Hello!

Happy Sunday Reader. I'm here to share something a little more personal than I usually do today.

I don't talk about spirituality much in my work, even though my own relationship with nature is deeply connected to it. I always want this practice to feel welcoming whether you're religious, spiritual, agnostic, atheist, figuring it out or haven't thought about any of that in years.

However, I've found that the older I get, the more lived experiences I have, the more important this part of nature connection has become to me.

And to explain that, I probably need to share some background.

I grew up as a minister's daughter. This meant, for most of my childhood, Sunday's were pretty much spoken for. Church & church events were a part of our family life, but I was also that kid in Sunday school.

The one always asking 'Why?' and 'But how do you know?'.

And when the answer eventually came down to some version of 'you just have to believe' I remember thinking...yeah that doesn't really answer the question.

For a long time, I assumed maybe I just wasn't a particularly spiritual person. Fast forward to university and learning about the numerous religions in the world and then developing a clearer understanding of colonialism and the role organized religion has played in it.. ooof...

It put me off organized religion for a long time. And I still have complicated feelings about religion in many ways.

But, it turns out, I was looking for the spiritual piece in a different place.

About twelve years ago, I went through what I can only describe as a spiritual awakening. I discovered Eckhart Tolle and was beginning to understand presence in a way I never had before. The idea that this moment is really all we ever have sounds incredibly simple, until you start noticing how rarely you're actually in it.

Around the same time, my relationship with nature was changing too. I've always loved being in nature and knew there was something incredibly healing about it for me, but I began to start thinking of it as less about scenery and more about the trees, plants, animals and land around me as living beings. I started paying attention differently. Spending time outside differently.
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And somewhere in there, these two things came together. I could read about presence, and think about it - but it was really hard to be present consistently. It was like something I kept forgetting or slipping in and out of as life got busy.

What I noticed was that I could put my hand on the bark of a tree, and something about that full body, tactile, and sensory experience helped to anchor me in the present moment. I could feel the texture beneath my hand, hear the motion of wind moving through the tree, feel the air on my skin, smell the Earth and it hit me...

Nature gave me a way to experience presence instead of trying to understand it.

The older I get, the more important being in the NOW as become to me. Because almost 50 years into being human, I've accumulated some life (or 'life stuff' as Eckhart calls it). There has been beauty, and love and adventure, but also pain, health struggles, loss, uncertainty, fatigue, workaholism, hormonal changes, caregiving, parenting, and plenty of periods when I've spent far too much time staring at a screen.

You know... being a human. 🙃

And I've learned that I need places in my life that help me remember that underneath all the managing and worrying and doing, I am still here NOW.

The world is still astonishing... and I get to be part of it.

That realization is woven pretty deeply into why I guide Forest Bathing & Nature Therapy, and why I've created September Sundays in Nature a little differently than my individual walks.

I wanted to create a few intentional touchstones throughout the month where we can come back to this presencing practice together.

So here's what that looks like:

September Sunday Sessions in Nature​
​A Digital Detox & Forest Bathing Series in St. Louis

🌲 Four guided Forest Bathing & Nature Therapy session on Sunday mornings. Time already protected on the calendar to slow down, engage your senses, explore, notice and practice being where you actually are.

🫶 A community practicing along side you. One of the things I hear most often after my walks is how meaningful the sharing and connection with other people becomes. As I've gotten older, I've realized how rare it can be to stumble into spaces where adults simply get to be together and talk about meaningful life stuff without networking, performing, or needing a reason.

📵 An Optional digital detox practice between Sundays. Nothing rigid and no gold stars for perfect screen habits. Just invitations to notice your relationship with your devices and experiment with making a little more room for what's happening around you.

🌿 Different green spaces around St. Louis. Those enrolled by August 30 will help determine where we gather, because I want these sessions to happen in places that work for the people actually coming.

🐌 A choice between a 2 or 4 sessions. Because your September is a real September. You can choose a 2-session pass for $65 or make the full month your practice with all four sessions for $99 (2 payment split options are available upon request).

There's something I haven't missed about inviting people to gather for this on Sunday Mornings.

The little girl who spent her Sundays asking questions she couldn't quite find satisfying answers to probably couldn't have imagined that nearly five decades later she'd be gathering people outside on Sunday mornings to practice paying attention (and I'm sure my father gets a chuckle out of the irony too 😆).

I think I'm still asking many of the same questions, I'm just more comfortable now letting the trees answer in their own way.

If you'd like to spend a few Sunday mornings exploring what you might hear, notice, remember or simply enjoy when you give yourself the time to be fully here, I'd love to have you with us.

P.S. If you have any questions about whether this series is right for you, hit reply. I answer every email personally.

In Peace and Presence,
Jess 🐢

Jess Thenhaus 🌿 Nature Based Wellness Coach | NBHWC, CHHC Certified Forest & Nature Therapy Guide | ANFT 🫶 Helping you cultivate presence, margin & intentionality in your life. Forwarded this email? Subscribe Here for more

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