Forest Bathing

Flora Way Gate (Formerly Bussey St Gate) Bussey Street Gate, Boston

Slow down and awaken your senses on a guided sensory experience in the Arnold Arboretum. Forest Bathing, inspired by the Japanese practice of Shinrin-yoku, is a restorative sensory exploration that supports health and healing for all beings. From increased cerebral blood flow to stronger immune defenses, come discover for yourself what happens when we unplug, slow down and open our senses to notice more of our natural surroundings. All the prompts, invitations, sharing and ways of participating are optional and open to interpretation.

Free

The Cosmic Tree: A Universal Symbol of Life: Ginkgoes & Conifers

Walter Street Gate Walter Street Gate, Boston

Docent Katrina Scott will lead this interactive tour with stops for moments to reflect on specific trees and the stories associated with them. Were they revered or feared?  A home for deities or tricksters?  We will begin at the Walter Street Gate to visit the oldest ginkgoes at the Arboretum, then head up the Conifer Path and diverge to walk, rest, and reflect among various conifers, eventually ending by the yews near Bussey Brook and Hemlock Hill Road. 

Free

The Trees are Speaking by Lynda Mapes

Hunnewell Lecture Hall 125 Arborway, Boston

The old-growth forests of Oregon and Washington play a vital role in the ecosystems there, supporting a wide diversity of life and sequestering carbon in enormous, long-living trees. The east coast, by contrast, has been logged and clear cut for generations and has precious little old-growth forest left. Join environmental journalist and Bullard Fellow at Harvard Forest, Lynda Mapes, for a talk about her book “The Trees are Speaking: Dispatches from the Salmon Forests.” In this thought-provoking new book, Mapes interviews scientists, loggers, and Indigenous activists to answer deep questions about the importance of old-growth forests, the conflicting desires around how to manage them, and how we can protect these forests into the future.