7-Day Training + 4 Month Online
Canada, BC – Xenia Centre September 2026
7 Day In Person
- Cohort 782 Smith Rd Bowen Island, BC V0N 1G2 Canada
- /
- October 1, 2026
- to
- February 4, 2026
4 Months Online
- October 1, 2026
- to
- February 4, 2027
- Enrollment Open
7-day In-person Training
In this training, you will learn:
- Be guided on Forest Therapy walks by your trainers
- Learn how to guide ANFT’s Standard Sequence – A Powerful approach to nature connection
- Guide your first Forest Therapy walk
- Sequencing forest therapy invitations for maximum impact and benefit
- The heart-centered Way of the Guide approach
- The Language for Relational Forest Therapy to help create powerful connections with self and nature
- Somatic techniques for embodied awareness
- Start developing and deepening your relationship with the land
- Trail awareness and safety -how to choose a forest therapy trail
- Facilitation skills that promote an open environment for group sharing
- Competency standards: what a Forest Therapy Guide should know and be able to do
- Practical exercises and explorations to consolidate your learning
About the Venue
Xenia Centre
Xenia Centre is a 38-acre sanctuary on Bowen Island, tucked away within the island’s lush Pacific Northwest rainforest. Upon arrival, you’ll be greeted by Opa, a thousand-year-old Douglas fir tree, the inspiration for our Douglas Fir cohort and one of only two old-growth Douglas firs on the island.
The property itself offers winding trails, quiet spots for reflection, and a meditation sanctuary, providing plenty of spaces to explore, gather, or simply be present. A short trail leads to nearby Killarney Lake. Beyond Xenia, Bowen Island is dotted with parks, hiking trails, coves and beaches, which invite further exploration of this whimsical, forested island. Resident horses add a gentle presence to the land, completing the serene, grounding atmosphere ideal for learning to become a forest therapy guide.
Lodging
Prices are listed in Canadian dollars and include all taxes. Approximate prices in US dollars are also shown, based on December 2025 exchange rates.
(Visit www.xe.com for current exchange rates.)
All prices are per person and include accommodation and vegetarian meals for four nights. Our final dinner together will feature salmon.
To book your lodging and meal package, please wait until your tuition payment has been confirmed by the ANFT office. Then contact Ken Ouendag (one of the ANFT trainers for the Douglas Fir cohort) at ANFTDouglasfircohort@gmail.com. Payment can then be made by credit card or e-transfer.
We kindly ask that you do not contact the venue directly.
CAMPING – CA$1,080 (approx. US$780)
Please bring your own tent and camping gear. You’re also welcome to sleep in your vehicle if you prefer.
MAPLE COTTAGE (SHARED with bunk bed; ensuite bathroom) – CA$1285 (approx. US$930)
MAPLE COTTAGE (SHARED with queen bed; ensuite bathroom) – CA$1390 (approx. US$1005)
LUNA YURT (SHARED with 1 single bed and 1 double bed; no ensuite bathroom) – CA$1490 (approx. US$1075)
GARDEN COTTAGE (SHARED with 1 loft bed and 2 single beds; no ensuite bathroom) – CA$1490 (approx. US$1075)
CREEKSIDE COTTAGE (PRIVATE with queen bed; no ensuite bathroom) – CA$1905 (approx. US$1375)
CRYSTAL YURT (PRIVATE with queen bed; no ensuite bathroom) – CA$1905 (approx. US$1375)
OMA COTTAGE (PRIVATE with queen bed; ensuite bathroom) – CA$2215 (approx. US$1600)
A partner or friend (who will not be participating in the training) may share the Oma Cottage with you. The rate for two people, including meals, is CA$3100 (approx. US$2240).
CEDAR COTTAGE (PRIVATE with king bed; ensuite bathroom) – CA$2315 (approx. US$1675)
A partner or friend (who will not be participating in the training) may share the Cedar Cottage with you. The rate for two people, including meals, is CA$3200 (approx. US$2315).
While Xenia Centre offers a range of private and shared accommodations, availability for the options listed below is limited. You can learn more about these options by visiting the venue’s website.
