Year: 2026

The Life Beneath the Sand: What a Year in the Mendoza Desert Has Taught Me

October 29, 2026November 3, 2026 admin

As I work through the sandy soils, moving rocks of different sizes in an attempt to create a regenerative and sustainable desert garden, I have slowly come to realize that almost everything here has a function. Even the things I once considered obstacles, unwanted plants, or simply empty spaces.

One of my greatest discoveries has been the grasses. Where I come from, in Europe, grass seems to serve a few rather familiar purposes. It covers the ground, provides a soft surface on which to sit or walk, and creates the impression of a green, organised, and well-maintained garden. It is something we regularly mow, trim, water, and keep under control.

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#MendozaArgentina #MendozaDesert #FloraNativa #FloraDeMendoza #NativePlants #DesertFlowers #DesertBloom #DesertBiodiversity #AndesMountains #AndeanFlora #AridLandscapes #PlantAdaptations #DesertEcosystem #NatureConnectedness #MindfulObservation #MindfulnessInNature #NaturePhotography #BotanicalPhotography #BiodiversityConservation #NatureAwareness #NatureBasedWellbeing #TheMindfulTourist

Observing Life in the Arid Landscapes of Mendoza Province

October 28, 2026November 3, 2026 admin No Comments

Living with Nature, Mindfulness, Nature Connectedness

As I travel through Mendoza Province, I move across a land of striking climatic and ecological diversity. From the high Andes to the semi-arid terrain below, the landscape keeps changing. Closer to the Andes, the Aconcagua River runs strong and wild. Further away, the scenery softens into lower mountain ranges, dry open ground, vast rocky stretches, and soils whose colours can appear almost like a great natural rainbow.

At first sight, one may think there is nothing here. And yet, as one comes closer, life begins to reveal itself everywhere. Over the past year of living in this terrain, what I have come to know through direct observation and meditation is a growing sense of wonder at the unfamiliar ways life exists here and the cycles through which it persists.

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Why Professional Ethics Matter in the context of Shinrin-Yoku, Forest Bathing and Forest Therapy

October 28, 2026October 28, 2026 admin No Comments

News, Shinrin-Yoku/Forest Bathing/Forest Therapy

Why Professional Ethics Matter in the context of Shinrin-Yoku, Forest Bathing and Forest Therapy

As Shinrin-Yoku, forest bathing, and forest therapy continue to gain international recognition, we are witnessing an expanding landscape of guide training programmes, professional certifications, retreats, workshops, and online courses. This growth is encouraging. It suggests that more people are becoming interested in their relationship with the natural world and in understanding how nature may contribute to human well-being and the well-being of nature. However, it also brings questions that cannot be resolved by enthusiasm alone.

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#ShinrinYoku #ForestBathing #ForestTherapy #ShinrinYokuGuide #ForestTherapyGuide #NatureConnectedness #Mindfulness #NatureBasedWellbeing #ProfessionalEthics #CodeOfConduct #GuideTraining #ForestTherapyTraining #ShinrinYokuTraining #EthicalPractice #NatureAndWellbeing #TheMindfulTourist #ShinrinYokuAssociation

Celebrating Our 2026 Shinrin-Yoku Guide Training Graduates in Japan

October 26, 2026November 3, 2026 admin No Comments

Books, News, Shinrin-Yoku/Forest Bathing/Forest Therapy

Celebrating Our 2026 Shinrin-Yoku Guide Training Graduates in Japan! This year, we welcomed participants from 12 countries for our immersive training at Toyouke no Mori in Nara. @toyoukenomori2015

A special celebration of 8 years of friendship with Toyouke no Mori and our third collaboration with The Datai Langkawi, Malaysia. 💚

Congratulations to all our participants! Thank you for the beautiful moments, shared learning, and friendships that continue to connect us across borders.

✨ Next Japan Immersion: 26–30 July 2027

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#TheMindfulTourist #ShinrinYoku #ForestBathing #ForestTherapy #ShinrinYokuGuide #GuideTraining #ToyoukeNoMori #NatureConnectedness #Mindfulness #ForestTherapyTraining…

Event Calendar – NOVEMBER 2026

October 25, 2026November 5, 2026 admin No Comments

Expressive Writing, Meditation

November 2026 | Events at The Mindful Tourist®

As November approaches, we invite you to make space for yourself, to slow down, reconnect with nature, explore your inner world, and discover what becomes possible when we bring greater awareness into everyday life.

This November, The Mindful Tourist® offers a variety of online and in-person experiences across Argentina and Japan.

1. Shinrin-Yoku Guide Training – Pathway 2
Our 15-week mentor-assisted professional training begins on November 12 and 14, welcoming participants from around the world who wish to deepen their relationship with nature and learn to guide others.

