Shinrin-yoku and Connected Breath for organisations
Shinrin-yoku and Connected Breath for organisations
With Justine ClementI’ve got to keep breathing. It’ll be my worst business mistake if I don’t” Steve Martin, Actor
Who is this for?
Getting a team out of their present environment (home or office – either way, out from behind a screen) and into the forest. It’s suitable for any team, at any level, within an organisation. The session can be adapted according to level, outlook and challenges. That said, this session can also be run as a 1-1 for one specific person looking for clarity, a mind shift and a greater understanding of how to reconnect with themselves through breathwork.
Why?
Forest bathing is scientifically proven to improve health. Countless Japanese studies have revealed how it boosts immune systems, reduces stress hormones, enhances mental wellness and bolsters brain health. It can provide emotional healing, decrease blood pressure, improve general sleep-wake cycles, improve relationship skills, reduces stress and reduce aggression.
Conscious Connected Breathing on the other hand is a powerful and safe way to infuse the body with oxygen and energy, recharging our own (often depleted) systems to work to their healing capacity. It facilitates openings to higher levels of consciousness, allowing us to tap into our deeper resources and live our lives more joyfully with better functioning immune systems and a greater resilience to stress.
The combination of learning to connect more deeply to ourselves, as well as to the natural world is undeniably powerful.
How?
Shinrin-yoku and Connected Breathwork can be used in a number of ways to enhance training and leadership skills. If you are organising an off-site board meeting or away day and there is access to a forest, we can come to that location and hold the session there. These can be used in so many ways, but a few examples include boosting customer and staff engagement in retail stores, as inspiration for the creative industries and by CEOs seeking a breathing space and by individual senior staff members as a powerful personal tool.
What?
Justine, your guide, will facilitate a safe gentle walk, providing instructions — referred to as “invitations” — which are used as ways to open up the senses. We spend so much time using our vision that the other senses often get forgotten and are under utilised. Each walk begins with establishing embodied contact with where you are. Next comes a series of connective invitations, often improvised in the moment and adapted to the needs of the team. These will be followed by wander time with a specific focus and/or sit spot where you’ll then get to experience the power of your own breath. Breathwork is tested and proven by elite performers such as UFC fighters and Navy seals and is now being used by the likes of Google and BCG to enhance the emotional wellbeing and mental performance of their people. You’ll be given a scientific understanding of how your breathing effects you, and how incorporating it into a daily routine will bring immeasurable benefits and rewards. If you’d like to receive some of the many studies now done on the power of breathwork, please get in touch and we can send these to you.
The walk ends with tea made from foraged local plants.
Shinrin-yoku walks are not hikes in the traditional sense. The walk and breath session is typically four hours in duration and often covers no more than a quarter mile distance. In that relatively short distance and time most people experience contact with nature in a much deeper way than they ever have prior to the session. People have a wide range of experiences, some of which they feel are significant, even profound. As a guide, Justine is a CPD-certified Shinrin-yoku practitioner, awarded by the International Society of Nature and Forest Medicine (INFOM) trained in the skills and perspectives needed to be a supportive witness of these experiences. She is also a qualified Conscious Connected Breathwork practitioner.
Four hours is the ideal time you should allow for this experience and it’s ideally run for up to 8 people. It doesn’t matter if you are all from one team or spread amongst a few different departments. The session is based on you coming to Surrey, Kent or Sussex in the forests I work in there. But if you’re short on time, it’s also possible to run a shorter two-hour session. If you’d like us to travel to woods/forest near you, that’s also possible.
Duration and numbers
4 hours for up to 8 people. We can accommodate larger numbers in two groups with 2 facilitators.
Dates
Shinrin-yoku and Connected Breathwork is run on a bespoke basis for organisations, so please get in touch to discuss your needs and for more details.
Anything else to consider?
We suggest wearing comfortable non-restrictive clothing so that you’re relaxed throughout the session. Please check for any Breathwork contraindications here before booking and if you have any questions in relation to this please get in touch to discuss. If there are any concerns, then the safest way is for us to give that participant a different exercise to focus on whilst the breath session is taking place.
Presenter Justine Clement
Justine Clement is Founder of The Life Adventure. Curiosity prevails, for she is a chaser of life's magic and wonders. The past 20 years have been spent understanding the path to true wellbeing, both her own, as well as how others can learn to take responsibility for their own health and wellness. She has spent much of her career sourcing and creating unique experiences for global brands, their marketing agencies, as well as for organisations. She's currently working on a community enterprise called The Selsey Sea Bathing Society, improving the confidence and outlook of women through outdoor swimming.
MORE »What’s included
2.5 hours Shinrin-yoku experience with guide in a London, Surrey, Kent or Sussex woodland including tea and a 1hr 15 mins Conscious Connected Breath session in the woods if the weather is fine, or failing that we'll find a suitable location where woods and a cabin are available for use. Presenter Justine Clement
Justine Clement is Founder of The Life Adventure. Curiosity prevails, for she is a chaser of life's magic and wonders. The past 20 years have been spent understanding the path to true wellbeing, both her own, as well as how others can learn to take responsibility for their own health and wellness. She has spent much of her career sourcing and creating unique experiences for global brands, their marketing agencies, as well as for organisations. She's currently working on a community enterprise called The Selsey Sea Bathing Society, improving the confidence and outlook of women through outdoor swimming.
MORE »What’s included
2.5 hours Shinrin-yoku experience with guide in a London, Surrey, Kent or Sussex woodland including tea and a 1hr 15 mins Conscious Connected Breath session in the woods if the weather is fine, or failing that we'll find a suitable location where woods and a cabin are available for use.