Forest with You:
Heartful Becomings, Rooted in Nature
Supporting individuals and brands with wellness and becoming journeys through authentic, heartful experiences — grounded in forest therapy and nature’s partnership.
Youmin Yap, ANFT Certified Forest Therapy Guide and Trainer, Singapore
Meet Youmin Yap,
Pioneer of Forest Therapy from Singapore
Youmin Yap is a Certified Nature and Forest Therapy Guide (Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programs), forest therapy trainer, yoga nidra facilitator, mindfulness life coach, and founder of Forest With You, previously known as Xiu Nature Connections.
As a pioneer forest therapy guide in Southeast Asia, Youmin has been trailblazing forest therapy, nature connections and restorative rest for wellbeing - humans' and Earth's, since 2017. A walk leader in the forest therapy community, she has guided more than 400 sessions to date and has supported thousands - both local and international, in re-connecting with nature for their wellbeing and transformations.
Deepening her practice, she also became a Certified Shinrin-Yoku International Instructor with Japan's International Society of Nature and Forest Medicine.
She knows and embodies the essences of the work in heart, body and mind. Together with her professional and academic backgrounds grounded in Science research and education as well as MSc in Life Sciences and a postgraduate diploma in education, Youmin excels in navigating both worlds of quantification and logic, and that of the subtler arts of wellbeing.
Rooted in trust
Youmin Yap, ANFT Certified Forest Therapy Guide and Trainer, Singapore
Guiding, Speaking, Creating
Youmin also has extensive guiding experience having worked with many private clients, private institutions, companies, government institutions, as well as various community groups and associations.
She has also been a guest speaker and presenter at various forest therapy international conferences, events and retreats including in Finland, the Philippines, South Korea, Taiwan, Thailand, and the USA. On the invitation of the National Parks Board Singapore, Youmin also contributed and published the article 'Urban Forest Therapy in Singapore' . In recent years, Youmin has also extended consultancy services in scientific research and design for forest therapy related studies.
Youmin is energised by new creative projects that are nature inspired. She works with brands to curate bespoke and nature-based immersive experiences that connect people to the heart of brands authentically.
You already carry all the answers and magic in you.
I’m here to help you re-member them, with the support and company of Nature.
—Youmin Yap, Forest with You
How our story started
Dear fellow seeker,
Forest With You began its journey in 2017 as 休 Xiu Nature Connections, inspired by the character 休 (xiū) — the meeting of:
人 (pronounced ‘r-urn’) / Man + 木 （pronounced ‘moo’) / Woods
The wisdom from generations ago that is so simple and clear, yet often forgotten in our modern world. This timeless union carried my earliest intention: to support others (and myself) to rest with nature, and in doing so, to re-member ourselves. Together, person and woods breathe a deep-rooted sense of restfulness, reconnection, and tranquility.
What began a s quiet walks for a few like-minded individuals in Singapore soon grew into something larger. My path unfolded and brought me on a journey of guiding thousands on forest therapy experiences (even across borders), training aspiring guides-to-be internationally and collaborating with communities, organisations and brands seeking a deeper and more meaningful way of becoming and connecting.
7 years' later, I have been feeling a call for a new chapter. This evolution called for a name that could hold both our roots and our new becomings. Forest with You carries the spirit and essence of 休 (xiū) - a natural partnership between Person and the Woods, grounded in ease.
In the new emblem, this partnership is embraced within a simple doorway that opens to unfolding journeys and becomings, for all. Its lines echo the bark of trees, etched in its own time and natural rhythms, whispering of inner transformations and growth.
This is my invitation to you - let's enter the doorway together into heartful becomings - informed by our own seasons and cycles, by Science, and by the unique glimmers that our everyday lives and Forests offers us.
Welcome.
With Love, Youmin
Where our story has been shared
Previously known as Xiu Nature Connections, Forest With You has been featured in media stories that reflect our journey, our practice, and our partnerships with nature.
Discover the full collection of stories and features from the forest
Inspired by nature,
Guided by heart.
To walk with the forest is to remember that becoming is never hurried — it unfolds with the seasons. In its rhythm, we find medicines of stillness and resilience, awe and gentleness. In its light and shadows, we notice glimmers of beauty in the everyday — a breath, a leaf, the quiet space between.
In this age of ‘do more, do better, do faster’, a world that is ubiquitously wired, and a whole generation with extended longevity, Forest With You invites you to remember the basics - Nature, our true nature, slowness, simplicity, awe, wonder, beauty, authenticity, gentleness, softness, pleasure, timelessness, play, curiosity, sunshine, rain, wind, trees, flowers, mud, bugs, bees, rocks, air, scents, warmth, seas, earth, fire, stars, moon, Mother Earth, hearts and senses.
And so, the invitation is simple — let the forest walk with you.