Book Recommendations
As a librarian and guide, I have a lot of reading suggestions!
Here are a few of my favorites:
- Braiding Sweetgrass: Indigenous Wisdom, Scientific Knowledge and the Teachings of Plants by Robin Wall Kimmerer (I devour everything she writes, my fav author)
- Finding the Mother Tree: Discovering the Wisdom of the Forest by Suzanne Simard
- The Heartbeat of Trees by Peter Wohlleben
- To Speak for the Trees: My Life’s Journey from Ancient Celtic Wisdom to a Healing Vision of the Forest by Diana Beresford-Kroeger
- What a Plant Knows: A Field Guide to the Senses by Daniel Chamovitz
- The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World by David Abram
- The Lost Art of Reading Nature’s Signs by Tristan Gooley
- The Mindful Walker by Alex Strauss
- Into Nature: A Creative Field Guide and Journal by Autumn Totton
- A Field Guide To The Natural World of the Twin Cities by John Moriarty
- Nature’s Best Hope by Douglass Tallamy
- The Nature Fix by Florence Williams
- Forest Bathing by Dr. Qing Li
- Your Guide to Forest Bathin by M. Amos Clifford
You may purchase these and see additional suggestions with Bookshop (support local bookstores) or Amazon.
Equipment for Forest Bathing/Hiking
Seating Items
- Foldable seating pads (or this one)
- Folding stools or lawn chairs
- Yoga mats
- Towels, tarp, drop-cloths
- Shopping bags
Tea Supplies
- Matcha and more (for green tea)
- Magic Hour teas are my go-to every day tea from black to green to herbals. They are magical!
- Well Rooted Teas are amazing, locally grown or foraged materials. Use code FOREST for 20% off! I usually use these for my forest bathing tea ceremonies.
- Butterfly Pea Tea is fun for children and adults. Ever had a bright pink or purple fancy drink? Chances are they are using this tea to create natural color.
- Tea cups- There are so many varieties. Some of my colleagues use little wooden cups, I use either white porcelain sake cups or paper cups (due to the ongoing pandemic).
- Tea pot- I love this teapot as it brews perfectly for all types of tea: white, green, black.
Insurance for Guides
As a guide, you may be required or need insurance. If you volunteer with another organization, such as the Boy Scouts, or a larger organization they may have insurance that covers your needs.
- Alternative Balance: There is no category for guiding. Alternative Balance suggests selecting “Wellness and Life Coaching” for the primary service and then adding the premium service “Sports Coaching and Recreation Fitness” to be covered while working/guiding outdoors. If you practice other modalities such as yoga, you can select several and have everything under one policy. In addition, they have discounts if you do guiding or entrepreneurship only part-time.
Other Materials
- I LOVE my Ospray Mira backpack for hiking. It has the AirSpeed suspension to keep your back cool, along with plenty of pockets and a water reservoir. There have been multiple sizes depending on how long you will be hiking.
- All Trails is helpful to make sure you are on the right path.
- My Merrell Moab hiking boots required no breaking in and have taken me all over. I love the little extra support being mid-level. I bought them at REI because if you are a member you have a full year to try them and then return them for your money back! Awesome customer service there. Make sure you try them on the little mountain to feel if your feet slide. Sliding feet are the number one reason for blisters! Also, try two pairs of socks: a thin and wool pair!
- Minnesota Hiking Club is a fun way to encourage you to visit every park in the state and collect passwords. Redeem them for some fun prizes too.
Technology Tips
- My website was built using WordPress and is hosted using Reclaim Hosting. We recommend them at my higher education institution for class blogs. A really cheap host with good customer service!
- MailerLite is my newsletter software
- OneTab is my favorite browser extension tool to condense those 100+ pages down into one, so your computer isn’t bogged down. (Tabby Cat is also really fun!)
- Insight Timer and Calm are great meditation apps, and many have nature-themed recordings.
- Google Docs and Evernote for keeping things (somewhat organized). I’m more of a learn from me and do as a say not as a do teacher for organization sometimes. 😜
*Disclaimer: I only recommend products I would use myself & all opinions expressed here are our own. This website may contain affiliate links that at no additional cost to you, I may earn a small commission