Sometimes a Forest Therapy Trail begins long before anyone thinks to call it one. 
When Kristen Roman arrived at her nearly 40 acres of forested land in 2018, she knew she wanted to create trails through the woods and meadow. Once the snow melted that first winter, she marked a series of connecting paths and, with the help of a friend, began bringing them to life.
For years, she walked these trails, shared them with family and friends, and deepened her relationship with the land.
Then, shortly after retiring from more than 30 years in public service, a friend told Kristen that the way she spoke about her relationship with the forest had a name: Shinrin-yoku.
“When I realized that there is an actual name for what I had fundamentally understood as a calming, restorative relationship with nature… I had a sort of epiphany.”
That discovery led Kristen to ANFT, Forest Therapy Guide certification, and eventually the Trails, Spaces & Places program, ultimately inspiring her to create One Tree Forest Therapy and share both the practice and this beloved land with others.
Seeing the Process from Both Sides
What makes this certification particularly unique is that Kristen served as both land manager and Trail Consultant.
Already guiding Forest Therapy walks on the property; she knew the land intimately. But certification invited her to look at familiar trails through another lens, considering safety, flow, gathering places, and how the landscape could best support the Forest Therapy experience.
“This project was unique given that I am both the land manager and the consultant for the project, which gave me the experience of seeing the process from both perspectives.”
The trail moves through remarkably diverse landscapes – older white pines, oak stands, open pockets within the forest, gentle inclines, and a large meadow alive with grasses, wildflowers, milkweed, birds, butterflies, dragonflies, and other more-than-human beings.
Trust the Process
Along the way, Kristen learned to let go of the idea that everything had to be perfect.
“The perfectionist in me got me stuck for a bit thinking that I had to accomplish the ‘ideal’ state before I could certify my trails.”
Her advice to others considering this journey is simple: trust the process.
Just two years after discovering Forest Therapy, Kristen is now sharing the land she loves and, in her words, “all the love that it offers in return”, with others through guided Forest Therapy walks.
Today, One Tree Forest Therapy offers year-round guided walks for individuals and groups, with Kristen able to draw upon different parts of the landscape to create experiences responsive to the people she is guiding. She is also exploring collaborations with other wellness practitioners, along with nature journaling and sit spot workshops. And the dream of restoring the property’s yurt as a gathering space remains part of the evolving story of this place.
We are delighted to welcome One Tree Forest Therapy into the growing community of ANFT Certified Trails, Spaces & Places.
Kristen’s story reminds us that creating a Forest Therapy Trail doesn’t begin with perfection.
It begins with relationship.
