Forest Therapy with Usal Project

Palm Canyon Trail, Balboa Park(opens in a new tab)

Join certified forest therapy guide, Alyssa Benjamin, on a nature and forest therapy walk to cultivate an embodied, sensory relationship with the living world. In this immersive experience, you’ll connect with yourself, each other, and the earth as your senses become a pathway for building deeper relationships with the plants, animals and beings around you.

Forest therapy is based on the Japanese practice of Shinrin-Yoku (or forest bathing) and has a number of benefits, including: reducing stress and anxiety, boosting your immune system, helping with attention restoration (which is helpful for those who have ADHD), generating feelings of awe and wonder, and supercharging your creativity.

Forest therapy walks are less about exercise, and more about connection. The practice invites you to create a personal and authentic relationship with the earth and with yourself through meditation, play, ceremony. Forest therapy is also about reciprocity—the practice is a powerful reminder to find ways to give back to the land that continually gives to us.

Elements of a forest therapy walk include an introduction to the land and the history/practice/process of forest therapy, a sensory meditation to bring us into embodied awareness, a series of invitations that encourage mindful exploration and interaction with the living world (nature) and with one another, and a closing ceremony and connection circle with snacks and tea made from local plants.

Alyssa Benjamin is a writer, coach and certified ANFT forest therapy guide. As the founder of Our Nature Studio, Alyssa leads workshops, courses and retreats that help people build deeper intimacy with natural spaces around them and within them.

This event is presented by USAL Project and Getty’s PST ART: Art & Science Collide as part of the San Diego and La Jolla PST ART Weekend(opens in a new tab). USAL Project is a community providing experiences & goods for the modern outdoor enthusiast. With a team of hand selected guides, USAL and PST ART are collaborating to offer a series of free local workshops and retreats across all things outdoors, sustainably, and wellness.

PST ART is presented by Getty. The lead sponsors supporting PST ART are Bank of America, Alicia Miñana & Rob Lovelace, and the Getty Patron Program. Additional support is provided by the Simons Foundation; Eva & Ming Hsieh, Co-Founders of Fulgent Genetics; and Peggy & Andrew Cherng, Co-Chairs and Co-CEOs of Panda Express.

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The latest edition of Southern California’s landmark arts event, PST ART, returns with more than 70 exhibitions from museums and other institutions across the region, all exploring the intersections of art and science, both past and present. Dozens of cultural, scientific, and community organizations will join the latest edition, PST ART: Art & Science Collide, with exhibitions on subjects ranging from ancient cosmologies to Indigenous sci-fi, and from environmental justice to artificial intelligence. Art & Science Collide will share groundbreaking research, create indelible experiences for the public, and generate new ways of understanding our complex world. PST ART is presented by Getty. For more information about PST ART: Art & Science Collide, please visit pst.art(opens in a new tab)