Trainers for this course

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.

Mentor, Trainer

Youmin Yap

Youmin is one of Southeast Asia's pioneer ANFT certified forest therapy guides. She trained with Cohort 18 in 2017 and has since been offering the practice full-time. Together with her professional and academic backgrounds grounded in science and research, she excels in navigating the worlds of logic and quantification, as well as that of the subtler art of wellbeing. Having guided thousands of participants, Youmin has worked on various projects including designing bespoke journeys for global brands, wellness workshops for hotels and spas and MNCs, support programs for community groups etc. Her work has also been shared at various local and international conferences. Youmin founded Forest with You (formerly known as Xiu Nature Connections), an award-winning wellbeing entity based in Singapore. For the innovative and collaborative ways of bringing forest therapy into the urban landscape, the company was conferred the prestigious Singapore Tourism Board Awards: Outstanding Wellness Experience award for 2023 and 2024. As a trainer, Youmin has trained and mentored 16 cohorts of guides from all around the world. One of her greatest joys is supporting and witnessing each individual’s discovery of their unique stories and offering their gifts to the world as they embark on the journey. She is also a qualified educator, a Certified Shinrin-Yoku International Instructor, and is trained in Yoga Nidra, Yoga (200 YTT), Forest Therapy Trail Consultancy and Mindfulness. She holds a Master’s in Science (Life Sciences) and is fluent in English and Mandarin/Chinese. Youmin currently spends time in Singapore and Thailand.

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