The Healing Power of Forest Therapy with Tam Willey of Toadstool Walks
Get outside. Discover how it can heal your mind.
Past DEIB Outoors guests have talked about the healing powers of waterfalls and the therapy in the woods. On my own, I’ve been learning about forest therapy.
It only made sense that I talk to an expert in forest therapy and forest bathing. Luckily for me, I spoke to a certified Forest Therapy Guide right in my figurative backyard!
Tam Willey established Toadstool Walks, a Boston-based organization providing forest therapy experiences throughout New England. Toadstool Walks introduces individuals to forest therapy, guiding them toward a deeper connection with nature and themselves.
As Tam describes in our interview, forest therapy is inspired by forest bathing, also called shinrin-yoku, a practice inspired by the Japanese tradition of immersing oneself in nature for its therapeutic benefits.
Originating in response to the detrimental effects of modern technology on human wellness, forest therapy aims to restore harmony between humans and the natural world. By engaging our senses and immersing ourselves in the healing atmosphere of the forest, we can attain a state of deep relaxation, connection, and rejuvenation.
Tam's own journey into forest therapy began with a pivotal meditation retreat in a forest near Boston. The profound connection and transformative experience they felt in that setting ignited a passion to explore the potential of forest therapy further.
Tam began their forest therapy education with the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy and became a certified Forest Therapy Guide.
With certification and years of experience, they often partner with nonprofit organizations on forest therapy excursions. Some experiences close to Tam’s heart are those they’ve led with BAGLY: The Boston Alliance of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Youth. Forest therapy has proven to be a powerful antidote for teens glued to their mobile devices.
The Rundown of Our Chat
Here's what you'll learn in this interview with Tam. The timestamps represent where in the video you can hear that particular discussion.
[01:13] The meaning and origin of forest therapy
[07:50] How Tam connected with forest therapy
[12:15] Tam’s experience leading queer youth forest therapy experiences
[17:37] Acknowledging histories of oppression and supporting change
[21:05] Lightning round, including Tam’s shoutouts
Want to Learn More about Tam and Forest Therapy?
Here's the full video of me speaking with Tam.
-
Lisa: Hello and welcome to another episode of DEIB Outdoors Champion Chat. I am Lisa Kalner Williams and I'm very excited to introduce today's guest, Tam Willey, the founder and guide of Toadstool Walks.
Toadstool Walks is based in the Boston area and provides forest therapy experiences throughout New England. And we've talked about nature therapy and forest bathing on the DEIB Outdoors blog several times. So I'm very excited to speak to an expert in the field. Welcome to the podcast, Tam.
Tam: Thanks for having me, Lisa.
Lisa: Very excited to have this conversation. So I know a bit about forest bathing, but I don't know if our guests do. So I'd love for you to explain a bit about it. I know it's been around for decades. It started in Japan, but I'm hearing more and more about it here in the United States. So could you briefly explain what it is and what some of the benefits are for those who are uninitiated?
Tam: Absolutely. So I'm, I'm trained in what is known as forest therapy, which has been around for a little over 10 years, and it is inspired by many practices, most notably the practice of forest bathing, which is the literal translation of this term from Japan, Shinrin-yoku, which translates to forest bath.
And this term was coined in the early 80s in response to a national health crisis due to a spike in stress-related illness due to the technology boom. Just thinking about the time when computers were, like, becoming more and more prevalent and people were moving from more hands on outdoor lifestyles to more sedentary, on- screen lifestyles. There was a very clear shift in our overall wellness. And that was really obvious in Japan. And there was this need to respond to this fast, high-speed evolution of industrialization.
So the Japanese Ministry of Forestry and Fisheries started like, protecting certain forests and also measuring the impacts of certain forests on human health, like specific different forests on human health in Japan, and just created some like incentives for people to get outside support for people to recover from like really long work weeks and extended time in front of screens. There's a term in Japan in Japanese that means death by overwork. Just to paint a picture of, like, what started happening in the early 80s, where computers were first really taking off.
So in Japan, there's actually these certified forest therapy trails and places where people will go to recover to heal to be part of a research project, a case study where there's healthcare teams who are checking people's blood pressure before and after being guided on a forest bathing experience, or, over the course of a weekend and in some cases, they're collecting saliva samples. They're testing their testing blood samples and just sort of monitoring what happens when people spend extended time unplugging outside in a natural environment.
The results of this research was really compelling, even though we know this. We are human beings that are nature, and we come from the earth. And yet, many of us kind of don't know that including myself. There's a great disconnect. I think three-quarters of the globe lives in urban environments.
At this point, most of us spend most of our time inside and it's not so much that. Going outside is like a boost or like good for our health.
