Lorena Chiarcos (Latisana, Italy) has an expansive warm sense of humor. An Artistic Mediator Counselor by the Gestalt Institute, a Forest Bathing Guide trained by FTHub and president of Anthea Art Studio, she “looks at the person as an indivisible whole of body and mind”.
Forest Bathing was a calling that led this powerful woman, who exudes life everywhere, up to the mountains of the Valsugana Valley. She remembers that “the flavor of the day was that of things made with love and dedication” in her grandparents’ country house.
She is now launching the fourth edition of the Be Heart Festival, which includes a “Wild Blue” Forest Bathing session, by the Adriatic Sea passing through the pine forest, run by Manuela Renzi.
“Feeling is one of the elements of existence that gives us the opportunity through nonverbal language to explore our inner world, providing us with new possibilities for expression and transformation. I also found many similarities in being in nature, an experience that allows us to tune into our feelings.
“After my art studies, I continued my training at the Gestalt Institute in Florence where I became an Art-mediated counselor. The existential phenomenologically oriented Gestalt approach looks at the person as an indivisible whole of body and mind, focusing on the themes of perception and experience.
“I grew up in the middle of nature, in the countryside. I felt that nature was always calling me and I was missing something,and one day by chance I found a Forest Bathing event and during the practice I got excited, I knew it was the right way. In nature I feel at home. I immediately set out to find who could train me and chose Forest Therapy Hub”.
Contact with nature: an intense life full of sincerity
“I learned Forest Bathing in my training with FTHub in Valsugana, Trentino. It was a unique experience that enriched me greatly and in which I made beautiful relationships that still continue and with whom I share impressions and projects. Every person, from the teachers to the people who, like me, shared the training contributed to my connection not only with nature, but through nature, with a deeper feeling.
“Nature has always accompanied me since childhood in my grandparents’ country home in Gorgo di Latisana where we lived in rhythm with it, in the company of animals and the seasons. I often climbed trees and watched sunsets from afar thinking about the infinity I saw and what lands I would one day know. With my grandmother I would peel beans and with grandfather I would pound iron for utensils to use in the house. We would get up very early and the flavor of the day was that of things made with love and dedication.
“The grape harvest for wine was the most beautiful time of sharing where everyone gathered together the work of a whole year. To live in contact with nature is to live an intense life full of sincerity”.
Celebrating the land, the water and the community
“That is also why I am part of a cultural association, Anthea Art Studio, of which I am president. Every year we organize the “Be Heart Festival,” a cultural event that takes place in June at Gaspari Park in Latisana (UD). The Festival turns its attention to the environment and the growth of a community, a space without boundaries and where the value of diversity is understood as growth.
“During the festival there are several moments dedicated to well-being to connect participants with their surroundings. Among the different activities we have included Forest Bathing and the leading theme we have chosen this year is WATER in all its forms. Water is Life, it is Energy, it is Balance. Essential to keep the whole Earth’s ecosystem healthy: Humans, animals, vegetation and even the climate. That is why one of the appointments is specifically dedicated to Forest Bathing and the Wild Blue”.
The Adriatic Sea and the pine forest
“Next May 28 at the Tagliamento River Mouth Reserve ( Riserva della Foce del fiume Tagliamento) in Bibione, Venice, we will present Forest Bathing and Wild Blue, diving in nature and also in fresh and salt water streams. In this case we will overlook the Adriatic Sea passing through the pine forest.
“The estuary has about 30 different habitats. Among dunes where we can admire about 25 wild orchids, countless rare flowers and a very rare and endemic Stipa Veneta Morlado. Also present are countless species of rare and Protected fauna.
“This event will be held in collaboration with Forest Therapy Hub with whom we have established a relationship of trust and mutual sharing and looking to the future. Along with me will be Manuela Renzi, FTHub’s Forest Therapy Practitioner and Wild Blue trainer and guide, with whom we will introduce these well-being practices to the public. This event is part of the side events of the Be Heart Festival, which in fact opens the 4th edition”.
Be Heart Festival will take place in Latisana at Gaspari Park on June 10-12-15-16-17-18, 2022.
Cover: Pietro Ostano (ph)
Ph: Courtesy Lorena Chiarcos
