Vancouver 2027 Council of Waters and Trees Immersion
Forest Therapy, the Way of Council, and Aloha Ropes. Four days of being guided.
About the Location
This immersion takes place immediately following the 3rd International Conference on Forest Therapy at UBC — offering conference attendees and newcomers alike a chance to move from the conference’s learning experience into the direct, experiential practice of Relational Forest Therapy.
Perched on the high, forested cliffs of the Point Grey Peninsula and surrounded on three sides by the Salish Sea, the University of British Columbia sits in a rare ecological sanctuary where coastal temperate rainforest meets ocean waters. Far from a typical urban setting, the lands bordering the campus hold ancient hemlock and Douglas-fir stands, dynamic tidal zones, and sweeping views across the Pacific and the North Shore Mountains.
This urban immersion moves through a continuum of interconnected natural sanctuaries bordering the campus:
UBC Botanic Garden and Nitobe Memorial Garden — 110 acres with over 50,000 plants, temperate rainforest trails, the canopy-level Greenheart TreeWalk, and authentic Japanese tea garden grounds
Pacific Spirit Regional Park — over 750 hectares of moss-draped western red cedars, Douglas firs, quiet streams, and secluded woodland paths
Coastal beaches and marine pockets — towering sea cliffs descending to beaches, overlooking Howe Sound and the Coast Mountains
(Exact locations subject to change)
Accommodations and Meals
This immersion is not hosted at a retreat venue. You’ll book your own lodging — hotel or Airbnb — and arrange your own meals. A list of suggested options will be sent after you register.
If you’d like details about accommodations before registering, please email Nadine Mazzola at [email protected].
Accessibility and Commuting
Most program sites are reached on foot or by short local transit from the primary campus hub. Walking is slow and contemplative, but you should be comfortable navigating natural forest trails, uneven roots, unpaved ground, beaches, and elevated wooden boardwalks or coastal stairs.
Transportation
Nearest Airport
Vancouver International Airport (YVR), about 30 minutes from UBC by car.
Extra Fees for This Program
UBC Botanical Garden Admission $14.50 CAD
Nitobe Memorial Garden Admission $10.00 CAD
What you will experience
What these four days guide you toward
-
A longer, slower rhythm with the forest, waters, and beings of the land we gather on — being met by the land rather than passing through it.
-
The deeper form of circle work that lives behind what you may already know as Sharing and Deep Listening — a space that is both vulnerable and safe.
-
An opening into imaginal, inter-species communication through the practice of Aloha Ropes, inspired by the Hawaiian tradition of Ho’oponopono.
-
A way of listening that stays with you — carried into your work, your walks, and the quiet moments of your own life, long after the four days end.
Instructors
Mentor, Trainer
Stana Luxford Oddie
Stana is an ANFT-certified Guide (2016) and Trainer (2018) based in Canada, now in her twenty-third year as Senior Conservation Educator for Cataraqui Conservation—the first conservation authority in Ontario to offer Forest Therapy. Inspired by Earth Education, Coyote's Guide to Nature Connection, and the Forest Schools movement, she facilitates nature connection experiences touching head, heart, and hands for all ages, including elementary and secondary students, both in-person and remotely. Stana holds a BA from the University of Waterloo (Honours in History, English and Geography) and a Bachelor of Education from Queen's University's Outdoor and Experiential Education Program. A certified OCT teacher, she spends much of her time on the land with her dog, son, partner, mother, and friends, deepening her mindfulness and embodiment practices.
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. Trained with ANFT in 2015, she became a guide following her 2013 breast cancer diagnosis, a turning point shaping her teaching and mentoring ever since. Her work integrates forest therapy, expressive arts, somatics, and embodied leadership. She authored the award-winning "Forest Bathing with Your Dog" and brings lived experience to work with cancer-affected populations across wellness, education, and healthcare settings. Featured on PBS, ABC's Chronicle, and in the Boston Globe, Nadine stays grounded in current research while teaching. A former professional billiards player on the WBBA tour, she brings discipline, strategy, and heart to training the next generation of guides.
Email
What This Immersion Weaves Together
The three practices woven across four days
Forest Therapy
Also known as Shinrin-Yoku: time in forested places for health, wellness, and happiness. A series of guided invitations brings you into the present moment and opens the doors of communication with the forest, waters, and landscapes you explore. You encounter not just the forest but, through the many ways nature mirrors us, yourself.
Sharing and Deep Listening, in its deeper form
The light-touch circle practice you know from your forest therapy walks — currently taught in the ANFT guide training as Sharing and Deep Listening — has a longer lineage behind it. It draws on what has historically been called the Way of Council: a tradition of sitting together, speaking from the heart, and witnessing each other’s emerging stories. Through this deeper form of circle you discover the meaning of your emerging stories by sharing and being witnessed. Because it invites authentic expression, it can be quite intimate — you’ll discover how the form creates space that is both vulnerable and safe. Over four days you experience both the light-touch form used on a forest therapy walk and the deeper practice from the lineage Amos Clifford has carried into Council of Waters and Trees.
Aloha Ropes
A restorative practice developed by M. Amos Clifford, inspired by the Hawaiian tradition of Ho’oponopono among other sources, used here to deepen relationship with the more-than-human world. Through Aloha Ropes you discover how the land can listen and speak to you — and through you, give voice to its longings, wisdom, and needs. Like circle work itself, it transfers readily into other settings, such as schools and communities.
The Daily Rhythm
Mornings are spent immersing in the experiential practices of Forest Therapy. Afternoons move into circle, where what the forest has offered is shared and witnessed. Across four days this allows you to sink deeply into the medicine of the forest.
FAQ
-
Does the Council of Waters and Trees Immersion count toward certification as a forest therapy guide?
No. Council of Waters and Trees does not count toward guide certification, and it is a completely separate offering from the four-day in-person certification immersion that guides-in-training are required to complete. If you are interested in becoming a guide, this program will give you a deep experience and a foreshadowing of the training that awaits — but if certification is your path, please look at the ANFT Guide Training.
-
Do I need to be a trained guide or any prior experience to attend?
No — you do not need to be a trained guide, and no prior experience in forest therapy or council is required. The immersion is for trained forest therapy guides, and others who feel called to deepen their relational practice with the more-than-human world, and it is held so that newcomers can arrive without preparation and still be met where they are. If you have a background in forest therapy — as a guide, as a current ANFT student, or as a participant on walks — the immersion will meet you at a deeper layer of the practice you already know. If you are considering becoming a guide, this event will give you a deep experience and a foreshadowing of the training that awaits. If you are already a guide, you’ll deepen your connection to the more-than-human world and significantly add to your capacity for imaginal, inter-species communication.
-
Is this a forest bathing retreat?
Not in the usual sense. Council of Waters and Trees is a deeper immersion into the relational, restorative, and imaginal dimensions of the practice. It rests on a combination that ANFT has developed over years: relational forest therapy, the heart understood as an organ of perception, and the imaginal channel through which humans can exchange understanding with other species.
-
What preparation is sent to me?
After you register, you will receive a participant orientation booklet several weeks before the immersion. Written by Amos Clifford, it introduces the foundational stories we work with together and provides a quiet way to begin. If you would like additional reading — whether you are joining an immersion or simply exploring forest therapy more broadly — we recommend M. Amos Clifford's book. More information: https://anft.earth/the-book/
-
What is the group size?
6–20 participants.
- Where are lodging and meals handled?