Events Calendar

Spring Awakening & Renewal Forest Bathing Retreat | ONSITE | Saturday, March 9, 2 – 5 p.m. Or Saturday, March 23, 2 – 5 p.m.

Guide: Christa Hebal

$55 Non-member Adult**

 (**Arboretum Members receive a 10% discount on all classes.)

Limit: 15

The changing seasons are rich with wisdom and guidance. Winter is a time for rest and dreaming, followed by spring, ripe with opportunities for renewal and growth. Cultivate those winter dreams and invite them to birth into reality during this enlivening afternoon retreat. Let your most authentic Self emerge from within and flourish amidst the beauty of the early spring! New Graph: Your guide, Christa Hebal, will lead you on a gentle journey through the awakening forest, weaving mindfulness, breathwork, forest bathing (Shinrin Yoku) and nature therapy together for a restorative afternoon on some of the trails less traveled at the North Carolina Arboretum. We’ll celebrate the experience in community, enjoying a wild-foraged tea ceremony and snacks. Bring an open mind and an open heart. All are welcome. Presented through Adult & Continuing Education Programs in collaboration with Asheville Wellness Tours.

Christa Hebal is a certified Nature and Forest Therapy Guide by the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy. Born and raised in the mountains of NE Tennessee, she has lived in Asheville for 23 years. Christa has an adventurous heart, and loves to help others encounter wholeness through embodiment and nature connection practices. She has had a professional bodywork practice for 17 years as a nationally certified Massage Therapist, and is also a practitioner of Ortho-Bionomy®, Usui Reiki Master, Certified Pediatric Massage Therapist, Clinical Aromatherapist, and Certified Traditional Herbalist. She is also certified in CPR and Wilderness First Aid.

**The Upstate Pathfinders Volkssport Club** is a not-for-profit club providing interesting walks available daily, at your pace, in 11 different Greenville locations. Our Swamp Rabbit Trail route is somewhat shaded. The March 10 walk features 6k and 10k routes starting at the Swamp Rabbit Cafe at 205 Cedar Lane Rd, Greenville. The walk goes north to Sulphur Springs at the RR car and returns to and past the Cafe to Unity Park for 10K walkers. 6k walkers may stop and enjoy lunch at the Cafe or just shop the Grocery store for that unusual item you have not seen for a while. 10k walkers can stop at the Commons or Pangaea Brewery for a bite and refreshers before returning to the finish at the Cafe. Pets are allowed on a 6 ft leash.
* **Start Point:** 205 Cedar Lane Rd, Greenville; start from a table in the outside seating area. Restrooms available at the Cafe and at Unity Park in the Commons.
* **Registration**: Register between 9:30 and 10:00. Walk with a group or on your own with turn by turn instructions. Group walks start very shortly after 10:00. 9:30 and 10:00. Walk with the group or on your own with turn by turn instructions. Groups start very shortly after 10:00. Cost is $4 for all participants at registration. Please bring exact change and small address stickers to speed up registration.
* **Parking**: The Cafe is popular and to assist in parking use the lot across the Reedy River from the Cafe. This allows spaces for customers to shop there.
* The walk is sanctioned by America’s Walking Club and eligible for IVV Credit.

Instructor: Susan Patrice

$24 Non-member Adult**

 (**Arboretum Members receive a 10% discount on all classes.)

Limit: 12

Take a fresh look at the objects, moments and vistas that surround you during this “awe walk” led by documentary photographer Susan Patrice. The contemplative practices she teaches help you experience place through new and loving eyes, to see beauty and wonder in your surroundings. Bring cameras or phones to capture what calls to you in the enveloping landscape. Participants will be sent meeting instructions for this small-group class that will take a slow intentional walk through parts of the Arboretum forest and forest meadow. This walk is a precursor to the generative writing and contemplative photography workshops to be held the following weekend.

