This week we sit down with a seasoned guide, Debra Wilbur, whose connection to forest therapy traces back to her roots in rural Indiana. Debra’s initiation into Nature Therapy started at an early age, where the vast woodlands behind her childhood home became a sanctuary for solitary exploration and connection with the natural world. The formal introduction to the practice unfolded in 2016 when she stumbled upon it in literature, leading her to seek guidance from Ben Page, a notable figure in the Los Angeles Nature Therapy landscape. In a serendipitous encounter, Debra literally chased him up a trail, eager to discover the path to formal training. Prior to her training, Debra immersed herself in the Japanese countryside, delving into areas renowned for forest bathing and spending time with monks on Mount Koya, providing a profound grounding in the diverse ways Japanese culture intersects with and perceives the more-than-human world.
Since her immersion in the Summer of 2018 at Sugarloaf State Park, Debra’s journey as a guide has unfolded organically, marking a pivotal shift in her life’s focus. Despite initial doubts about the feasibility of Nature Therapy becoming a central aspect of her life, various factors, including living in California’s receptive environment for alternative wellness practices, the societal impact of COVID-19, and her own health challenges, propelled her into a significant role as a guide. As Debra reflects on the most remarkable aspects of her guiding journey, she delves into the intersection of personal well-being, societal needs, and the unforeseen twists of life that have steered her towards a deeper commitment to Nature Therapy. Join us as we explore Debra’s insights into the practice, her personal philosophy on our connection with the more-than-human world, and a particularly special “medicine walk” in Topanga Canyon State Park that encapsulates the essence of her guiding experience.
ANFT: Tell us how you first got involved with Nature Therapy.
Debra: Experientially and fundamentally, as a child growing up in rural Indiana who happily spent the whole day alone in the woods behind our house.
As a formal practice, I first read about it in 2016. Not long after that, I sought out a Los Angeles area guide (where I now live). That guide was Ben Page and I literally chased him up the trail as we were leaving to find out how I would go about training.
Just prior to training, I traveled about the Japanese countryside for a month immersing in some of the areas known for forest bathing and stayed, for a short while, with the monks on Mount Koya. It was an excellent grounding in the varied ways in which Japanese culture intersects with and views the more than human world.
ANFT: How long have you been guiding?
Debra: My immersion was the Summer of 2018 in Sugarloaf State Park. My first experience guiding others started right there and then and has continued apace ever since.
ANFT: What is the most remarkable thing that has happened since you started guiding?
Debra: Guiding has taken a central focus in my life. I think I had hoped/wished for that to be the case but didn’t initially have the confidence to believe that it could actually happen. This was not so much a lack of self-confidence as it was a lack of belief that it could become central enough to the broader culture that it would support the practice sufficiently enough to support myself. But A) I live in California, where there is generous acceptance of alternative wellness practices and B) COVID happened and rendered a populace that was eager if not desperate for methods to cope with a radically changed world and C) I developed a chronic illness that both drew me more deeply into the practice for my own well-being, but also prohibits my ability to do other full-time work.
ANFT: What do you wish other people knew about nature therapy?
Debra: First, just a basic understanding of the practice, so as to put to rest those initial reactions of the uninitiated: “Do I have to wear swimwear?”, “I already forest bathe—I hike all the time”, and “How can you do forest bathing in LA? There aren’t any forests here”. I have started to interlace the term forest bathing/therapy with “nature immersion” in an attempt to add more dimension to people’s perceptions.
ANFT: What’s your personal philosophy about our connection with the more-than-human world?
Debra: I am an animist, deep in the tradition and teachings of Graham Harvey and David Abram as well as several years’ study around animism and ancestral studies with Daniel Foor. I believe everything in nature (including us bipeds) contains energy, language, and spirit. There is a deep rift in what was once an inseparable part of ourselves with the more-than-human-world. Contemporary culture and human actions and beliefs have constructed a damaging hierarchy turning our relationship into one of extraction and advantage rather than collaboration and inter-dependance. I believe that this practice is one way of creating a bridge for people to reweave this sacred relationship.
ANFT: Tell us about a particularly special walk.
Debra: Our practicum with ANFT requires a sunup to sundown “medicine walk”. I chose Topanga Canyon State Park—long a site of respite and healing for me. I chose a spot that opened up to gorgeous canyon views and a peek of the ocean between two mountain ridges. There was a perfect little clearing in the midst of shrubs right on the edge of the cliff and this is where I settled. As the sun was rising, I set out my circle: delineated by crystals and nearby rocks before drumming to the directions and calling in my guides.
Much later, as I was lying on my back watching the clouds move across the sky, I heard what I assumed to be a family (a man, a woman and children’s voices) approaching along a little trail that would eventually lead them right behind me. Obscured by the bushes, I was certain they would not see me until they were right upon me. I started softly drumming again, even as I remained in a prone position. My purpose being two-fold: I wanted to alert rather than alarm them with my presence and mostly; I hoped the drumming would alienate them from staying in the area and disrupting my private experience.
So, still lying there, I started drumming to the sky, singing a soft song. I drifted into my own percussive meditation and some time passed. When I drifted back into place awareness, I no longer heard any voices. Still drumming, I stood and started turning and playing to the directions. As I turned, I slowly opened my eyes to discover the whole family had joined me: the children (around seven or eight years old at most) were sitting side-by-side just a few feet down from me on the edge of the canyon, the mother was standing a ways apart from them, palms open to the canyon before her, and the father several yards away cross legged on a bench, all of them with their eyes closed and looks of such incredible peace on their faces.
I was simultaneously startled by their company, shamed by my original intention to drive them away, and incredibly, deeply moved. I realized I was being gifted one of the most powerful messages about this practice and what it would mean to my life and my contribution to this world. This medicine was not mine; it didn’t belong to me, and it could not be used as a shield. But I could serve it and I could serve others in need. I could be a bridge. It was the perfect lesson in the guide opening the door, and nature being the therapist.
ANFT: What might other guides be surprised to know about you?
I was an art director on the television show, CSI: Crime Scene Investigation for 16 years.
ANFT: What would you tell someone who is thinking about becoming a Certified Nature Therapy Guide?
Like Nike: Just Do It.
We are grateful for Debra’s insights into her approach to Forest Therapy, her philosophy emphasizing the interconnectedness of all living things, and a poignant “medicine walk” in Topanga Canyon State Park that encapsulates the essence of her guiding experience. For those eager to delve deeper, Debra’s practice can be explored further on her Inside/Out website. Join us in embracing the wisdom and transformative power of Nature Therapy through Debra’s unique and inspiring journey.