First Taehwasan Forest Healing and Wellness Festival to Open Nov. 14 in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province — Two Days of Forest Therapy and Meditation Experiences

As autumn deepens, the forest begins to sound different. Each time the wind passes through, dry leaves brush against one another, while fallen leaves rustle softly underfoot. Listening to those sounds, it feels as though a year spent rushing by is finally slowing down a little. This November, visitors will have a chance to take in those sounds for two full days and one night.

The first Taehwasan Forest Healing and Wellness Festival will be held Nov. 14-15 in the foothills of Taehwasan in Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province. It is co-hosted by K-Mirae Clinic, Seoul National University’s Taehwasan Academic Forest and Healing News, a media outlet specializing in meditation, with support from Gwangju Newspaper, Gonjiam Valley and BioTimes. The festival’s theme is a wellness and healing program to extend healthy life expectancy. Its aim is to go beyond simply living longer and give participants a chance to learn firsthand, in the forest, how to live longer in good health.

A forest researchers have cared for over nearly half a century: Seoul National University’s Taehwasan Academic Forest

The Taehwasan Academic Forest is in Docheok-myeon, Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province. According to Seoul National University Forests, it was established as the Central Experimental Forest in 1979 and given its current name in 2006. The forest covers 795 hectares, with elevations ranging from 150 to 644 meters. Gentle slopes at the foot of the mountain are covered with planted Japanese larch and Korean pine. Higher up, natural forest brings together oaks, Korean ash, rough-barked dogwood, Korean mountain cherry and Styrax obassia.

This is not a forest landscaped as a tourist attraction, but one managed for research over many years. Korean pine and oak forests each have a flux tower, standing 41 meters and 27 meters tall, built in 2010 and 2015, respectively, to measure the exchange of carbon dioxide and moisture between the forest and the atmosphere. Scientists are, in effect, documenting the forest’s breathing every day. Taking a deep breath ourselves in a forest like this, even just once, is the invitation at the heart of this event.

Special lecture by Director Cho Byungsik: Beyond extending lifespan to extending healthy life expectancy

After the opening ceremony at 2 p.m. on the first day, Cho Byungsik, director of K-Mirae Clinic, will give a special lecture titled 「Extending Healthy Life Expectancy Beyond Simply Living Longer」. Cho graduated from Pusan National University College of Medicine in 1990 and opened Nature Clinic in a mountain village in Gyeongju in 2005, beginning his work in natural healing. In 2023, he left the mountains and became director of K-Mirae Clinic in Gonjiam, Gwangju, Gyeonggi Province. He also serves as director of the Dr. Cho Natural Healing Center in Gyeongju, traveling between the two locations. He was the inaugural president of the Korean Society of Natural Medicine and is currently president of the K Regenerative Medicine Research Association.

In May this year, he published a new book, 『Regenerate Your Cells and Disease Will Heal』 (Seoul Selection). As its subtitle, “The Birth of Cell-Centered Medicine and K Regenerative Medicine,” suggests, the book lays out the principles of K Regenerative Medicine that he developed. His more than 20 years of clinical experience, shaped through multiple books on natural medicine, including 『Stop Taking Medication and Change Your Body』, 『Cho Byungsik’s 13-Day Cancer Camp』 and 『A Natural Healing Textbook for Four Major Chronic Diseases』, is brought together in this volume.

K-Mirae Clinic: Healing that begins with fresh air and healthy meals

What are the foundations of good health? Fresh air, a meal made with healthy ingredients, moderate exercise that gets the body working, and a calm, well-tended mind. Perhaps these are both the basics and the whole of it. If you have already lost your health, taking care of these things may be all the more important.

There is a clinic that says these basics are exactly what patients need most. K-Mirae Clinic cares for patients deep in the forest and guides them toward a path to natural healing through healthy meals, fresh air, exercise and meditation.

K-Mirae Clinic describes its approach as integrative medical treatment that builds on these fundamentals with regenerative medicine and principles of natural healing. According to the author biography provided by the publisher, Cho applies the concept of K Regenerative Medicine to cancer treatment, liver and kidney regeneration, and treatment for a range of chronic conditions, including metabolic and immune diseases. The biography also says he incorporates psychosomatic medicine, meditation and danjeon breathing into treatment programs, developing a holistic approach that cares for body and mind together, and applies primotherapy, which draws on the concept of primo vessels, in clinical practice. It may still seem unfamiliar to hear a doctor talk about forests and meditation, but that may be all the more reason to listen closely.

Meditation experiences and wellness booths hosted by Healing News

Wellness booths organized by Healing News will open at 1 p.m. Good Being Healing Zone and Kkum Ruby, which showcases color psychology products, are among those taking part, each offering its own approach to rest. At 3 p.m., daegeum performer Lee Aram will present the healing concert 「Traveler of the Wind」. The sound of the daegeum heard in the middle of a forest will have a different quality from the sound heard in a concert hall.

At 4 p.m., Our Movement Body Meditation will follow. Participants will gently loosen tense muscles and focus on their breathing. At the wellness booths during the same hour, visitors can also try an aromatherapy brainwave experience and an autonomic nervous system assessment to get a better sense of their current physical and emotional state.

Organic vegetarian buffet and singing bowl sleep meditation: a restful night in the forest

The two-day, one-night participation fee is 50,000 won and includes lodging, dinner and breakfast. At 6 p.m., a vegetarian buffet will be served, featuring organic vegetables grown directly by K-Mirae Clinic in Gyeongju. Vegetables freshly harvested from the soil taste much richer and sweeter than you might expect.

After dinner, Our Movement Active Body Meditation will take place at 7 p.m. At 8 p.m., Inner Peace Healing will lead an aromatherapy singing bowl sleep meditation to close out the day. By the time the singing bowls’ vibrations fade amid the gentle aroma, you may find yourself drifting into a deep sleep for the first time in a long while. Accommodations include 10 private rooms at the K Regenerative Healing Center and six rooms for families and teams at the Taehwasan Academic Forest.

Forest therapy on a morning trail, with fall foliage at Hwadam Forest on the way home

The second day begins with breakfast at 7:40 a.m. At 9 a.m., participants will walk the forest trails and take part in a forest therapy program. At 11 a.m., a conversation session will be held at a cafe. That first deep breath of forest air, cooled overnight, may be the moment you remember longest from the trip.

If you are heading home after the Sunday morning program, consider stopping by Hwadam Forest, also in Docheok-myeon. Hwadam Forest is one of the Seoul metropolitan area’s leading fall foliage destinations, and this year’s peak autumn season runs through the event’s final day, Nov. 15. Admission during the fall season is available only with an advance online reservation, so it is best to book ahead.

Two days spent walking through a carefully maintained 22,000-pyeong garden amid the fresh air of Seoul National University’s forest, moving between meditation sessions led by meditation experts and hands-on booth experiences. For anyone looking to feel a little lighter in body and mind without making a grand resolution, the Taehwasan forest is opening its doors this fall.

Event information at a glance