Forest Bathing + Spotlight Guest: Hope to Shine

3155 Walnut Woods Drive,West Des Moines IA 50265

22 October, 2022

Description

Join Intertwined Nature + Forest Therapy for a 2-hour forest bathing walk through beautiful Walnut Woods State Park on Saturday, October 22nd! This walk will end with a tea ceremony and chance to learn about and chat with Spotlight Guests from the non-profit, Hope to Shine, and its associated social enterprise business, Shine Housekeeping, a local Des Moines-based social enterprise that offers job skills development and experience to women from central Iowa's refugee and immigrant communities. New to forest bathing? October is the perfect time to try forest bathing for the first time. Forest bathing boosts immunity, lowers blood pressure and stress hormones, prevents and relieves stress and anxiety, and increases cognitive functioning. Guided forest bathing walks are appropriate for all ages and abilities: less than a ½ mile is covered on each walk. Guides use techniques to support participants in entering a state of embodied awareness, moving through a series of “invitations” to support participants in tuning into each of their senses, allowing participants to move into a liminal space, and experience resulting wellness benefits. Brandy, owner of Intertwined Nature + Forest Therapy, is a Certified Guide, certified by the Association of Nature & Forest Therapy. Intertwined offers these Spotlight Series Walks to introduce the central Iowa community to the restorative practice of forest bathing, and to partner with other small business owners in central Iowa and shed light on the products and services they provide to the Des Moines community. This walk will feature Spotlight Guests from Hope to Shine & their social enterprise arm, Shine Housekeeping. Caryn Kelly co-founded Hope to Shine- a non-profit dedicated to creating welcoming community spaces, sharing opportunities for personal and professional development, and empowering refugee and immigrant women as leaders in their homes and community. Hope to Shine was recently featured on pages 6-7 of Women of Worth (WOW)'s Oct/Nov 2022 magazine.Hope to Shine's business arm, Shine Housekeeping, believes every household deserves to shine! They are a social enterprise providing top-quality cleaning services to busy households throughout the Des Moines Metro, while creating opportunities for our newest neighbors- immigrants and refugees- to develop the language, literacy and workforce skills they need to make home in Iowa. Shine Housekeeping provides essential job opportunities to women from refugee and immigrant communities.