You’re tired in a way that sleep doesn’t fix.
You’re smart. You’re self-aware. You already know that the scrolling isn’t helping.
And yet…
The news. The feed. The next episode. The group chat. The substack piece about the thing you’re already anxious about.
You’re not consuming it because it feels good. You’re consuming it because your nervous system is so overstimulated it doesn’t know how to stop.
There’s nothing to fix here. There’s just a lot to put down.
And the thing that will actually help isn’t on your phone.
What if someone just told you to go outside?
Not as a suggestion. Not as another thing on your list. But as a real, structured, supported commitment to stepping out of the noise and back into the living world.
That’s what this is.
Go Play Outside 🤸♀️ Spring Digital Detox for Women is a 5 week in-person Nature Therapy and Forest Bathing experience for women in the St. Louis area.
Five sessions in real green spaces around the metro.
A small, closed circle of women who are also done pretending that one more scroll is going to help. And a certified guide who knows how to hold space for what actually comes up when you finally slow down.
No Zoom. No app. No portal. No content to consume.
Just outside. Together. Present.
What We’re Doing
Opening Circle Saturday April 11, sunset 6pm – 7:30pm at Simpson Lake Park (Kirkwood/Valley Park) – We begin at golden hour. This isn’t just a first session, it’s a threshold. You’ll set an intention, meet your ground crew, and step into five weeks of choosing differently. Come as you are.
Forest Bathing + Nature Therapy Walk Series
Sunday mornings, 9:30 to 11:00am on
April 19
April 26
May 3,
Location: Rotating St. Louis metro green spaces – exact spots to be decided collectively by the group.
These are not hikes. They are not exercise.
They are slow, guided forest bathing and nature therapy sessions designed to bring your nervous system all the way down.
Each walk is also a circle, a space where women move together, notice together, and have the rare experience of being witnessed and heard in nature.
Something shifts when you let yourself be seen outside, away from screens, away from roles, just present in your body in the living world.
Closing Circle Saturday May 9, sunset 6pm – 8:00pm – at Simpson Lake Park (Kirkwood/Valley Park) – The night before Mother’s Day. A golden hour gathering to mark what changed, name what you’re carrying forward, and close the container with the same intention we opened it with. This one will stay with you.
I know what you might be thinking…
Jess, I’m not sure I can make all the dates.
✋ I want to gently push back on that.
You decide where your energy goes. And if you don’t decide, something else will, it always does.
😵💫 A busy spring has a way of quietly becoming a busy summer, and suddenly another whole season has passed and you still haven’t done the thing you knew you needed.
Think of these five sessions not as time taken out of your life, but as time you are finally giving back to yourself.
A standing appointment with your own restoration.
The kind of commitment you make for everyone else without a second thought, your kids, your clients, your colleagues, finally made for you.
Consider this your loving, tender commitment to yourself.
To refilling before you’re completely empty. To restoring before the next wave of busy arrives.
The time won’t appear on its own. It never does. You have to choose it.
What’s Included
Five Guided Forest Bathing and Nature Therapy sessions in nature, held by a Certified Forest and Nature Therapy Guide and Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach.
A closed container of 16 women, maximum. This is intentionally small. Everyone is held.
Your Ground Crew partner, another woman in the circle who commits to checking in with you between sessions. Not a accountability system. Just a real human who is also getting grounded alongside you.
The Go Play Outside Analog Kit, a curated analog collection of tangible tools and goods to support your detox between sessions.
This is for you if…
- You live in or near St. Louis and can show up in person.
- You are exhausted by the noise and honest enough to admit that you keep feeding it anyway.
- You are a woman who carries a lot, probably for a lot of people, and can’t remember the last time someone held space for you.
- You are craving something real, something that gets you out of the algorithm and into the actual living world.
- You are ready to commit to five weeks of showing up for yourself outside.
This is not for you if…
You’re looking for a lot of content or curriculum.
You need everything to be convenient and on your phone.
You’re not ready to actually show up in real life with other women.
No judgment. Just honesty.
Your Guide
Jess Thenhaus is an ANFT Certified Forest and Nature Therapy Guide, a Nationally Board Certified Health and Wellness Coach, and the founder of Urban Forest Therapy. Her work blends nature-based wellness with somatic and trauma-informed care, grounded in more than a decade of training and practice.
She’s not just taking you for a walk in the woods. She’s holding a clinically-informed, trauma-aware space where your nervous system can actually exhale, and where the company of other women and the living world around you become part of the medicine.
More about Jess →
Frequently Asked Questions
Where will the sessions take place?
Walks will be held at local green spaces, parks, and nature conservancies within 30 minutes of St. Louis. The exact locations will be determined based on where participants are located to make it as accessible as possible.
Do I need any experience with forest bathing or nature therapy?
Not at all. You just need to be able to walk slowly and be outside. That’s genuinely it. These sessions are designed for anyone who has ever felt better after spending time in nature, even if you’ve never given it a name.
What if I miss a session?
This is a committed container and the experience is richer when the same women show up each time. Plan to attend all five. If life genuinely intervenes once, your Ground Crew partner will hold your place and help you stay connected to the thread. If you already know your schedule won’t allow it, I’d rather save your spot for the next round than have you feel stretched thin from the start.
What do I wear? What do I bring?
Comfortable clothes you can move slowly in. Shoes you don’t mind getting a little dirty. A water bottle & snacks if needed. A blanket or towel to sit on. Leave the earbuds at home.
What if it rains?
Light rain is part of it, honestly. There’s something about being outside in soft weather that does its own quiet work. We only reschedule in the case of storms or severe weather, and you’ll always know by Saturday evening if anything changes.
Is this therapy?
It’s not psychotherapy and it doesn’t replace it. What it is: a trauma-informed, somatically-aware nature experience held by a certified guide and board certified health and wellness coach. Many women find it deeply therapeutic. It’s a space to be witnessed and supported, not diagnosed or fixed.
I’m not sure I’m a “nature person.”
If you’ve ever felt your shoulders drop on a walk, or noticed your breath slow down when you stepped outside, you’re a nature person. You don’t need to know the names of trees or own hiking boots. You just need to be willing to show up and notice.
Can I come alone?
Yes, and most women do. You’ll leave with people you didn’t expect to find.
Do you offer any discounts or payment plans?
Yes! If you bring a friend, you both save an additional $22 each – to take advantage of this, simply shoot me an email with your names and email addresses and I’ll send you the discount code! A 2-payment plan is available – send me an email to get that link.
I have more questions.
Hit reply on any of my emails or reach out at jess@urbanforesttherapy.com. I’ll get back to you personally.