Walk FAQs

Check out most recent offerings on the walk options page.

What to Expect & FAQs (updated 7/11/21)

Walk in a forested park – Walks are held in public parks around the region. Mindfulness walks are 1 to 2 hours long and forest bathing walks are 2 to 3 hours long. Natural spaces provide an endless array of elements to help us practice using our attention as a support to uncover that calm space inside. It’s kind of like a mini-vacation.

Two styles – Mindfulness walks incorporate traditional mindfulness invitations (e.g. attention to breath, thoughts, senses) during the course of the walk focusing on connections to body > place > people. Forest bathing incorporates sensory-based invitations during an experience that includes walking and sitting and restores connection to place > body > people through emphasis on reciprocity.

Use your senses – The sounds of leaves, warmth of sunshine, scent of wet earth, or taking a slow sip of water from your drinking bottle can pull you back to yourself and let the chatter in your mind drop away.

Practice together – You’ll practice a series of mindfulness techniques while walking with a group of up to 8 other people in public walks, or with the guide if it’s one on one. We follow Covid19 guidelines of staying 6 feet apart and everyone is required to wear a mask.

Share what you notice – You will be invited to share what you are noticing as this helps your brain reinforce the support and shows the diversity and commonalities among human experiences. You can always offer a sharing of silence, gesture, dance or other way of communicating beyond words.

Setting an internal personal intention – You can bring a journal or use one provided by Finding Mindful Now to write down an intention you set for yourself during the walk. This is you inviting in an experience you’d like to have, it’s not quite goal setting as it’s more gentle. It could be simply taking a break, giving yourself some space, finding calm, putting some thinking down for now, experiencing nature…whatever feels best for where you are that day.

Experiential learning in bite sized pieces – After an introduction and a safety discussion the guide will invite participants to begin with an initial guided practice. As a group we walk for about 15 minutes between each new invitation. During each short walk span, on mindfulness walks the guide will occasionally ring a chime. The chime invites participants to try on the most recently shared mindfulness practice, or forest bathing invitation, modifying it based on what feels best to you. In forest bathing the guide may use a call, like the sound of an owl, to bring the group back together for sharing in a circle. The guide will share this call before so you can learn the sound and recognize it.

Frequently Asked Questions

What do you mean by “mindfulness”? – Mindfulness is attention training. It is an ongoing practice of directing our attention to our moment by moment experience, noticing when the mind wanders off, and then bringing it back again without analyzing it. Through training different types of attention in a natural setting, we can expand our ability to notice when thinking has clouded over ease and then turning toward the experience as the thought-clouds move. Our nature-based mindfulness walks use the support of forested public parks to explore different anchors – our senses, breathing, thoughts, and emotions – to find calm that’s always beneath the chatty mind. In a 60 minute nature based mindfulness walk you can:

• Recover from stressful thinking

• Uncover natural creativity for clearer decision-making.

• Regain your innate calm

• Discover practices you can use throughout your day to give yourself mental breaks

• Begin or expand your existing mindfulness practice

• Notice how thoughts, feelings and sensations are continually changing

I use a mobility device, are these walks going to accommodate that? Most of our city-based public walks are in parks with ADA accessible paths, however our understanding is that even an ADA minimum does not always mean accessible. Some parks have steeper inclines than others so please let us know specific needs either when you sign up or in your reply to a confirmation email. We can plan a route that works for you or suggest a different park location/future walk. In private walks we work with you to choose a park location that fits your needs, including accessibility. Forest bathing is not always in parks with ADA accessible paths.

What should I bring? Make sure to sign a waiver form before attending the walk. Bring a water bottle or beverage in a hip sack or backpack. We recommend a journal to write down your intention and anything you notice following the walk, so if you have a favorite journal bring it with you or use one of ours (we also supply pens). You may want to bring a snack with you. Please bring your own covid19 supplies (e.g. wear a mask, have hand sanitizer, etc.).

What should I wear? Wear comfortable walking, hiking or running shoes, please leave the flip flops and heels at home. Wear layers and plan for both rain and sun (i.e. hat, sunscreen, raincoat depending on weather). Walks still happen in the rain!

I use vape to manage my anxiety can I bring that with me on the walk? Out of respect for the guests who may breathe in the vapor you exhale (and its nicotine or cannabinoid ingredients), we ask you to reserve using a vape until after the walk is over in your own private space. It is currently illegal to use marijuana and nicotine vape (also called e-cigarettes) in public parks in Portland (see here and here for policies) and in all Metro parks, see section 10.03.200 here.

Is it silent? There is more quiet than a typical walk with friends, and it isn’t silent. There are spaces of quiet with spaces of shared reflection. The quiet is so people can focus on the activities, and the sharing is to help us see what is in common about what we notice, and appreciate different perspectives. There is also often play where you are encouraged to go explore on your own and return with sharing of adventure. We incorporate journaling and team discussions in our organizational team-building walks.

How fast do you go? We walk more slowly than average so that we can try different invitations with care. We keep the pace of the person who wants the most time.

