Angelika Gierer - forest bathing & forest beach instead of sea & sandy beach

I met Angelika by chance, through an email that immediately cast a spell on me. Forest bathing, experience the silence of the forest in the middle of Vienna. With her gentle forest yoga method (ShinrinYoga) - Angelika accompanies you into the wooded parallel world. Experience the magic & the luxury of a completely performance-free and rich space of perception. Let us now let Angelika tell you more about this wonderful world of the forest, as opposed to the lively big city.

Your name

Angelika M. Gierer

Your profession...

Forest bathing trainer according to ShinrinYoga

Where were you born?

Melk / Danube (Lower Austria)

What is special about your profession? What do you like about it? How did you come to this?

As a child of the 1970s, I was allowed to put down my roots in the meditative Waldviertel. Here I learned to appreciate the forest as a source of inspiration and strength. What fascinates me to this day is the nature of the trees in the midst of the forest phenomena from invisible and non-verbal communication. Since then, I've been drawing intuitive and creative potential from so-called forest bathing. When I heard from Clemens Arvay about the Japanese Shinrin Yoku (forest air bathing) in 2015, I felt confirmed in my healing practice so far. That was at a time when, after several years of suffering, I found my way back to the strength of the center. Neither conventional medicine nor alternative medicine were helpful to me at the time.

With my gentle forest yoga method (ShinrinYoga) - today I accompany individual people as well as lovers into the wooded parallel world. I am passionate about conveying the magic and luxury of a completely performance-free and rich space of perception to work teams and training groups. In a playful and meditative way, you can get closer to the big picture and thus yourself a lot while bathing in the forest, as well as experience inspiration and high-energy connectedness. As we know today, mindfulness can be trained like a muscle. For me, the forest is the perfect fitness center for this.

Is there a typical day?

Yes and No. Always depends on the perspective of perception.

The maple taught me to enjoy everyday life with an open eye for the happy and to enjoy life. The sun always shines behind the clouds.

Something that stuck in my memory ...

A little Covid-19 story

When I stretch my feet, I sometimes meet the artist Gabriele A. Pühringer. She likes to come to my forest bathing workshops, unless there is a shutdown. Gabriele runs a flying gallery and plans "quiet rooms" for companies as well as for private individuals. And she produces inspiring word-picture collages on paper.

During the shutdown, I meet her on the pedestrian bridge on the Vienna Danube Canal when she slips me an envelope. Just like that, as a gift. She thinks the content suits me so well.

I open the envelope and I am flattered. It is one of their "Words & Pictures". I am surprised because the picture bears the exact color of my ShinrinYoga CI. And that wasn't intended, unbelievable. With Gabriele there is always synchronicity that gives life that magical touch. Moments of joy. She simply has the feelers to find the right word and the right form for a person.

I look at the picture, warmly touched. Suddenly there is a wind storm. He rips the work of art out of my hand.

There we both stand now, on the bridge, like "the cows in front of the new gate". The picture sails straight into the canal. The internal clock stops. At least for a moment. We both excited, looking at each other, irritated, amazed, laughing loudly, letting go, understanding the magic, in the flow of happiness. The picture in the river. So much for "accepting and letting go".

The lesson for the masterful: Don't hold onto anything. Everything in flux. Wondering is commonplace.

3 words that describe me

Draft. Inspiration. Enjoyment of life.

Anglika's personal insights

Why do I like to live in Vienna...

Vienna is a particularly bright city. It is more illuminated than other cities. This is not only positive, e.g. concerning the animal world and the starry sky.

In the theory of polarity this means that where there is a lot of light, there is naturally a lot of shadows. And these are exactly the phenomena of life that inspire me. Here I feel myself in my weight and lightness. I love the process of what is there to illuminate within myself. As on the outside, so on the inside. I love the depth in this morbid city that likes to put the veil of oblivion over itself. No wonder this is the city of Freud and psychoanalysis. I particularly value art and the Vienna Woods, its magical places of power that immerse me and let me feel the bigger picture. There I can redeem and give away old things that have been used up. Here something new and powerful can arise. In connection with mother earth.

What makes Vienna special for me...

In my perception, it is a diverse oasis of inspiration.

Vienna is an esthete. For me, it is feminine because it is rich in water and green because of the flowing Danube, its islands and branches, the floodplains and park landscapes as well as the Vienna Woods.

Vienna is a particularly clean city and a bit "overregulated" for my taste. That in turn makes it exciting to observe and compare it to other cities. For example, one can perceive an increased potential for aggression in traffic. But that too is changing.

This city is also rich in art, history, and culture, which can be seen externally in its architecture. With Otto Wagner or Friedensreich Hundertwasser, nature and architecture almost enter into a symbiotic relationship.

My personal tip for Vienna ...

There are so many. To name just a few:

KunstHausWien - Museum Hundertwasser

Botanical garden at Belvedere Palace

Walk on the Beethovenweg or at the Otto Wagner Church at the Steinhof

Forest bathing & nudist swimming on the Dechantlacke

My favorite place in Vienna ...

The Latisberg

My favorite restaurant in Vienna ...

Klee at the Hanslteich

Motto am Fluss