Seoul’s Baengnyeonsan Forest Healing Center in Seodaemun-gu will offer free forest healing programs featuring forest meditation and singing bowl meditation every weekend from November 14 to 29. The programs include two sessions for adults and two for families. Registration is available on a first-come, first-served basis for each session through Seodaemun-gu’s integrated online application page.
Baengnyeonsan Forest Healing Center 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 a cypress half-body bath area. Outside, a barefoot trail, a pine forest and a forest boardwalk are linked together. In the midst of urban life, where it can be hard to look away from a phone screen, a place to meditate has opened on a mountain close to home.
Two hours on Sunday morning: What to expect from forest meditation
Baengnyeon Harmony is a program combining connection with nature, stretching, meditation and singing bowls. It will run on Sundays, November 15, 22 and 29, from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m., with space for 10 adults and teenagers per session. Participants first loosen up their bodies, then connect with the forest before continuing their meditation while listening to the sound of singing bowls. As of November 9, two people had registered for each of the November 15 and 22 sessions, and seven for November 29.
After a health check and warming up, a sound meditation
Baengnyeon Vitality, for adults, takes place on Saturday mornings. The sessions follow a sequence of health assessment, heat therapy, sound meditation and tea. They will be held November 14, 21 and 28 from 9:30 to 11:30 a.m. Each session has a capacity of 10; as of November 9, eight people had registered for November 14, four for November 21 and seven for November 28. The approach—warming the body before settling into sound—offers an easy way to begin for those who are not yet comfortable closing their eyes in silence to meditate.
Listening to singing bowls over tea with the kids
Family programs run on weekends from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday’s Baengnyeon Love (November 15, 22 and 29) combines nature observation in the forest, a family tree activity, tea and singing bowls. Saturday’s Baengnyeon Happiness (November 14, 21 and 28) features sharing warmth, family games, tea and singing bowls. Each session accepts four families. Baengnyeon Love is for families that include an elementary school student or older, with two to four participants per family; Baengnyeon Happiness is for families that include an elementary school student. Rather than teaching meditation through words, listening to sounds together in the forest can give children a natural first experience of meditation.
Registration closes at 3 p.m. three days before each session
Participation is free. Apply through the integrated online application page on the Seodaemun-gu Office website. Registration closes at 3 p.m. three days before each session. A program will run if at least two people have registered, and participants will receive a text message after registration closes. Parking at the center is limited, so public transportation is recommended; vehicles may park for less than three hours. The center is on the first floor at 130 Baengnyeonsa-gil, Seodaemun-gu. For inquiries, contact the Seodaemun-gu Parks and Recreation Team at 02-3140-4863.
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