The November full moon is the Beaver Moon. Our native beavers are busy preparing for winter. But we’re still very much in autumn -- for our region, early November is often the peak of golden autumn. Come enjoy the sunset over the golden meadow and the moon rising as we bid farewell to another season. 

The November full moon is the Beaver Moon. Our native beavers are busy preparing for winter. But we’re still very much in autumn -- for our region, early November is often the peak of golden autumn. Come enjoy the sunset over the golden meadow and the moon rising as we bid farewell to another season. 

Join DC Forest Bathing to bask in the golden days of autumn. As you sense the changing of the seasons, what gift might nature have for you? Over the course of two and a half hours, we'll slow down to the rhythms of nature. Invitations will bring you into the presence of your senses to get the healing benefits of nature, including improved immunity, heart rate and blood pressure, as well as better attention, focus, and mood. More than that: offering our tender attention to the natural world brings us into an intimate, reciprocal relationship with the natural world.

Dumbarton Oaks Parks Conservancy is a hidden gemstone of DC. Beatrix Farrand, the first female landscape architect in the US, designed the place to feel like an urban oasis. Inside the park, you won't be able to see buildings. You'll hear the sounds of the creek and the waterfalls, the calls of birds back and forth, and wind rustling through the tulip trees.

This is the last daytime walk Clare Kelley will lead before she starts a new chapter in her life. We hope you'll join us to send her off with the blessings of the community and her favorite place in DC.

Join us for an evening of slowing down and savoring the National Arboretum under the full moon with DC Forest Bathing. The October moon, known as the dying grass moon, calls us to notice the transition into cooler nights towards the season of rest. Your guide will offer you a series of invitations to bring you into your senses to connect deeply to the healing gifts of the land.

Please be sure to read all of the details with your registration.

Join us for an evening of slowing down and savoring the National Arboretum under the full moon with DC Forest Bathing. The October moon, known as the dying grass moon, calls us to notice the transition into cooler nights towards the season of rest. Your guide will offer you a series of invitations to bring you into your senses to connect deeply to the healing gifts of the land.

Please be sure to read all of the details with your registration.

Soak in the light of the Harvest Moon at the National Arboretum! We’ll notice the seasons starting to transition from summer into the fall. Come and feel the rhythm of the seasons change as you allow yourself time to slow down and receive time.

It’s way too hot out, but that doesn’t mean your family needs to be trapped indoors! The woods are 15 degrees cooler and the perfect place to cure cabin fever and beat the heat! Set screens down and come enjoy a sensory connection to nature with your whole family in the National Arboretum, the gemstone of DC’s natural wildspaces. Shinrin yoku translates to forest bathing, or taking in the forest atmosphere. Forest bathing is a chance to slow down. We’ll gently experience all of our senses to feel and be with the forest, rather than simply walking through it.

Join Clare Kelley, certified forest therapy guide, and Kelly Brown, Montessori director and certified forest therapy guide for an afternoon of unwinding and enjoying being nature. Through a series of invitations, children will have an opportunity to explore their natural inclination to explore and play while parents get time to slow down and relax. All are welcome, with or without children. 

The August full moon is called the Sturgeon Moon, reminding us of the bounty of fish in the lakes. Join us for an evening of sipping in the full moon, wandering around nature safely, and experiencing a sensory immersion into the US National Arboretum. Join forest therapy guide Clare Kelley for an unforgettable and safe moonlit experience in the National Arboretum, the crown jewel of DC’s wildspaces. In the two-hour program, Clare will guide you through invitations: sensory and interactive experiences to reap the healing gifts of nature. Relax deeply, raise your mood, immune system, and sense of coherency. Reconnect with the earth’s beauty and wisdom, plus end the evening with a tea ceremony.

The August full moon is called the Sturgeon Moon, reminding us of the bounty of fish in the lakes. Join us for an evening of sipping in the full moon, wandering around nature safely, and experiencing a sensory immersion into the US National Arboretum. Join forest therapy guide Clare Kelley for an unforgettable and safe moonlit experience in the National Arboretum, the crown jewel of DC’s wildspaces. In the two-hour program, Clare will guide you through invitations: sensory and interactive experiences to reap the healing gifts of nature. Relax deeply, raise your mood, immune system, and sense of coherency. Reconnect with the earth’s beauty and wisdom, plus end the evening with a tea ceremony.

The only thing worse than winter cabin fever is summer cabin fever. But our tree friends have the gift of shade to offer us. Join us in Fern Valley at the US National Arboretum, where it’s usually 15-20 degrees cooler than the city. Allow yourself time to slow down, explore, and wander without having anything to do, anywhere to go, or any way you need to better yourself. Daytime forest bathing is a sensory immersion calling us back to nature and our own nature. Offering our tender attention to the more-than-human world brings us back into a reciprocal relationship where we know deep in our bones that our wellness cannot exist without the wellness of the Earth.