Susan Patrice is a documentary photographer, community artist, and founder of Makers Circle. She recently launched Kinship Photography Collective, a global community of practice designed to create rich visual conversations that explore the intimate connections between nature, culture and belonging. Susan’s own photography and public installations focus primarily on the Southern Landscape and its people and feature intimate images that touch deeply into the questions of place, gender, and belonging.

Spring Awakening & Renewal Forest Bathing Retreat | ONSITE | Saturday, March 9, 2 – 5 p.m. Or Saturday, March 23, 2 – 5 p.m.

We’ve heard your valuable feedback, and now you don’t have to hear us! Beginning May 4, 2021, the period between 8 and 10 a.m. on the first Tuesday morning of every month will be reserved for “Meditative Mornings,” a pause for quiet time in our gardens and on our trails. During this time, our working garden crew will abstain from using leaf blowers, mowers and other equipment so you can be sure to enjoy the sounds of birds and the wind in the trees.

Take advantage of half-price parking on the first Tuesday of every month and come out to the Arboretum to enjoy a Meditative Morning!

For many of us, our time spent in nature can be restful, comforting, healing, and inspiring. Nature Therapy, which is based on the Japanese practice of Shinrin Yoku, enhances this experience by encouraging us to relax, slow down, be in the moment, and gently focus on the natural world.

On this leisurely Nature Therapy walk through the Preserve, you will be able to escape the demands of everyday life, engage with your senses, and perhaps encounter nature in a slightly different way. Marie McIntyre, a certified Association of Nature & Forest Therapy guide, will offer a series of “invitations” designed to help each person in the group create their own unique individual Nature Therapy experience.

We’ve heard your valuable feedback, and now you don’t have to hear us! Beginning May 4, 2021, the period between 8 and 10 a.m. on the first Tuesday morning of every month will be reserved for “Meditative Mornings,” a pause for quiet time in our gardens and on our trails. During this time, our working garden crew will abstain from using leaf blowers, mowers and other equipment so you can be sure to enjoy the sounds of birds and the wind in the trees.

Take advantage of half-price parking on the first Tuesday of every month and come out to the Arboretum to enjoy a Meditative Morning!

We’ve heard your valuable feedback, and now you don’t have to hear us! Beginning May 4, 2021, the period between 8 and 10 a.m. on the first Tuesday morning of every month will be reserved for “Meditative Mornings,” a pause for quiet time in our gardens and on our trails. During this time, our working garden crew will abstain from using leaf blowers, mowers and other equipment so you can be sure to enjoy the sounds of birds and the wind in the trees.

Take advantage of half-price parking on the first Tuesday of every month and come out to the Arboretum to enjoy a Meditative Morning!

Celebrate the ephemeral beauty of flowers during this immersive morning nature retreat! In Japan, the birthplace of forest bathing (Shinrin Yoku), they celebrate the annual cherry blossom bloom (Sakura) with a practice known as Hanami, which translates to “contemplate the flowers.” This experience gently invites us to cultivate our attention and sensory awareness, while noticing the evanescent nature of flowering, both within and around us. Together, we will explore our relationships with native wildflowers, ourselves, each-other, and the more-than-human-world.

We’ve heard your valuable feedback, and now you don’t have to hear us! Beginning May 4, 2021, the period between 8 and 10 a.m. on the first Tuesday morning of every month will be reserved for “Meditative Mornings,” a pause for quiet time in our gardens and on our trails. During this time, our working garden crew will abstain from using leaf blowers, mowers and other equipment so you can be sure to enjoy the sounds of birds and the wind in the trees.

Take advantage of half-price parking on the first Tuesday of every month and come out to the Arboretum to enjoy a Meditative Morning!

We’ve heard your valuable feedback, and now you don’t have to hear us! Beginning May 4, 2021, the period between 8 and 10 a.m. on the first Tuesday morning of every month will be reserved for “Meditative Mornings,” a pause for quiet time in our gardens and on our trails. During this time, our working garden crew will abstain from using leaf blowers, mowers and other equipment so you can be sure to enjoy the sounds of birds and the wind in the trees.

