Subtleties of Facilitating Circle in Forest Therapy & Meeting Challenging Situations

A self-directed, professional development course for guides with Nadine Mazzola

Who is this workshop for:

This self-directed video course is designed for Forest Therapy Guides + Forest Bathing Guides, which are interested in cultivating their facilitation of circle while guiding. The course incorporates some more subtle aspects of gathering, sharing and listening in circle when guiding Forest Therapy and Forest Bathing Walks. The purpose is to support guides to be present, easeful and develop their toolbox and headroom for dealing with all kinds of situations.



What you’ll learn:

  • Multiple ways to express and hold omni-partiality

  • Aspects of body language that support circle

  • Leaning into the importance of the pause

  • Noticing what the more-than-human world is sharing while facilitating circle

  • Building headroom for difficult situations

  • Being ready to listen and not taking on the difficult stories of others

  • Strengthening the group dynamics

  • Tips for different parts of the Standard Sequence

  • A review of sharing formats and their effects

  • Holding space for grief


What is included:

  • Access to the recording


Come, settle in, and get more comfortable with circle. Gathering, sharing and listening is a balance of holding space with care, and at the same time, not holding it too tightly. Guides can gain more headroom in this self-paced course. 



Instructor

Mentor, Trainer

Nadine Mazzola

Nadine Mazzola (she/her) is a senior ANFT trainer, certified forest therapy guide, and founder of New England Nature and Forest Therapy Consulting based in the Metro-West and Greater Boston area. Nadine trained with ANFT in 2015 as part of cohort 4 and she has been training and mentoring new guides, as well as running her own guiding practice for 10 years. Her work integrates forest therapy, expressive arts, somatics, and embodied leadership. She became a forest therapy guide following her own breast cancer diagnosis in 2013, a turning point that changed her career path and continues to inform her teaching, mentoring, and guiding practice. Nadine wrote, designed and self-published her award-winning book “Forest Bathing with Your Dog which thoughtfully weaves forest therapy with human–animal connection. As a breast cancer survivor, she brings lived experience and sensitivity to her work with people affected by cancer, as well as with a wide range of populations across wellness, education, healthcare, and organizational settings. An accredited Mindful Art Teacher with training in Expressive Arts, somatics, and embodied leadership, Nadine is known for her warm, invitational teaching style and her ability to create learning environments that are both grounded and creatively expansive. She prioritizes supporting guides in developing confidence in their own way of guiding, feeling grounded in the ANFT Relational Forest Therapy approach, and sharing her deep experience with the practice of forest therapy and running her own guiding business. Nadine maintains a strong interest in the evolving research base supporting nature and forest therapy and regularly integrates current science into her teaching. She offers a collection of continuing education classes that bridge experiential practice with evidence-informed frameworks. Nadine has been featured on PBS Windows to the Wild, ABC’s Chronicle, and in the Boston Globe, Boston Magazine among others. With a background in business and marketing—and a former career as a professional billiards player competing on the WBBA tour—Nadine brings a unique blend of discipline, strategy, creativity, and heart to her role as an ANFT trainer. She is committed to supporting the growth of the forest therapy field through thoughtful education, mentorship, and embodied practice.