It's not like this added wellness thing. It's more like that's our natural state and being inside is actually really harmful to our health being on screens, not getting natural light, not seeing fractal patterns, not breathing the aromas and terpenes emitted by trees and plants.
We need that. And so, starting in the 80s, Japan started being like, yo, we really need that. Like, our people are really suffering if we don't prioritize being outside.
Lisa: I love how they made that a public health initiative. So that happened there, a couple decades ago, like you said, because of the tech boom and just the prevalence, almost omnipresence of computers. Everyone was on them.
How did you hear in the States learn about it? And then. if you can, how did you then say, Hey, I'd like to start a group going out and getting the benefits of forest bathing or therapy?
Tam: Maybe 15 years ago, I learned about meditation and started meditating in different different groups, communities, different lineages.
And so through that world, I attended various meditation retreats. And one of them I attended through the Shambhala Center in Brookline.
There was this one program in 2016 that I attended, and it was a full-day retreat where we met up in a forest outside of Boston and the name of the retreat was called Our Original Playground. And the meditation teacher started by just telling us what was going on in Japan and telling us about forest bathing Shinrin-yoku and what was happening there and then guided us on some forest bathing-inspired invitations and prompts.
It was a whole day. It was raining all day. It was like early fall. It was a little cold, but, and there was a mix of like being invited to just go be with something like spend time just watching a creek or being with a tree there was some partner sharing, like, of being in the forest with another person. And then there were a lot of little bits of group sharing about what we were noticing.
And right away, I knew that I wanted to pursue like more of that, like it was just super connecting. Like I was there with a group of 20 strangers and it was, it was very deep and it felt like one of the most meaningful things at the time that I was doing compared to just other feelings of disconnect.
And I just thought, "Oh, there's really something here to this."
Lisa: What a pivotal moment. Yeah. So then when you said, okay, this is my jam. I can't believe this is happening, this transformation, this powerful moment. How did you then take it to where you started Toadstool Walks?
Tam: I was sort of researching after that, like, how do I find community around this cool practice?
I want to find people who are doing this. I want more. I want to be in these experiences. And it was kind of hard to find.
I did eventually stumble upon the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy, who was offering a guide, a certified forest therapy guide six- month program.
I just thought, are you kidding me? That's perfect. And, I sort of had my eyes on that at the time. It was like, felt like a stretch for me financially time-wise. I was previously self-employed as Handy Tam in Jamaica Plain for 15 years. So it was just felt like kind of really radical to do something like that.
And I just felt the pull and I'm like, "You know what? I'm going to go for it. I'm going to sign up for this weirdo training. Maybe it's going to be kind of woo woo, kind of hippie."
I felt super anxious about it and it ended up being like an incredible. life- changing training and experience.
The company acronym is ANFT, this company, stands for the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy. And they are based in North America and they're an international company and they're running these trainings all over the world, this six-month program.
It's always been a hybrid where there's like a. an immersive piece where you're together for some days and then you're on Zoom with a cohort of people and a mentor and trainer.
At the time that I got involved, the company was just about five years old and growing really rapidly.
And they really needed more trainers and mentors because there was like a demand for this program. And there still is. It's been really successful.
I had facilitation experience. I had this drive and motivation to be part of this. And I was really fortunate to be to be able to get on this mentor trainer path with the company and started assisting these trainings and mentoring new guides and then became a trainer right before the pandemic happened.
I took that training, knowing I want to start. a business, a new business where I guide people in forest therapy.
Those are sort of like the two things I do. I guide my community walks in Jamaica Plain and I have all these partnerships with different organizations. And then I also train guides through the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy.
Lisa: Okay. I didn't know how it was split up. So you did mention how you partner with a bunch of organizations, and I will give a link to your website. Anyone going to your website will see all the collaborations that you have.
I did notice that you led a number of excursions with BAGLY. For those who don't know, or not from Boston, it's a very well-known local Massachusetts area, L. G. B. T. Q. I. A. plus organization for youth in particular. So how did that partnership come to be?
Tam: BAGLY is the oldest queer youth organization in the country, actually, and I got involved with them almost 15 years ago as an adult advisor mentor person.
I've been volunteering with them for over a decade, and it just was like, " Can I offer this to the youth?" This year they actually wrote me into one of their grants, and I worked with them on some language around the benefits of getting outside.
And so I was able to offer a couple walks in a more organized, structured way. We had some really nice walks this past spring.
Lisa: That's great because I walk in the nearby Middlesex Fells. Very regularly, and the only evidence of teenagers there are like the beer bottles from having gone out, just being away from adults. It's rare that I see teens and youth, enjoying nature.
