Baengnyeonsan Forest Healing Centre in Seoul’s Seodaemun-gu district will offer a free forest therapy programme featuring forest meditation and singing bowl meditation at weekends from 14 to 29 November. The programme comprises two sessions for adults and two for families. Bookings are taken on a first-come, first-served basis for each session through Seodaemun-gu Office’s online booking system.
Baengnyeonsan Forest Healing Centre is a forest therapy facility that opened in April this year on Baengnyeonsa-gil in Seodaemun-gu. Indoors, it has a health assessment room, a meditation space and an area for half-body cypress baths. Outside, a barefoot path, pine forest and raised woodland trail lie nearby. In a city where it can be hard to look away from a mobile phone screen, a place to meditate has opened on a mountain close to home.
Two hours on Sunday morning: how forest meditation unfolds
Baengnyeon Yeollin is a programme combining connection with nature, stretching, meditation and singing bowls. It will run on Sundays 15, 22 and 29 November, from 9.30am to 11.30am, and is open to 10 adults and teenagers per session. Participants begin by loosening up, then get closer to the forest before continuing their meditation as they listen to the sound of singing bowls. As of the 9th, two people had signed up for each of the 15 and 22 November sessions, and seven for 29 November.
Take a health check, warm up and then meditate with sound
On Saturday mornings, Baengnyeon Hwalryeok is held for adults. The sessions follow a programme of health checks, heat therapy, sound meditation and tea, and will take place on 14, 21 and 28 November from 9.30am to 11.30am. Each session is limited to 10 people. As of the 9th, eight people had signed up for 14 November, four for 21 November and seven for 28 November. The format, which invites participants to linger with the sounds after warming their bodies, offers an easy way to get started for those who are not yet comfortable with sitting quietly with their eyes closed.
Listening to singing bowls over tea with the children
Family sessions will run at weekends from 2pm to 4pm. Sunday’s Baengnyeon Sarang (15, 22 and 29 November) features observing nature in the forest, family plant histories, tea and singing bowls. Saturday’s Baengnyeon Haengbok (14, 21 and 28 November) includes sharing warmth, family games, tea and singing bowls. Each session accepts four families. Baengnyeon Sarang is for families including a child in primary school or older, with two to four people per family; Baengnyeon Haengbok is for families including a primary-school child. Rather than teaching meditation in words, listening to sounds together in the forest can be a natural first meditation for a child.
Bookings close at 3pm three days before each session
Participation is free. Applications can be made through the online booking system on the Seodaemun-gu Office website, and close at 3pm three days before each session. The programme will go ahead if at least two people have applied, and participants will be sent a text message with further details after bookings close. The centre has limited parking, so public transport is recommended; vehicles may be parked for less than three hours. The centre is on the first floor at 130 Baengnyeonsa-gil, Seodaemun-gu. For enquiries, contact the Seodaemun-gu Parks and Leisure Team on 02-3140-4863.
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