Welcome to Emergence Magazine's podcast.

I'm Emmanuel Vaughn Lee, executive editor of Emergence Magazine.

In each issue, we feature in-depth interviews, narrated essays, and stories, exploring the threads connecting ecology, culture, and spirituality.

Thank you. and spirituality. Kimberly Ruffin is a certified nature and forest therapy guide, an author of Black on Earth, African American eco-literary traditions.

As a companion to Kimberly's essay, Bodies of Evidence, from our Faith issue,

she created a guided practice offering ways to connect the living world through a walk in the

forest. For Kimberly, faith is a continuous exchange of belonging, an experience that's palpable

among trees. In this practice, as with any experience in nature,

use common sense, trust your intuition, and tell someone where you're going.

During this walk of faith, the working definition of faith is a continuous exchange of belonging.

The exchange occurs among you, an outdoor place you determine, and the other elements of nature there.

In essence, it's an opportunity to let nature support you and to give a little of yourself

in the support of the rest of nature.

Here are a few suggestions for getting ready.

The walk will be about 45 minutes long, including the time when I am speaking, and the

timed silence included for you to connect with the natural world through your senses.

I'll let you know good places to pause if you'd like more time. Connection to the ambient noise

around you is important. So I recommend that you disable notifications on your phone and use the speaker feature so that my voice can guide you throughout the walk.

Alternatively, you might listen with only one earbud.

Choose a site with which you're already familiar.

Forest bathing, as it's called, can be done in most outdoor settings, even if they're not woodlands.

Consider your backyard or even a city park that's not too heavily trafficked.

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