome to take this approach on any trail you may visit!
While our project is under construction, here are a few local trails we recommend for this experience:
1) Sandhills Horticultural Garden trail. This trail is on a community college campus and the sounds of landscaping equipment and airplanes from an adjacent airport
may be present.
2) Round Timber Trail of the Boyd Tract of Weymouth Woods. Horseback riders may be in the area, and many dogwalkers come through this park.
3) Reservoir Park Trail, also popular with dogwalkers.
Would you like to give forest therapy a try?
How To Do It:
This is an opportunity to slow down and focus simply on paying attention to the sensory experience the forest is providing in the present moment. For optimum health benefits, try to spend 2-3 hours experiencing the forest in this way. Even if you only have a few minutes to spare, you’re welcome to stop by the forest for a short visit!
It may be helpful to silence or airplane mode your cell phone, if you are able and comfortable to do so, and please be mindful that others on the trail may be here for a quiet moment of reflection.
Guideposts along the trail will offer a series of invitations to help frame your experience and direct your attention, but feel free to follow your intuition, too! There’s no right or wrong way to do this, but the more you’re able to slow down, the richer your experience might be.
(numbers correspond to guideposts)
Welcome!
Lara Beth Jones licensed occupational therapist and certified nature and forest therapy guide will be your guide in this journey to a moment in nature for you.
1) Welcome, we’re glad you’re here! Make yourself at home and stay as long as you’d like.
~ The Forest
As you cross this threshold, you may want to imagine you are stepping into another realm, like stepping into a storybook that has come to life.
Station 1: Sense of smell
Let’s breathe in long and deep through our nose and see… what does this place smell like? Can you pick up any different scents?
This station is funded in partnership with
Station 2: Sense of Sight
Look up, look down, look all around at the colors that are here. Is anything moving?
This station is funded in partnership with
Station 3: Sense of Hearing
Tune into the soundscape of this place. I wonder what sounds you can hear?
This station is funded in partnership with
Station 4: Sense of Touch
Reach out and touch something that beckons your attention. Spend some time exploring its texture.
This station is funded in partnership with
Station 5: Sense of
… Stay tuned as the path unfolds, there’s more to come!
This station is funded in partnership with
Station 6: Sense of
… Stay tuned as the path unfolds, there’s more to come!
This station is funded in partnership with
Lara Beth Jones is a licensed Occupational Therapist and Certified Nature and Forest Therapy Guide.
Lara Beth Jones is a daughter of the longleaf pine ecosystem of Eastern North Carolina and an occupational therapist and nature & forest therapy guide living in the Sandhills. A former Ms. North Carolina North America titleholder and alumna of UNC Chapel Hill, she finds treasure in the natural world and endeavors to make that accessible to others.
For more information, visit larabethjones.com