Please note: Due to limited availability at Xenia Centre, we ask that you arrange payment for your lodging and meals within two weeks of receiving your enrollment confirmation from the ANFT office.
Meals
Vegetarian meals are included with your lodging. Our final dinner together will feature salmon.
Transportation
Bowen Island is accessed by a 20-minute ferry from West Vancouver. For more information, see the BC Ferries website. The ferry travels between Horseshoe Bay (West Vancouver) and Snug Cove (Bowen Island).
From Snug Cove, Xenia Retreat Centre is about a 10-minute drive.
Public transit is also an option. You can travel from downtown Vancouver or from Vancouver International Airport to Horseshoe Bay and then walk onto the ferry.
An optional carpooling sign-up sheet will be provided in advance for those enrolled.
Schedule Details for the 7 Day in Person Training
Arrival
Arrive on September 14, 2026, between 3:00 and 5:00 pm.
Departure
The program ends (after lunch) at 1:00 pm on September 20, 2026.
General Notes
Cell service is available throughout the retreat centre. Wi-Fi is available in certain locations.
Venue Policies:
If cancelled more than 90 days before the immersion start date, you will receive a full refund, minus a CA$100.00 processing fee.
If cancelled between 89 and 60 days before the immersion start date, you will receive a 50% refund, minus a CA$100.00 processing fee, unless we can fill your place with another participant on a waiting list (in which case, you would receive a full refund, minus a CA$100.00 processing fee).
If cancelled less than 60 days before the immersion start date, no refund will be available, unless we can fill your place with another participant on a waiting list (in which case you would receive a full refund, minus a CA$100.00 processing fee).
4 Month Online
In this second part of the training, 4 months online you will:
- Consolidate the learning from the 7 day in person training
- Guide your practice walks
- Debrief your practice walks with the training team and your cohort colleagues
- Sequencing forest therapy invitations for maximum impact and benefit
- Getting to know your bioregion, its history, watershed, awarenesses and more
- Nature and forest therapy scientific research and knowledge
- Learn how to develop your guiding practice
- Continue to deepen your relationship with the land
- Practical exercises and explorations to deepen your guiding skills
The training is designed in a way that will gently guide you through all the steps and processes to integrate and deepen the learning in your head and in your body. Upon completion of this course you will be able to succesfully guide forest therapy walks within the framework of ANFT’s guide certification training.
Schedule for LIVE Online calls for 4 month training
Tuition
The tuition for the complete program that includes the 7 day in person training and the 4 month online program is 3600 (USD).
Payment plans are available on registration.
IMPORTANT: This price does not include lodging, meals nor transportation to the 7 day in person training.
Other costs to your training include payment for Wilderness First Aid training, which is required for Certification, and is provided by third parties. Prices range from $100 to $300.
Tuition figures are subject to change.
Training Team
- Ken Ouendag
- Jackie is a trainer and the Business Director for the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programs. She’s a certified forest therapy guide trained in 2017 at Sugarloaf Ridge State Park and has been guiding regularly in her communities ever since. She’s one of the first guides to pioneer guiding walks remotely via Zoom when the pandemic made guiding in-person unsafe for many months in 2020. Born and raised in China, Jackie came to the United States in 1990 to pursue her PhD in American Literature. She has had a diverse background in various fields such as teaching, translating, marketing, and practicing as a Certified Public Accountant. One of her greatest joys in guiding and training guides is witnessing the transformative impact on participants’ well-being on so many levels. She has co-led over 10 guide trainings worldwide as of 2022 and created a professional development course called Guiding Business Success for trained guides.
- Ken Ouendag
- Ken Ouendag became the first certified Forest Therapy Guide in Vancouver, BC after training with ANFT in 2017. He currently lives in Calgary, AB and serves as the Praire Representative with the NFTC (National Forest Therapy of Canada). Ken works in the field of Recreation Therapy while studying for a Master of Arts in Counselling Psychology. He has worked with adults and seniors in various health care settings and continues to advocate for people living in long-term care and hospital settings to have opportunities to go outside and interact with the natural world.