Amanda Kenyon is a nature therapy and meditation guide, woman, voice for the land, belly dancer, accountant, cook, sister, volunteer, builder of stone walls, hiker of high peaks and a humble human learning every day from all the beings of this shared planet Earth. She is a community member amongst the housed and unhoused people living on the unceded homeland of the Elnu Abenaki people, in the place called Wantastegok, “the river where something is lost”, at the confluence of the Wantastekw/West and Kwenitekw/Connecticut Rivers, known as Brattleboro, Vermont. Amanda guides mindfulness and sensory-based nature experiences that promote holistic well-being and strengthen our relationship with nature, ourselves, and other humans. Her forest immersion experiences and nature therapy sessions are rooted in the Japanese tradition of shinrin-yoku–forest bathing, and are powerful tools for finding presence, connection and wellness in one's life. Amanda is certified by The Forest Therapy School and is also Wilderness First Aid trained. Her business is called Landkind Guide in recognition of our kinship with all beings---mankind as well as the more-than-human beings who we share this land with.

From Amanda:

At a crossroads in life in late 2021, I sought an answer for what would come next in my life. Eventually the answer arrived as clear as a lark: create a retreat space in the forest where people could connect to nature and themselves through mindfulness and movement. But what did this calling mean? I Googled the terms, “nature, mindfulness, movement”, and the unanimous result was forest bathing. Shortly thereafter, a conservation non-profit offered me their land as a base for guiding nature retreats. The doors had been opened for me to begin exploring forest bathing and to pursue a certification with The Forest Therapy School.

Already a lover of hiking and a practitioner of meditation and Buddhism, the subject matter of forest bathing came easily to me. What took me by surprise was how natural it was for me to be a guide. I also discovered that the richest rewards from being a guide were not my own, but rather the profound effects I saw others experience when I facilitated their forest immersion experience. I hope you will take a chance to join me and see what surprises nature has in store for you.

Credentials:

Certified Forest Therapy Guide by The Forest Therapy School

SOLO Wilderness First Aid

Sierra Club Hike Outing Leader