Guide Training Immersion 4-Days
Slovenia, Pokljuka – Hotel Jelka – April 2025
- April 23, 2025
- to
- April 27, 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
Hotel Jelka
Hotel Pokljuka is nestled in the heart of the Pokljuka plateau in the Triglav National Park of Slovenia, which will captivate you with its unspoiled nature of vast spruce forests, picturesque views of the Alps and small mountain settlements.
April still being considered off-season for the main tourism in Pokljuka, the hotel will be open just for our group for the Guide Immersion. We will be able to enjoy its cozy rooms, warm restaurant and a terrace with a view as well as the peace of the surrounding forests.
The Pokljuka plateau is the largest rounded forest area in Triglav National Park, 20 kilometers long and almost 20 km wide. In the past, beech forests prevailed on the plateau stretching at an altitude of 1100 to 1400 meters, but they were almost completely deforested, because charcoal was made from beech wood, used as the main source of energy for iron ore melting furnaces, and later spruce trees were planted.
The diverse surface with karst features was strongly impacted by the Pokljuka glacier. Many peat bogs were formed, which are considered as the southernmost high peat bogs in Europe and are very important from the ecological aspect, since they provide shelter to many plants and animals. Pokljuka boasts with spruce and pine forests and grassland, many hidden precipices, sink-holes and small valleys are scattered on the entire plateau area.
Pokljuka is a very popular destination in all seasons due to its altitude, fresh air and energy points, which positively affect health and well-being.
There are many nature points to visit in the surrounding area, like the Bled or Bohinj Lakes, Soča river, beautiful valleys, many river falls, mountains, trails … offering a vast array of activities and mindful visits if you wish to prolong your stay. The area is close to the Austrian and Italian border.



Lodging
All rooms of Hotel Jelka are warm, forest-themed and equipped with a bathroom, and almost all have a balcony with a beautiful view. They contain a lot of wood from the surrounding forests and are therefore very pleasant to stay in.
There are limited single rooms, on a first come first serve basis.
No offsite lodging – all participants must stay on-site.
1 x single room with balcony
8 x double room with balcony
2 x triple room with balcony
3 x Economy triple room (without balcony)
1 x 6-bed room with balcony
1 x 9-bed room with balcony
Prices per person:
Shared room: 420€ + tourist tax 10€
Single room/single use: 500€ + tourist tax 10€
The prices include 4 nights with all meals in the hotel restaurant starting with dinner on the first day and ending with breakfast on the last day of the immersion.
The participants are asked to book directly with the hotel (AFTER you sign up and get confirmation of your immersion spot from the ANFT): info@hotel-jelka.si
Full payment is to be made upon booking. Full refund in urgent cases up to 7 days before the event.
Meals
We will start with dinner on our first day and end with breakfast on the last day, and have a full board with breakfast, lunch and dinner on days 2, 3 and 4.
The restaurant prepares excellent homemade dishes and exquisite pizzas according to your wishes. Vegan and vegetarian options are available.
Transportation
Pokljuka is located an hour drive from the Ljubljana Airport. You can take a taxi from the airport to the venue or rent a car at the airport.
We will share a spreadsheet and help you organize shared shuttles from the airport if needed.
The area is located near to the Austrian and Italian border, if you want to look at other nearby airports.
Schedule Details
Arrival
Arriving and check-in 4 – 5 pm
Orientation Circle and dinner
Departure
Program ends at 1 pm
General Notes
Please book directly with the hotel AFTER you sign up and get confirmation of your immersion spot from the ANFT at: info@hotel-jelka.si
Full payment is to be made upon booking. Full refund in urgent cases up to 7 days before the event.
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.
Training Team

- Geeta Stilwell
- 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.

- Katarina Cuk
- 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.
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.