You mentioned it in the grants like what are some of the benefits for young folk to experience forest therapy and especially for the L.G.B.T.Q.I.A plus community and youth?
Tam: I think unplugging and getting outside into nature is transformative for anyone and especially youth and youth of today who, whose lives are so intertwined with social media and the internet.
BAGLY has, has historically been like this catch-all place for, like the, the marginalized of the marginalized queer youth, meaning as gay-straight alliances began popping up at high schools across the state.
Even if a high school has that, it doesn't necessarily mean a youth is going to feel comfortable there or feel like they belong in that space. And they may have other things going on that just like, for whatever reason, they just can't quite fit into that. And I feel like BAGLY has always been the place where those youth end up.
And so I guided two walks with BAGLY this spring.
One of the walks, we have this perfect, sunny day. It wasn't too hot. It wasn't too cold. And at this point, the youth had only been masked in the space. There's a drop-in space, a community center.
And, with so much change since the pandemic, there's a lot of new folks at BAGLY and they've never even seen each other's face because, or they've either only been on Zoom or they've only been masked in the space. And this was one of the first times where they were able to be together in person without masks on and outside of this windowless basement.
That was pretty moving. They're holding a lot like they are youth leaders. They're also dealing with their families. They might not be out at home, a lot of them are first generation, a lot of them are, you know, marginally housed. And just dealing with all kinds of systems of oppression, etc. And so it was like pretty sweet. It was a pretty magical time.
And they wanted to be there. They signed up for it. They weren't paid to be there. I mean, you know, maybe some of the youth leaders, they had to be there. It was their job to be there that day. But, you know, for the most part, they seem genuinely happy to be there and connecting time.
The second walk I did. It was raining and it was like, kind of cold. And there were some youth that showed up with some footwear and clothing choices that made me a little concerned. And clearly were not sort of like nature oriented. And But it was clear they were there because their friends were going to be there.
They wanted to be with their community on a Saturday, instead of being home or wherever else they were. And so even though they weren't really... Into being out in the rain in the forest that morning, like, it was just fun to witness them being together.
And one of the really great things about forest therapy in particular, and the training that the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy offers us is that it's really about like accepting people where they are not forcing them into this rigid practice.
I always invite people to unplug like, "Hey, this is an opportunity to get off our phone for a couple hours." But, it's not a hard rule. And I make that known.
On this particular experience, I had some youth just like watching TikTok videos together, sitting on a log, laughing, chatting. And there's a way in which I'm like, "You know what? That's great. Like, at least they're outside."
Lisa: Yeah, they're still getting the terpenes and all the things that you mentioned by being outside.
Tam: Exactly. We're also trying to hold these circles and, and have space for people to share. And sometimes that can be disruptive. People are totally opting out, but there's a way that like they're still choosing to be here. Like they decided to get up on a Saturday morning when it was raining and come here wearing Crocs with socks on and their feet are soaked and they still seem pretty happy to be outside because they're with their friends and they're safe in this community, safer than they were wherever they came from that morning.
Lisa: Yes, yes, incredible. And if they come back, they'll know to, they were uncomfortable in their Crocs and socks. Like we used to do when we were little, put bread bags over our feet or whatever to protect them from the rain. The two walks seem very different from each other, but they both had a ton of benefits for everyone who attended and for you to witness what had happened.
You mentioned a little bit about how BAGLY serves a lot of people who aren't traditionally served by organizations like public schools and other social institutions. And I know you care a lot about those things. You give a portion of your proceeds to a number of groups, BIPOC groups and Native groups.
Could you talk a bit about the organizations and why donating them is important to you, why like publicly mentioning, "Oh, by the way, part of the fees that you pay will go to these organizations?"
Tam: I think that's just like a way of just acknowledging the histories of oppression, the way that the land has been affected by the complicated societal ways of human existence.
Acknowledging this feels very important and like a big piece of the story of how we're connecting with the land and the histories of these lands and just the complex stories that the land tells and that we tell. So I'm in constant inquiry about what organizations to support.
I do a combination of offering free walks to certain organizations that will reach out, and then I donate monthly to the North American Indian Center of Boston, which is this very rundown-looking old building in Jamaica Plain that is surrounded by brand-new, fancy luxury condos and somehow like they haven't seemed to get a piece of that.
There's someone who works at BAGLY, who is Two-spirit who was used to be on the board of the North American Indian Center of Boston. So I've learned a lot about it through this person.
They used to have a pretty thriving staff and it's kind of shrunk. And there's a lot of really important programming happening there.
