About
Vicky
My path to guiding 'Wellbeing Wanders'
My name is Vicky Kyan and I am a certified Nature and Forest Therapy Guide, mentor and trainer with the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides (anft.org). I am also a mother, grandmother, a teacher of special needs kids, a Flower Essence practitioner, a Holistic life coach, a traveller and wear many other hats in my rich and colourful life. But above all I am a nature lover with a passion for supporting others.
I was born and raised in the hills and valleys on the outskirts of Bath in the UK's West Country, but have chosen to live an off-grid lifestyle since the mid 1980's on Aotea – Great Barrier Island, New Zealand. Aotea is a remote, rugged yet readily accessible island of volcanic rock on the SW edge of the Pacific Ocean – both a “world away” and a “world of it's own”! It is here that my passion for Nature and particularly for the coastal waters, native forests and beaches of this beautiful land has helped me both on my own personal journey of Healing and continue to inspire me to support others on their journeys to Wellbeing.
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I have always worked with people – this is embedded in my nature along with a strong sense of teamwork and community building. I have enjoyed many interesting and fascinating life experiences, learning at every step of the way more about myself and people in general – why we do the things we do and how we can help to uplift ourselves and each other when the going gets tough. I have personally witnessed many powerful and challenging experiences on my personal journey to Wellbeing. Mother Nature has always held the key to my health, as well as my joy and zest for life.
Receiving the gift
I was gifted the Forest Therapy Guiding pathway by a Maori elder - Joe Doherty - who I encountered in 2014, and the call made my heart and soul sing. So in May 2015 I travelled to N.California for the innovative and world leading guide training with NFTG.org, and my life changed for ever as I discovered my passion for this deeply nurturing work.
Certification
I was the first Certified Guide with ANFT in the Australasian region. I have pioneered this guiding pathway on the ocean shores, estuaries, wetlands, beaches and bush of my island home – discovering that the practice of Nature and Forest Therapy and Nature connection is truly universal in its application and works perfectly in any and all eco-zones, not only forests.