2. Online & In-Person Meditation Sessions
An opportunity to explore stillness, awareness, and the relationship between mind and body. Join us online or in person in Luján de Cuyo, Mendoza.

3. Online Expressive Writing Sessions
Every Tuesday, we gather to explore thoughts, emotions, memories, and personal experiences through writing. No previous writing experience is required.

4. Guided Nature Connectedness Sessions
On November 15 and 29, join us for four-hour guided experiences at Barrio Natural El Caramillo, Mendoza, where we explore our relationship with ourselves, others, and the more-than-human world.

5. Guided Shinrin-Yoku Session in Japan
Every Sunday, opportunities to experience Shinrin-Yoku in Kyoto or Nara with Keith from Kyoto Woods & Farms. Please contact Keith directly to confirm availability.

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Question & Answer Session about Shinrin Yoku/Forest Bathing/Forest Therapy Guide Training Pathway 2

October 25, 2026November 3, 2026 admin No Comments

Nature Connectedness, Nature-based Interventions, News, Shinrin-Yoku/Forest Bathing/Forest Therapy

Join Our Q&A with Milena — Shinrin-Yoku Guide Training Pathway 2

Monday, 2 November 2026 | 4:00–5:30 PM (GMT−3) | Online

Are you considering becoming a certified Shinrin-Yoku Guide, but still have questions about the training, its structure or the certification process?

The Mindful Tourist® invites you to an online Q&A session with Dr. Milena A. Guziak, founder of The Mindful Tourist® and the Shinrin-Yoku Association.

This 90-minute gathering is an opportunity to learn more about our upcoming 15-week mentored Shinrin-Yoku Guide Training — Pathway 2, explore the educational approach and ask questions before deciding whether the programme is right for you.

We will discuss the training structure, personal nature connectedness practice, professional responsibilities, physical and emotional safety, mentoring and certification requirements.

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Why Do We Need Shinrin-Yoku, Forest Bathing, and Forest Therapy Guides?

October 25, 2026October 25, 2026 admin No Comments

Books, Research Articles, Shinrin-Yoku/Forest Bathing/Forest Therapy

On our changing relationship with nature, the modern mental health crisis, and the reconciliation between scientific knowledge and direct experience.

I often find myself questioning something as ordinary as the expression spending time in nature. It is a phrase we use so naturally that we rarely stop to consider what it implies. As though nature were somewhere outside us, a place we occasionally visit before returning to our actual lives. But when did nature become somewhere we go, rather than somewhere we belong?

Perhaps this question offers a starting point for understanding why Shinrin-Yoku, Forest Bathing, and Forest Therapy Guides may have an increasingly important role in contemporary society.

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To carry the light in this earthly realm

October 25, 2026October 25, 2026 admin No Comments

Expressive Writing, Meditation

When I sat down in meditation with commitment 460 days ago, I had no idea where the practice would take me. There was simply a knowing within me that this was the only way. So I sat and meditated in the pain of a suffering mind, a mind that for years had strived to become joyful, grateful, and happy, a mind that had strived to become the love I had once experienced so deeply in the forests of Kyoto. So I sat in the silence of my room, although my mind was far from silent. I wanted it to stop being so loud. I covered my eyes and became still, almost as though even the smallest amount of light detected by the senses was adding to the chaos of the mind. Then, for a moment, the thoughts stopped screaming and began to whisper. Oh, such a relief!

Behind the research article: A personal reflection on forests, science, professional identity, and the uncertainty of what we think we know.

October 23, 2026October 24, 2026 admin No Comments

Expressive Writing, Shinrin-Yoku/Forest Bathing/Forest Therapy

Writing my recently published article, When Does Nature Become Therapy? Reconsidering Therapeutic Experience, Agency, Professional Guidance, and Commercialisation in Shinrin-Yoku, Forest Bathing and Forest Therapy, stirred various emotions within me. Some were familiar, others less so. It has been seven years since I left my university job in Kyoto, Japan, to pursue what I am doing today. And now, looking back, I find myself asking a question that perhaps I have never fully answered: What convinced me to make that decision? Was it ever a matter of being convinced? Perhaps it was something closer to an inner knowing, gradually emerging from my experiences in nature. Or perhaps there was one particularly powerful encounter that changed something within me. I cannot say for certain. It might just as well have been the cumulative effect of countless encounters with forests over the years.

New Research Publication: When Does Nature Become Therapy?

October 23, 2026October 24, 2026 admin No Comments

Nature Connectedness, Nature-based Interventions, News, Shinrin-Yoku/Forest Bathing/Forest Therapy

When Does Nature Become Therapy? Reconsidering Therapeutic Experience, Agency, Professional Guidance, and Commercialisation in Shinrin-Yoku, Forest Bathing and Forest Therapy,” explores a question that appears simple but becomes increasingly complex the more closely we examine it:

At what point does an ordinary experience in nature become a therapeutic experience?