Forest Therapy Guide Training
Slovenia - Cohort 25
Registering for a training begins by completing an application which may take 20-30 minutes. This application is a way for us to get to know you and to determine if we think you will make a good forest therapy guide. Once your application is received, our admissions team will review it and, if you are accepted into the program, send an acceptance letter within three weeks. This letter will contain all the information for next steps, including a registration link to reserve your space in the training. To promote an optimal learning environment, we generally cap enrollment at 21 participants per training. Applications we receive after we have filled the training will be placed on a waitlist. If an accepted applicant drops out, we will contact the next applicant on the waitlist until the training is full again.
In the heart of Slovenia, nestled within a ring of magnificent Julian Alps, lies Hotel Cerkno. It is hidden in an area of pristine nature and breathtaking countryside. The hotel offers a cozy atmosphere and is the most popular ski resort in the country. It boasts an indoor swimming pool with thermal water, which is pumped from a 2000-meter deep bore-hole in the immediate proximity of the hotel complex. At your disposal are also idyllic Alpine-style saunas, as well as a halotherapy salt room. Near the hotel are several maintained and marked hiking and cycling trails, and the interesting landscape offers many possibilities for hunting, fishing, riding, paragliding, climbing, and more.
- 66 € - Half-board, double shared room per person per day. Includes breakfast and dinner. Tourist tax and insurance (can be changed without previous notification)/person/night 1.50 € to be added to total cost. VAT tax included
- 74.5 € - Half-board, single room per person per day. Includes breakfast and dinner. Tourist tax and insurance (can be changed without previous notification)/person/night 1.50 € to be added to total cost. VAT tax included
- "Half-board" means the room comes with two meals per day
- Full-board (three meals per day) is available. However, there are several on-site lunch options for participants to choose from
- There is a small grocery store at the resort
- There is no place for cooking
- There is no camping
- There are several shops at the resort. The nearest town outside of Cerkno is about 30 minutes away
The restaurant at the Hotel Cerkno offers you every month new and unique themed specialities. So you will find according to the season dishes with wild berries, with milk and milk products, also fish dishes or dishes with mushrooms. The dishes are prepared with carefully selected ingredients according to grannies recipes and supplemented with modern preparation methods.
The ambience of the restaurant is a perfect location for an elegant wedding. According to interesting table settings we can conjure up an amazing room for the amusement of up to 250 guests.
The restaurant Alpine pearl on 1300 m above sea level offers you a wide range of dishes incorporating an alpine touch. Can you imagine anything better than sitting on the terrace of the alpine restaurant, enyoing the sun with views onto the Slovenian highest mountain Triglav and enjoying a tasty meal in a pleasant company?
But something very special at the restaurant Alpine pearl is the arrangement of a wedding. Either a winter wedding or one in alpine style, with or without ceremony, in the open air or at the restaurant … The ambient and the surrounding will certainly fascinate you!
Schedule for Live Events
In the heart of Slovenia, nestled within a ring of magnificent Julian Alps, lies Hotel Cerkno. It is hidden in an area of pristine nature and breathtaking countryside. The hotel offers a cozy atmosphere and is the most popular ski resort in the country. It boasts an indoor swimming pool with thermal water, which is pumped from a 2000-meter deep bore-hole in the immediate proximity of the hotel complex. At your disposal are also idyllic Alpine-style saunas, as well as a halotherapy salt room. Near the hotel are several maintained and marked hiking and cycling trails, and the interesting landscape offers many possibilities for hunting, fishing, riding, paragliding, climbing, and more.
Recently I visited one of my mentors from many years ago. He lives in New Zealand now, but travels the world over as a mountaineer and adventure enthusiast. He told me he returns to Slovenia at least once a year, because, according to him, "it is the second most beautiful place in the world." (Of course, he has to be loyal to New Zealand; but I felt like he wanted to say Slovenia was the best!). Also, when I was in Serbia in 2016, I met a group of Slovenian forest guides there from an organization called "Forest Selfness" (pretty awesome name!). They were not shy about encouraging me to come to Slovenia to do a training. One of them, Katarina Cuk, has since travelled to California and completed her Forest Therapy Guide Certification through our organization. She'll be an assistant trainer in Slovenia. I'm very much looking forward to renewing friendships and making new friends at this event. I hope you will consider joining us there.
-Amos Clifford, Founder, Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programs
Tuition
Registering for a training begins by completing an application which may take 20-30 minutes. This application is a way for us to get to know you and to determine if we think you will make a good forest therapy guide. Once your application is received, our admissions team will review it and, if you are accepted into the program, send an acceptance letter within three weeks. This letter will contain all the information for next steps, including a registration link to reserve your space in the training. To promote an optimal learning environment, we generally cap enrollment at 21 participants per training. Applications we receive after we have filled the training will be placed on a waitlist. If an accepted applicant drops out, we will contact the next applicant on the waitlist until the training is full again.
Read MoreTrainers
Our trainers are among the most experienced guides in the world and each one undergoes a rigorous training process beyond their certification as guides. The trainers listed below are subject to change based on trainer availability. No matter which trainers you work with, you will be taught by the best in the field.
Entrenadores
Amos Clifford is the founder of the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programs and author of the best selling Your Guide to Forest Bathing (Conari Press 2018). A student of Buddhist philosophy for over 20 years, Amos founded Sky Creek Dharma Center in Chico, California, where he emphasized the importance of meditation practice in wild places. Amos is also widely known for his work in restorative justice. He is founder of the Center for Restorative Process, where he has led the inquiry into how the principles of restorative justice can inform ways to heal the broken relationships between humans and the more-than-human world of nature. Amos holds a BS in Organization Development and an MA in Counseling from the University of San Francisco. Amos has been the primary developer of ANFT's acclaimed training programs.
Katarina Cuk Owl is the first certified Forest Therapy Guide in Slovenia, EU, author of the book Our Timeless Nature, Forest Selfness guide and a certified meditation guide. Her Slovene surname Cuk means ‘little owl – athene noctua’ in English. Living really close to nature from childhood, she has always sought comfort, support and inspiration in the forest. A few years after moving to the city as a student of translation sciences, she realized she longs for that deep connection again - to re-connect to her-self. At a major career shift she decided to work in nature, for nature, with nature, got educated in different areas needed, wrote a book about our connection to nature, and started to promote the importance of returning back to nature for support, and helped people do that through workshops, articles and meditation in nature. She joined the team of Forest Selfness green tourism program as a guide in 2014, through it met Amos Clifford in 2016 and immediately knew ANFT is the embodiment of work she feels has to be done in the world. She did her training in Cohort 10 in California in 2017. Currently she combines her work in sustainable tourism and Forest Therapy Guiding.
Geeta is a certified Forest Therapy Guide based in Portugal and the founder of the company Renature where she creates and facilitates restorative programs that promote wellbeing and health through Forest Therapy, nature connection practices, clean eating and self-care. She works all over the world with various populations that range from the general public, corporate senior and junior teams, schools, families, mental health populations and individuals recovering from situations of excess stress and resulting depression and anxiety. Her passion is to bring human beings back to nature and support the reconnection to the restorative potency of the natural world. She is trained in Forest Therapy, Embodied Mindfulness and Conscious Resting, Council and Active Meditation Techniques, and in the field of Healthcare as a Pharmacist. She holds a Masters in Business Management and is fluent in Portuguese, English, Spanish and French.
