Wellbeing Programs
Book your private yoga class to celebrate your event in the gardens or Education Center on Saturdays. Email Deirdre to reserve your class at dguthrie@fernwoodbotanical.org
Dr. Deirdre Guthrie will guide you and your group in a day immersed in wellbeing. Following gentle movement and guidance for your sensory walk, we will proceed down to the river where we will end with a seasonal reflective meditation in constructive rest.
Members $50, Nonmembers $60
Register through Spore Studios online here: https://studiobookingsonline.com/sporestudios/workshop
All wellbeing programs below can be facilitated in the gardens or travel to your location and customized. They may include some combination of sensory awareness, movement and guided meditation, or other contemplative practice inspired by nature.
Yoga and Movement
Ongoing classes accessible to all levels that combine yin/yang elements to both strengthen and restore the body-mind-spirit! Please bring your own mat and props (blocks, straps and bolsters as needed) and contact Deirdre if you have any physical limitations or questions about the practice.
Seasonal Contemplative Retreats
These workshops invite mindfulness and reconnection to our own inner nature as we engage in sensory walks (forest-bathing), explore micro-environments, create mandalas and appreciate poetry inspired by natural elements. Two retreats are offered each season: winter, spring, summer and fall.
Children’s Kindness Retreats & Day Camps
Drawing from social emotional learning and mindfulness meditation practices, games, eating, and creative movement, these offerings allow kids to unplug from technology and refresh themselves from a busy school year. Experiences include breathwork, making mood jars, body-emotion maps, gratitude trees, nature mandalas, trust walks, story-yoga, and constructive rest.
Rituals
Customized to acknowledge the power and meaning of our collective life transitions and celebrations (births, divorce, grieving, anniversaries, weddings/unions, house/barn blessings), Deirdre will work with you to co-create a ritual to honor and mark these sacred times in our lives.
Circle Process
Circles are an ancient way of gathering together to restore our profound interconnection. We may need to repair harm, strengthen our sense of community, or tell our own stories in a nurturing space.
Custom “Contemplation in Nature” Workshop Themes
Adults/General Public
The Science of Awe and Beauty
Embracing impermanence
Storytelling and the cycles of life
The web of our interconnection
Sustainability of self (self-care practices) and our environment
Workplace
Compassionate, Embodied Leadership
Harnessing states of Flow (enhanced focus, engagement, absorption, pleasure)
Team building
Kids/Teens
Kindness Practices
Technology Detox
Mindfulness and Story-yoga
About the Instructor
Deirdre Guthrie, PhD. is a Wellbeing Scientist and Anthropologist certified in: Yoga Instruction, "Mindful Leader" Meditation for organizations and Circle Process. She is also a mother, dancer, and beach-comber. In addition to Fernwood, she works as a Research Manager for The Wellbeing Project, a catalyst organization that promotes the inner development of social change makers around the world.
What People Are Saying
“Deirdre came to our barn before the commitment ceremony and created such a beautiful yoga practice for us to share before the big day. She really listened during the consult and prepared such a sweet closing meditation for our group, celebrating love and our friendship!”
— Molly, bridesmaid
“I absolutely loved the spring retreat and found it to be very nourishing and healing for my soul! Thank you so very much for your time, attention, and planning. I had looked forward to the retreat for weeks, and am so appreciative, and grateful for the gift of peace, comfort, and refreshment.”
— Christine, teacher