Take advantage of half-price parking on the first Tuesday of every month and come out to the Arboretum to enjoy a Meditative Morning!

We’ve heard your valuable feedback, and now you don’t have to hear us! Beginning May 4, 2021, the period between 8 and 10 a.m. on the first Tuesday morning of every month will be reserved for “Meditative Mornings,” a pause for quiet time in our gardens and on our trails. During this time, our working garden crew will abstain from using leaf blowers, mowers and other equipment so you can be sure to enjoy the sounds of birds and the wind in the trees.

Take advantage of half-price parking on the first Tuesday of every month and come out to the Arboretum to enjoy a Meditative Morning!

We’ve heard your valuable feedback, and now you don’t have to hear us! Beginning May 4, 2021, the period between 8 and 10 a.m. on the first Tuesday morning of every month will be reserved for “Meditative Mornings,” a pause for quiet time in our gardens and on our trails. During this time, our working garden crew will abstain from using leaf blowers, mowers and other equipment so you can be sure to enjoy the sounds of birds and the wind in the trees.

Take advantage of half-price parking on the first Tuesday of every month and come out to the Arboretum to enjoy a Meditative Morning!

We’ve heard your valuable feedback, and now you don’t have to hear us! Beginning May 4, 2021, the period between 8 and 10 a.m. on the first Tuesday morning of every month will be reserved for “Meditative Mornings,” a pause for quiet time in our gardens and on our trails. During this time, our working garden crew will abstain from using leaf blowers, mowers and other equipment so you can be sure to enjoy the sounds of birds and the wind in the trees.

Take advantage of half-price parking on the first Tuesday of every month and come out to the Arboretum to enjoy a Meditative Morning!

We’ve heard your valuable feedback, and now you don’t have to hear us! Beginning May 4, 2021, the period between 8 and 10 a.m. on the first Tuesday morning of every month will be reserved for “Meditative Mornings,” a pause for quiet time in our gardens and on our trails. During this time, our working garden crew will abstain from using leaf blowers, mowers and other equipment so you can be sure to enjoy the sounds of birds and the wind in the trees.

Take advantage of half-price parking on the first Tuesday of every month and come out to the Arboretum to enjoy a Meditative Morning!

Tunnel to Towers is an organization aiming to help the nation to Never Forget the brave men and women who lost their lives on 9/11. T2T will be putting on this 5k to help support the nations veterans today. The race will be throughout the greater Downtown Greenville area.

We need your help controlling invasive species at Anderson’s beloved Rocky River Nature Park!

About the park: This free and publicly accessible park is a 131.9-acre property that was protected in 2016 in partnership with Anderson University. Throughout the park, visitors enjoy a matrix of bottomland forest and beaver-maintained wetlands which hosts over 168 species of passerine and migratory birds throughout the year. A population of the rare Swamp Rabbit (Sylvilagus palustris) is also known to inhabit the floodplain forests of the park.

Workday activities: This year marks the second year of active habitat restoration at the park. The primary activity of this workday will involve removing invasive species such as invasive olive and Chinese Privet to enhance foraging and nesting areas for native wildlife and migratory species.

What to wear and bring: Participants should wear long pants, close-toed shoes and gear that you don’t mind getting dirty in. We will provide tools and gloves, but volunteers are more than welcome to bring their favorite gardening gloves, loppers or saws!

Many hands make light work — we hope to see you there!

This is a one-hour immersive ceremony where sound and skin art unfold in real time.

As Callie Adams plays crystal singing bowls live, the space is filled with vibration and intention. Henna artist Art Nehart tunes into the energy, creating intuitive designs flowing like vines across the skin.

You may choose to receive henna or simply rest in the sonic field.
All participants are held in a space of beauty, breath, and belonging.

To preserve the intimacy of this offering, advance registration is required.
Henna adornment is limited and walk-ins are not available.

Out of the Darkness Walk
Event Date: Saturday, November 8th, 2025
Time: 9:00 AM Check-in | 10:00 AM Start
Conestee Park