What to Expect at Your First Forest Therapy Session

A first forest therapy session lasts two to three hours, covers less than a kilometre of ground, and is built around five or six sensory invitations, with a tea ceremony at the end. It is neither a guided hike nor a nature lecture, which is what most people expect when they arrive. You won't be asked to be fit, knowledgeable about plants, or "good at" relaxing. You're simply invited to slow down and let your senses do the work. As the people who trained me put it, the forest is the therapist; the guide only opens the doors.

If you take one thing from this article before your first walk, let it be this: there is nothing to achieve and nothing to get right. Whatever you notice is the right thing to notice.

How does a session begin?

We begin with a short welcome, usually ten to fifteen minutes. I'll introduce the place we're standing in, say a little about where the practice comes from, explain how the walk will unfold, and cover the practical things — safety, the route, what the sound signal means when it's time to gather. This is also when I'll remind everyone that forest therapy supports relaxation and wellbeing, but it isn't a substitute for medical or psychological care. It's a chance to set down the day before we step in.

What are the first invitations like?

The first part of the walk is about arriving — not in the forest, but in your own body. I'll offer a gentle invitation to scan how you feel and to slowly open your senses one at a time: what you can hear, smell, feel on your skin, see when you stop trying to look. These first invitations usually take twenty to thirty minutes, often standing or sitting in one spot before we move at all.

An "invitation" is the heart of this practice. It's a simple, open suggestion — not an instruction with a correct answer. You might be invited to notice what is moving around you, to find a place to sit and do nothing, to follow a scent, or to let your attention rest on a single pattern of light. There's no outcome you're supposed to reach. The forest does the rest. If you want nine real examples with the Slovenian names I use out loud, they are here: invitations in forest therapy.

What happens in the middle of the walk?

After we've settled, we move into the longer middle of the walk — roughly an hour of invitations, each followed by what we call circle sharing. We gather in a loose circle, and anyone who wants to can say a few words about what they experienced. You're always free to pass. Nothing you share is analysed or "fixed." It's simply witnessed. Many people are surprised by how much they notice once they stop rushing — and by how quiet their thoughts become without anyone telling them to clear their mind.

We cover very little ground. That's the point. Forest therapy is measured in attention, not kilometres — which is the clearest way it differs from a hike in the same forest.

How does a session end?

We close with a forest tea ceremony — usually around half an hour. I'll prepare a simple tea, often from a local plant gathered nearby, and we share it together: a cup for the forest, and a cup for each of us. It's a small ritual that marks the return from the slower, more open state of the walk back into ordinary life. There's usually a snack, a final circle, and a gentle goodbye. People often describe leaving lighter than they arrived.

What should I wear and bring?

Dress for the weather and for sitting on the ground — layers, comfortable shoes you don't mind getting a little muddy, and a rain jacket if the sky looks uncertain. Bring water, and a small mat or cushion if sitting on damp earth isn't comfortable for you. You don't need any equipment, fitness, or experience. If you have mobility needs, tell me beforehand — sessions are designed to be gentle and mostly level, and I can adapt.

Who is forest therapy for?

Forest therapy suits almost anyone who wants to slow down: people carrying stress from work, those who feel disconnected from nature, couples and friends looking for something quieter than a typical outing, and complete beginners who've never done anything like it. The most recent pooled evidence — a 2026 systematic review and meta-analysis of eleven studies by Andrade and colleagues — found heart rate around four beats per minute lower after a forest session, along with lower tension, fatigue and confusion, and no meaningful change in salivary cortisol, which is the marker the popular story leans on hardest. The same authors graded the quality of that evidence as very low, because ten of the eleven studies compared people only against themselves. I've written out what that does and does not tell you in nature and the nervous system. It won't fix everything — but a first walk is often enough to feel why people come back.

I've been facilitating people in nature since 2019 and completed the *Izvajalec gozdnih terapij* (forest therapy guide) programme in Slovenia — training completed, certification in progress. Sessions run in the quiet forests within reach of Ljubljana, and this is what those forests are like. If you are choosing between guides rather than between walks, here is what to ask one before you book. Otherwise the gentlest way to understand forest therapy is to try it once: have a look at our forest experiences, or start with what forest therapy actually is.