Is it safe? Your safety is important to us. Being outdoors has inherent risks for example trip hazards, insect bites, and weather exposure. We are following Covid19 guidelines requiring everyone wear a mask if we cannot stay 6 feet apart. We choose public parks that give us options to change routes if we encounter someone being a jerk or a downed log across a trail. We purchase special use permits from managing government agencies when they are required. Guides are First Aid and CPR certified and we keep a first aid kit on hand. Tia is registered and bonded with the Oregon Marine Board as a Registered Oregon Outfitter Guide and abides by their Ethical and Professional Standards (license # 2583). Our mindfulness invitations are trauma sensitive to ensure people have choices to modify an invitation to fit their needs. Forest bathing and mindfulness are not therapy nor can they be used as a substitute for physical or mental health care. A signed waiver form is required to participate, there is an online version here.

Can children join us? Our practices work best for youth age 12 and older and they can join in the fun when accompanied by a parent, guardian or legal care-giver. Youth sign their own waiver form with their accompanying adult also signing one indicating they are responsible for the youth.

Do we sit and meditate? We don’t usually use formal sitting meditation unless it’s requested. In the last five minutes of a walk when we are in a park next to a body of water we may invite people to either stand or sit and watch the water’s motion tuning in to their favorite sense. This helps utilize the diffused style of attention which is restorative for stress recovery. If you would like to expand your formal mindfulness or meditation practice, please email me and I can make recommendations for local studios.

I’m expecting an important call, what happens if I need to take it? We ask for phones to be on vibrate so that others aren’t interrupted. Forest bathing walks are often in locations without cellular service. For you to have the best potential reset experience we recommend putting it (particularly the screen) away. If you do need to take an urgent call, you are welcome to let us know and end your experience early.

Where do we meet? We meet in a main parking lot of whatever park we are in, usually by a kiosk sign. The guide will have on a uniform that includes a bright blue vest so that she is easily visible. And specific instructions will be sent in a confirmation email.

Who leads these walks? Our lead guide, Dr. Tia H. Ho, has lived in the region for more than twenty-five years and is experienced in mindfulness and meditation, environmental education, community health, community development, and as a university instructor. She is also a trauma survivor and incorporates brain science into the walks. From native plants to how urban land use affects our health – feel free to ask questions. We sometimes partner with other organizations and will share expertise of guides in these situations.

What People Are Saying

“This was a great way to end my Friday, much better than a beer! I feel calm and in some of these activities I felt like a kid again.” – Nedra Rezinas

“This experience is wonderful! It was a lovely stroll in the nature with Tia. Tia is thorough in explaining what we are doing and very knowledgeable with the topic. I definitely felt more relaxed by the end of it without leaving the city, and I felt the experience provided me with some take home tips I can use whenever I feel stress or tense!” – Vivian

“I loved my mindfulness walk with Tia. She shares her vast and deep knowledge in a digestible way and offers practical exercises for connecting to the moment.” – Anonymous

“Personally, I struggle to find the time to disconnect from work, technology, family stress, etc. Thankfully, I took part in one-hour mindfulness walk with Tia and other participants. During and after the walk, I felt less stressed and I noticed several other key improvements with my body and how I felt mentally. I felt calm and relaxed and it stayed with me throughout the day. We focused on our breathing during this walk. As Tia pointed out, walking is beneficial for us as it brings fresh air into our lungs and helps deepen our breathing. Being out in nature expands our awareness of what’s around us and also help with stress levels. We focused on the act of walking and being with each moment as we walked. Tia reminded us how important it is to try incorporating mindfulness into our daily lives. I look forward to walking with her again. I highly recommend Finding Mindful Now.” – A.G.

Land Acknowledgment

Most walks through FMN occur on “public land” meaning parks that are now managed by government organizations with tax dollars. Many of these natural places were taken from Indigenous communities during hundreds of years of colonial conquest and attempted extermination in the U.S. For example in Oregon, the U.S. government began giving land away to primarily white settlers recently emigrated from Europe through the Oregon Donation Land Act before it negotiated any treaties with tribes who had lived here for millenia tending the land and waterways. You can read more about broken treaties in Oregon here. Consider reading An Indigenous Peoples’ History of the United States by Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz to learn more about this history. This is a timeline of Indigenous history in Oregon hosted at Pacific University shared by Rep. Tawna Sanchez.

Finding Mindful Now recognizes the ongoing oppression and wrongdoing toward Indigenous communities and honors their ancestors’ and descendants’ contributions. What we now call the tri-county Portland area sits on original land of the Multnomah, Kathlamet, Clackamas, Cowlitz bands of Chinook, Tualatin Kalapuya, Molalla and more tribes and bands who used the Columbia and Willamette river ways. The Chinook, Kalapuya and Molalla native communities are now part of the Confederated Tribes of Grande Ronde. I am grateful for all that I continue to learn from Native communities and the more than human world. You’ll want to contact tribal representatives in your area to clarify the history of land where you are, see this page for maps and links to their pages. You can review the Native Land app, an indigenous-led non-profit that honors indigenous Nations at www.native-land.ca.

About the Parks

We choose parks or landscapes that are larger to provide space between visitors, include a mix of natural habitats, wide trails enabling groups to talk face-to-face in a circle, and locations that provide options for different routes. The guide designs walking routes based on safety assessments, accessibility, a mix of natural elements with seasonal changes (e.g. water access, forests, views, variety in plant life) research on nature and health, and the ability to stop regularly without impeding other visitors. We are always visiting new parks and will add more locations regularly.