Guide Training Immersion 4-Days
Canada, British Columbia – Xenia Centre – May, 2025
- May 28, 2025
- to
- June 1, 2025
- Enrollment Open
An opportunity to connect with other guides from other cohorts and learn from the shared experiences.
If you have completed at least module 4 and submitted the corresponding assignments, of the six-month remote Forest Therapy Guide Training you’re eligible to apply. Completion of this immersion and the six-month training fulfills the requirements for full Certification. When space is available, ANFT-trained guides who have completed training in any past cohort can also participate. Please note that priority goes to students who need to take the immersion to get fully certified. Therefore, when you apply, you’ll be put on a waitlist until three weeks before the start of the immersion.
A 4 day in-person gathering, with 1 or 2 trainers, and people from different cohorts where you will have the opportunity to apply what you learned, experience in-person forest therapy walks and simply connect and share experiences and stories with other guides.
In this immersion, you will:
- Get a hands on experience of what you learned
- Get to know trainers personally
- Get to know other guides and connect
- Learn from shared experiences with other guides
- Deepen into the practice
- Get the opportunity to ask specific questions that might come up
Once you complete this four-day immersion, your certification will be moved from provisional to permanent. You have two years after you complete the six month core training course to complete an immersion. It will help to give you a sense of the community of guides that has grown and is active throughout the world.
About the Venue
Xenia Centre
Nestled between two lakes and surrounded by parkland, Xenia is a 38-acre retreat center on Bowen Island (near Vancouver, BC). The land offers a tranquil setting ideal for deepening into the practice of forest therapy. This is the home of Opa, a thousand-year-old Douglas fir tree, along with a variety of other flora and fauna of the Pacific Northwest. Thoughtful amenities such as a labyrinth, meditation sanctuary, and infrared sauna enhance the experience. A short walk leads to the ocean, offering sunset views across the Salish Sea.
Lodging
Prices are listed in Canadian dollars and include all taxes. (Visit www.xe.com to view current US exchange rates.)
All prices are per person and include accommodation as well as vegetarian meals for 4 nights. Our final dinner together will include salmon.
TO BOOK YOUR LODGING AND MEAL PACKAGE, PLEASE WAIT UNTIL YOU ARE CONFIRMED WITH TUITION PAYMENT AND THEN CONTACT KEN AND RONNA (YOUR TRAINERS FOR THE IMMERSION) AT ANFTBCIMMERSION@GMAIL.COM. We ask that you do not contact the venue directly.
While Xenia Centre offers a range of private and shared accommodations, there is limited availability for the options listed below.
MAPLE COTTAGE (SHARED with queen bed; ensuite bathroom): $800
MAPLE COTTAGE (SHARED with bunk bed; ensuite bathroom): $700
CEDAR COTTAGE (PRIVATE with king bed; ensuite bathroom): $1275 – FULLY BOOKED
OMA COTTAGE (PRIVATE with queen bed; ensuite bathroom): $1275 – FULLY BOOKED
CREEKSIDE COTTAGE (PRIVATE with queen bed; no ensuite bathroom): $1040 – FULLY BOOKED
LUNA YURT (SHARED with 2 single beds and 1 double bed; no ensuite bathroom): $800
GARDEN COTTAGE (SHARED with 1 loft bed and 2 single beds; no ensuite bathroom): $800
CRYSTAL YURT (SHARED with 1 queen bed or 1 single bed; no ensuite bathroom): $800
Camping. (Please bring your own tent and camping gear. There is also the option to sleep in your vehicle.): $610
Please note that the venue allows up to 4 people to camp onsite (in tents or vehicles).
The venue allows for up to 2 people to stay off-site. The cost to stay off-site is $510 (which includes 3 meals a day plus a day-use fee).
To ensure that you can secure the accommodation of your choice, please make your booking as soon as possible (after you are enrolled in the course).
Meals
Vegetarian meals are included in the price for lodging. Salmon will be served on the final night.
Transportation
Bowen Island is accessed by a 20-minute ferry from West Vancouver. Consider making a reservation if traveling by vehicle. See the BC Ferries website for more information. The ferry travels between Horseshoe Bay (in West Vancouver) and Snug Cove (on Bowen Island).
From Snug Cove, it is about a 10-minute drive to Xenia.
It is possible to take public transit from Vancouver’s city centre (as well as from the Vancouver airport) to Horseshoe Bay (in West Vancouver) and then walk on the ferry. Public transportation is available from Snug Cove (on Bowen Island), which would require a 10-minute walk from the bus stop to Xenia.
An optional carpooling sign-up sheet will be provided in advance.
Schedule Details
Arrival
Arrive on May 28 between 2 and 4 p.m.
Departure
The program ends (after lunch) at 1 p.m. on June 1.
General Notes
Venue Policies
The venue does not provide towels. Please bring an extra towel if you would like to use the free infrared sauna.
WIFI
Cell service is available throughout the retreat centre. WiFi is available in certain locations.
Cancellation Policies
If canceled more than 90 days before the immersion start date, you will receive a full refund, minus a $50.00 processing fee.
If canceled between 89 and 60 days before the immersion start date, you will receive a 50% refund, minus a $75.00 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 $75.00 processing fee).
If canceled 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 $75.00 processing fee).
Tuition
The tuition for the four-day immersion is 495 (USD). Wait to pay until you are ready to register for a specific immersion. You will have two years from the completion of your core guide training to do the immersion.
Immersion tuition does not include transportation, lodging or camping fees and food. These expenses are separate from the program costs for the four-day immersion and are the responsibility of the trainee.
IMPORTANT: Please wait until you receive enrollment confirmation before booking travel and lodging.
Tuition figures are subject to change.
Trainers
- Ronna Schneberger
- Ronna Schneberger has been a professional award winning naturalist, interpreter, and hiking guide in the Canadian Mountain Parks for 25 years. She is a yoga teacher of 20 years and in the last decade incorporated yoga, meditation, and coaching in nature. The results were profound. In her quest to understand why time in nature easily creates powerful experiences, she became a Forest Therapy Guide with the ANFT, one of the first in Canada. Ronna is a trainer and mentor for forest therapy guides. She is faculty with Leadership Development at the Banff Centre where she works with leaders, professionals and executives from all over the world using nature as the teacher to create powerful reflections and transformation. She is the Chair of the ANFT Canadian Council, along with her team; she looks forward to promoting Forest Therapy in Canada.
- 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
Certification Pathway
STEP 1
6-Month Remote Training
You will start with a 6-month remote training, covering the content on live calls with the support of your trainers, fellow students, a very user friendly learning platform, many self exploration and nature connection activities that are done outside. After completing this training you get a provisional certification as a Certified Forest Therapy Guide. To view the available trainings scroll down
STEP 2
4-Day In-Person Immersion
After completing module 4 you can apply to attend a 4-day in-person immersion, for hands on forest therapy guiding experience with trainers and fellow students. You have two years time to complete this step.
STEP 3
Get Your Certification
After completing the 6-month remote training and the 4-day in- person immersion, you will receive your permanent certification as an ANFT Certified Forest Therapy Guide and be part of the largest Forest Therapy Guide Community Worldwide.