Forest Bathing in Amsterdamse Bos

You are invited to take time to connect more deeply with the created world through a gentle, contemplative walk in the Amsterdamse Bos with morning of shinrin yoku – forest bathing.

There will be a short hike at the beginning and end but very little physical activity overall, with plenty of time to just sit and be. Light refreshments are provided but please come prepared with whatever you need to be comfortable over a 1.5 – 2 hour timeframe.

A good portion of our time together will be in silence. This offers you the opportunity to experience the forest and to connect with others who want to experience nature fully and deeply. By choosing to stay away from friendly chit-chat and explore what it’s like to walk in nature without speaking, we have a chance to engage our senses more fully and to truly connect with the natural world.

• Be Prepared
Dress comfortably for walking on natural terrains. Bring a water bottle, but little else so you are unencumbered for your walk. Participants will be asked to silence and pocket their phones, so let folks know you will be unavailable for a couple of hours.

All participants of any of VrijSpirit activities are personally responsible for their own fitness, safety and welfare and must be equipped accordingly.

• Meeting Place
Visitors’ Center Amsterdamse Bos “De Boswinkel”, Bosbaanweg 5, 1182 DB Amstelveen. Please visit https://9292.nl/ for public transportation to the Visitor’s center.

• Meeting Time
We will leave the  Amsterdamse Bos “De Boswinkel” / visitors center at 12:00 sharp and we finish around 14:00.

In the event of cancellation due to severe weather, participants will be notified by 8 a.m. the day of the event.

Suggested donation is €5. Space is limited to 18 participants.

Please RSVP using the form below.

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Did you know that in 2018 the National Health Service of Sheltland (Scotland) started prescribing “birdwatching, rambling and beach walks in the Atlantic winds to help treat chronic and debilitating illnesses for the first time.”

“Forest bathing” originates from a Japanese practice called shinrin-yoku, which means “taking in the forest.” This will be a slow paced, mindful time spent in the woods and an opportunity to reconnect with the natural world.

What if the land actually loves humans?
What if it needs us?

As our species evolved with all other species
in an interdependent dance,

a long ceremony of mutuality,
each of us bound by invisible threads

within a vast web of interdependence?

If this is the way of things,
then does it not make sense that the land needs us?

Come to it ready to invite its gifts.
Speak to it; let it know what you need.

Listen; let it whisper its medicine.