Leigha Horton
Co-Founder
Silvae Spiritus
Certified Guide,
Former Practicum Mentor & Former Apprentice Trainer
Association of Nature & Forest Therapy Guides & Programs
Certified Master Teacher,
Usui Reiki
Certified Morning Altars Teacher™
Morning Altars
*Wilderness First Aid Certified
*CPR + AED Certified
From a free-range childhood of playing in the woods, catching fireflies in her grandparents’ back yard, and family camping and fishing trips, to an adulthood exploring our sacred wild places (Yosemite National Park, the Boundary Waters Canoe Area Wilderness, and Ireland’s Dunmore Head being favorites) Leigha’s love affair with Nature was planted at a very young age, tenderly nurtured, and has flourished in the decades since, culminating in certification from the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programs (ANFT), becoming a Certified Morning Altars Teacher™, gaining full certification as a Master Teacher in the Usui lineage of Reiki energy healing, and into learned and inherited wisdom as an herbalist. As a guide, a teacher, a healer, and a medicine-maker, Leigha often finds herself exploring phenomena at the nexus of established science and The Great Mystery.
A communicator by training and by trade, she has spent over 24 years as a professional voiceover actor – voicing and producing national television and radio commercials, museum exhibits, documentaries, video games, training films, educational games, animation, and audio books – and has contributed to several medical research grants in partnership with the University of Minnesota’s Earl E. Bakken Center for Spirituality and Healing by conceiving, facilitating, and producing audio-guided Forest Bathing walks for study participants. With nearly 15 years experience in the museum field – developing and delivering programming about science, history, and arts to tens of thousands of visitors at several esteemed institutions, Leigha now continues her passion for guiding and teaching via nature-connected modalities through an animist lens – Forest Bathing, Usui Reiki, Herbcraft, Morning Altars, and Woodland Sauna – on behalf of Silvae Spiritus Northwoods Nature Retreat, co-created with her husband, Travis Norman.
“The land knows you, even when you are lost.”
– Dr. Robin Wall Kimmerer
Travis Norman
Co-Founder
Silvae Spiritus
Certified Guide,
Association of Nature & Forest Therapy Guides & Programs
*Wilderness First Aid Certified
Before ever hearing the term Shinrin-Yoku, before discovering research detailing the substantial health benefits of Mindfulness in Nature, before the decision was made to dedicate his professional energies to helping others experience these benefits, there were simply … walks in the woods. Walks of celebration during moments of personal victory, walks of consolation during times of loss, walks of introspection in times of uncertainty … setting and circumstance ever changing while the ritual remained constant. The physical, mental, and emotional equilibrium gained from this practice soon became essential tools in Travis’ ongoing quest to live life with intent and focus, while layering a keen appreciation for the Natural world into the very essence of his identity and perspective. Walking through the woods at a slow pace while allowing mind and body the time to just be … this habit provided welcome balance as his career path unfolded to become increasingly interwoven with technology as a web designer and electronic musician. Fast forwarding to the present day finds Travis in awe of the degree to which his early intuitions on the value of time spent in this manner are being confirmed by science and embraced by more and more of the world’s population. Firmly believing in the interconnectedness of all life, he is curious and excited to witness how the practice of forest bathing will resonate outward and what effects it will generate in the people who experience it.
“A human being is a part of the whole called by us universe, a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feeling as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty.”
– Albert Einstein