About Us

 
 

  • Nature + Forest Therapy Guide

    Kate began her formal Forest Bathing practice in 2018. She came to it after realizing she was spending more and more time in Nature, her happy place, to find freedom from the stress, anxiety and a sense of disconnection with her true nature. During that process she found deep healing, and came to learn she could guide others to that same healing. Her mission is to help others find calm, balms, meaning and connection with Nature. She experiences pure joy when leading others to the healing and expansiveness Nature can provide when through Shinrin-Yoku. She is former at the Whole Health Project, and former editor-in-chief of BRAVA Magazine, and other publications. A busy mom, wife, daughter, she completely understand the hustle, bustle, hecticness and stress of daily modern lives.

 

Meet Kate & Jen

Both are friends, helpers, healers and entrepreneurs. They deeply understand the frantic pace most of us keep, the power of creating space for and prioritizing ourselves, and being connected with our values and what really, truly matters most to us. Spirited souls, Kate & Jen realized their energy and knowledge — when combined — could more deeply serve others in cathartic ways. Yes, they like to dig deep. But, they like to laugh (a lot) and lend support while being emotional and vulnerable together, and hold space for whatever bubbles up. Their friendship and healing practices were meant to be together.

 

  • Life Coach + Story Guide

    Jen’s coaching journey began when she sought coaching when she was contemplating a career change back in 2014. Since then, she became curious about coaching. After working with college-aged students at the Wisconsin Union and performing with her band Gin, Chocolate & Bottle Rockets, she realized coaching combines the power of harmony, introspection and self discovery. Becoming a Certified Professional Coach through the UW-Madison’s professional coaching program in 2020 led to her starting her own practice that year. Her purpose is to bring energy, light, reflection and authenticity in service of others’ personal and professional growth.

 

Why pair Life-Coaching with Forest Bathing?


Forest Bathing is a practice that helps us disconnect from all that binds us and locks us in our working, logical, thinking, doing, planning mind, and drops us into our senses. It guides us to find calm, a balm, and meaning and connection.

Nature is the perfect setting for this Life Coaching exploration. It nurtures and supports us, and provides deep healing -- body, mind, spirit. Nature simply makes us feel good; science and evidence-based research support why it is so important to connect with nature in our daily lives. 

Time in nature removes us from that chaos,  puts our rational minds to rest, and taps into the felt sense of an experience. In this state, we relax, heal and feel rejuvenated. We also find that, once our rational mind is put to rest, mental room opens up, creativity increases, clarity and focus come to the fore, and things in the background bubble up, or present themselves. Nature is the perfect state of freedom for exploring our essences, and tending our true selves through the Life Coaching experience. 

In Nature, connections are so visible and tangible. It’s where our senses are alive, rooting us in the present moment where we are most able to deeply connect with ourselves, and with the healing and support nature provides for this journey to self. 

The changing season’s rich pageantry adds to the notion of vibrancy through change and transitions. 

Life Coach Jen Farley, of Jen Farley Coaching, and Certified Nature and Forest Therapy Guide Kate Bast, founder of Shinrin-Yoku Madison, hold space for where and who you are, as well as for the discoveries you make along the way. We nurture a safe and confidential space, where all group participants feel supported. These retreats are open to anyone over age 18. 

Benefits of Life Coaching: 

  • Offers a process to follow

  • Nurtures and supports your journey

  • Connects you to guidance from a professional, certified life coach

  • Provides a group support network and community

  • Shares tools for those moments you feel stuck

  • Helps identify goals and ways to achieve them

  • Creates a balanced life

  • Discover a clarity in values and purpose

  • Helps overcome fears and doubts that creep into your head 

  • Unearths creativity within you 

Measurable Benefits of Nature:
Activates the parasympathetic nervous system -- the rest, digest and heal state.
Deactivates the sympathetic nervous system -- the fight, flight or freeze stress state.

Decreases

  • Stress hormones including cortisol and amylase

  • Respiration and heart rates

  • Muscle tension

  • Anxiety, depression

  • Softens ADHD, PTSD

Increases

  • Dopamine, the feel-good hormone!

  • Variable heart rate, the space/time between heart beats

  • Calm and relation

  • Healing, both physical and mental

  • Happiness and sense of well-being

  • Deep listening skills

  • Focus

  • Resilience

  • Creativity and clarity

  • Sense of connection

  • Creativity and clarity

Benefits of Life Coaching in the Woods:

  • Set away from the distractions of daily life

  • Protects a window of uninterrupted time to focus on yourself

  • Allows us to explore organically, and activates our senses, keeping us in the present moment 

  • Turns off our busy rational mind, and opens space for creativity, intuition and insight

  • Offers privacy and confidentiality