That's one of the organizations and then also the Massachusetts tribe of Ponkapoag and I give to BAGLY because, well, when 2020 happened when the pandemic started the drop-in space, the community center closed, and I've been going for 10 years, every Wednesday night. And I couldn't go anymore, and we moved to Zoom, but it's just that the need for that kind of supportive adult in the corner is not the same on Zoom so that shifted and I wanted to stay connected and continue to support BAGLY.
The other organization that I'm supporting is called The Rest Rail, which was actually founded by a BAGLY youth who is awesome. Her name is Daunasia. She actually works for the mayor's office doing queer stuff.
And The Rest Rail, it's basically a, a way for. black activists to have rest. And so she matches people who have like a vacation home or cottage or money or timeshares or whatever who are willing to donate that to a black activist. And then she matches activists with those. There's a lot more nuance to that, but that's the basic overview.
And since I love Daunasia and I just love the whole concept of this and it's just really in line with what forest therapy is all about, which is all about resting, unplugging, just putting a pause on the whole grind culture thing.
Lisa: Yeah, I was instantly making the connections. with what she does, with what you do. On the surface, it might seem different, but yeah, absolutely. This world is nuts and we need a break. So yeah, both of those accommodate that.
Well, we're going to go into the lightning round, which is kind of three questions that I ask every guest.
They should be kind of fun or easy to come up with an answer, I hope. The first one is what is your favorite either excursion or hike that you've had in this past year.
Tam: I do a lot of hiking in the White Mountains. I'm currently hiking this list called 52 with a view because I've hiked all the big mountains in the Northeast and my knees are a little squeaky as I, as I'm aging. And so just taking it down a notch hiking 52 with a view, even though many of them are very rugged mountains. They're all under 4,000 feet and they all have views.
And I recently hiked with one of my best buds. We went up and hiked some loop. Of course, I can't remember what it was called, but there was like a lot of caves and involved, like, like kind of like rock climbing through caves.
It was really terrifying, but also really fun and really rewarding. And it was a pretty perfect day.
Lisa: A wonderful experience. That's great. And the second question is, what is something in your backpack that you typically bring with you that nobody else on the walk has?
Tam: First aid kit. As NAFT-certified guides, we are all wilderness first aid certified as well. Okay. So I take that training every, but about every year and a half, it expires after two years, but I like to keep it kind of fresh.
And I'm just like being prepared to help somebody if something happens, even though I'm typically in a place where I can call 911. Sometimes if we're just a little more remote, there are other things needed until the pros get there and I just like being prepared.
Lisa: Yep, that makes sense. You never know what happens outside. I would recommend everyone bring a little something for first aid when they go out in the wilderness, but it's good that if they go with you, they'll be in excellent hands.
The third one is here at DEIB Outdoors, the whole idea is shining light on people who are doing very interesting things with the intersection of nature, mental health and diversity and belonging. Wanted to give you the opportunity to shine a light on someone who's doing great work and any of those areas that I kind of mentioned.
Tam: Oh, there are so many people doing awesome work. I'm just thinking about this person, this really sweet person I met named Ray, who has this organization called the Rusty Anvil and Ray takes out BIPOC folks on forest bathing retreats and hikes and tracking and has all kinds of like skills and is just a really sweet person.
And also Jenny Bruso from Unlikely Hikers is just doing incredible, important work, raising awareness and visibility for people who aren't typically featured in the outdoors and also raising awareness on plus size backpacking clothes and gear and has like been part of the change and is sponsored by all these different outdoor companies who have actively been investing in creating more inclusivity around clothes and gear for all bodies
I want to shout out to my friend Murphy in Northern Vermont from Mountain Song Expeditions, who is teaching archery and fire building and wood chopping and hunting and creating space for marginalized folks to come together and learn these skills who might not otherwise.
Also shout out to the Venture Out Project, another organization that I partner with and they offer backpacking, hiking, forest, bathing retreats with me and lots of different programs for queer and trans folks.
Lisa: That's great. Well, I'll be sure to link to all of those people either their website or and or their Instagram.
Tam: One more I have to shout out, which is wild, wild mountain retreats in Colorado. They offer land-based rights of passage programs, and it's all donation based and it's and they have specific BIPOC guide trainings and queer trainings, and they're just really trying to offer those types of programs to more people.
Lisa: Oh, I'll have to learn more about that. That's not an area I know a lot about. That's great. Thank you for those shoutouts.
Well, thank you. I really enjoyed our conversation today. I learned a lot. I'm hoping everyone who either. reads the blog or listens to this video podcast, learns a lot as well. It was a joy to speak with you.
Tam: Yeah. Thank you so much for having me, Lisa.
Lisa: My pleasure.
