Forest Bathing & Storytelling For Organisations & Agencies

Forest Bathing & Storytelling For Organisations & Agencies

Forest Bathing can be used in a number of ways to enhance training and leadership skills in organisations, including building resilience and alleviating stress and burnout. Storytelling has the power to influence and change both individuals and organisations and is an art form increasingly used to sell a concept, idea or set of values both internally and externally.

This session is run by Justine along with writer, management consultant and public speaker Preethi Nair, combining the best of both of these powerful tools and openers. Ideally we’d recommend you allow a full day for this to allow the mind and body to slow right down and engage with the forest environment because it’s here that the magic happens. However, it can also be delivered as a half day experience (we suggest you allow a minimum of 4hrs) and is best delivered for up to 8 people.

Half Day Morning or Afternoon

We begin with a 2 hour experience in the forest. Together we’ll take time to explore the forest environment, immersing deep into the sounds, smells and textures of a woodland ecosystem. We look at how the forest stimulates all five of our senses and moves us from engaging less with our sympathetic nervous system (fight/flight) and more with our parasympathetic system (rest and recover). We do this through a series of light and easily managed physical and mental exercises, known in Forest Bathing as ‘invitations’.

This is then followed by a 2 hour session weaving storytelling into the experiences you’ve had in the forest. Settling down in our covered woodland meeting house, we’ll now turn to explore the work of a storyteller and see how great stories are put together. You’ll learn about the tools they have at their disposable and then use these to put great stories together both in a group and individual context. You’ll come away with the skills of a storyteller along with a newfound creativity, a fresh innovative perspective and learn the power to influence through story.

The combination is a powerful one, leaving you more connected to yourself and those around you. The positive effects of spending 4 hours in the forest are scientifically proven to deliver lasting benefits to your physical and mental wellbeing and will help bring about greater clarity on the challenges you face. A full day will be an enhanced version of what you see above and the benefits to extending your time, hopefully, obvious.

Full Day

A full day allows for more time to immerse yourselves; to switch off, slow down and connect more deeply to your woodland environment. We’ll gather to have breakfast together before the morning session begins and share your experiences over lunch. In the afternoon you’ll have a longer storytelling session with Preethi with more time to explore the work of a storyteller. In our experience, having a day has a greater impact on your health and subsequent vibrancy. If you’d like us to organise a location for you so that you can stay overnight to maximise the experience, we work with several locations such as the 5* Gravetye Manor in East Sussex in the Ashdown Forest.

About Preethi Nair

Preethi has shared a platform with Sir Bob Geldof, Kevin Spacey, the head of Green & Blacks & Prêt a Manger and spoken on “talking less & doing more.” She writes for BBC Radio 4 and a number of broadsheets and takes creativity and innovation back to the workplace. She works with leadership teams globally, bringing together the worlds of business and the imagination. She is also on the faculty at Cranfield university, London Business School and at the Financial Times/IE Learning, teaching various modules on storytelling and personal leadership.

This workshop can be taught across all levels from senior leaderships teams and down the line.

Please also see our session on Forest Bathing For Organisations.

Contact Justine to discuss on +44 (0) 7714 333418 or email us to start the conversation hello@thelifeadventure.co