experience the exquisite medicine of the forest
Guide Bios
To be whole. To be complete. Wildness reminds us what it means to be human, what we are connected to rather than what we are separate from. ― Terry Tempest Williams
Deborah Denome is an Educator, Horticultural Therapist, Herbalist and Certified Forest Therapy Guide. She is passionate about the expansion of human consciousness as it informs our Interdependence with All Things. Deb's greatest joy is in helping individuals to deepen their own relationship with the Earth, each other, and our own true nature. She finds Forest Immersion/Shinrin-Yoku to be a profound yet simple and accessible path to expanding these connections.
Since 1997 Deb has served as Director of Shimmering Light Farm & Renewal Center, a non-profit educational organization that explores, models and inspires more conscious and restorative ways of life. Her previous corporate career was in international training and publishing and she was the 2008 Canandaigua Athena Award recipient for her work promoting women in leadership. Deb is blessed to live and play at Shimmering Light Farm in South Bristol, NY. Here, overlooking Canandaigua Lake, she raised three fascinating young adults, tends abundant herb gardens, and dances as often as possible.
"Deb has a beautiful ability to hold sacred, still space for us to enter into Presence." - Lynne
Barbara Grisley Monsour is a freshly certified (December 2020) guide, trained through the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programs. Barb has been actively appreciating the outdoors and natural spaces since childhood, and in the past 10 years has personally and notably experienced how time in nature can be truly healing. She is thrilled to be collaborating with Deb Denome through Finger Lakes Forest Immersion and Shimmering Light Farm & Renewal Center.
Trained as a registered dietitian, Barb is encouraged to see the growing body of strong scientific evidence to support that spending time in natural spaces improves our mental and physical health. This is something that nature lovers have always known on an anecdotal level. As she moves forward in her guiding practice, she is interested in exploring the effects of Forest Bathing on eating disordered behaviors.
Barb is also certified in yoga nidra, and enjoys helping people journey into restful sleep. And she trained as a Creative Rhythms™ Facilitator of Community Drum Circles, where she enjoys the power and healing of communicating and connecting through rhythm.
Teresa Benoit Keyes has been an advocate for wild spaces since she penned her first activist letter to the town supervisor, demanding a stop to the “murder of trees” in the beloved forest behind her home. She was 8. Over time, she has consistently been involved in various preservation and conservation efforts aimed to protect resources and ensure a robust coexistence with the natural world. As a Yoga Alliance RYT-200 certified yoga instructor, Teresa found the healing potential of present-moment awareness was magnified when she brought her practice outdoors. As a Certified Forest Therapy Guide, she finds forest bathing amplifies that energy exponentially, creating a profound experience connecting -- or more accurately, reconnecting -- one’s body, mind and soul with those more-than-human residents of the woods.
Teresa leads invitations that awaken all the body’s senses, beyond the five we’re most familiar with (sight, sound, taste, touch, smell). Through a combination of guided experiences and quiet reflection, Teresa helps participants find their equilibrium and reclaim their inner peace.
"In the forest, I still know how to become one with a landscape rich with a thousand mysteries."
- Bernadette Rebienot, Member of International 13 Grandmothers Counsel