My name is Vicky Kyan (aka Vix) and I grew up on the edge of the Cotswold Hills in the West of England, exploring the valleys, fields, hills and woodlands of this beautiful part of UK as a child.

My love affair with Nature started here and exploded in my early adult life when I experienced the excitement and raw power of Mother Nature while travelling through Southern Africa and witnessing close encounters with its magnificent wild life . My passion for the ocean and island life emerged on further travels through SE Asia, Australia and New Zealand in my late 20’s and I was fortunate enough to land on Aotea Great Barrier Island NZ in 1986 – which has become my home for the last 35 years.

The richness of this fully off-grid rugged volcanic landscape, with its beautiful native forests and wide open surf beaches on the edge of the Pacific, its strong and creative community, and my full and colourful life journey informs all my work as a Guide, Mentor and Trainer with ANFT.

I am a mother of 3 adult children and am proud Grandmother of 3 little boys. I have been a teacher, coach, healer and care-giver in my past life and currently run a small Nature-based Homestay retreat through my business WaiOra Wellbeing for those needing R&R and TLC. I am honoured to walk the Way of the Guide as a trainer and mentor which feels like a completion of sorts as well as an ongoing adventure each day!

I trained with Amos Clifford in Cohort 2 at Sugarloaf Ridge State Park CA in May 2015 – and have wandered the Trainers pathway since October 2016. I am passionate about this work and growing a global network of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides around the world, as well as in the Southern hemisphere.

Personally I have taken ‘Forest therapy’ out of the trees and onto the beaches, pioneering the guiding of walks on the ocean shoreline and estuaries of my island home. My tentacles are reaching far and wide as I continue to nurture and grow on my own journey while supporting others to do the same all over the world.

I am deeply connected and grateful to both my Motherland and my chosen Homeland, and I’m passionate about helping people reconnect with themslelves, each other and the more than Human world through this work.

My bliss is in witnessing others stepping into their gifts and shining more fully, and I believe this is the way forward through these challenging times of global transformation on so many levels. I also ackowledge my teachers from the Human and More than Human world and all those whose shoulders I have stood upon and who have opened their hearts and minds with courage and joy.