Gregory Ripley | Forest Therapy GUide | Author 

I began writing while working as an acupuncturist in an effort to provide people with more tools for maintaining their own health. I soon realized our modern disconnect from nature was at the root of many of our individual health challenges as well as our society's unhealthy and unsustainable relationship with nature. My desire to help others rediscover their relationship with the more-than-human-world was the catalyst for writing Tao of Sustainability  and also lead me to train as a Nature and Forest Therapy Guide.  In the process of writing Tao of Sustainability, I also discovered a love for storytelling and when the book was published, I thirsted for more. I have since turned to fiction in Voice of the Elders (Calumet Editions, 2018), a novel with strong environmental themes that isn't easily categorized. Is it a Daoist sci-fi novel, an urban fantasy, or a metaphysical spy thriller? You'll have to be the judge of that. 

​

I live in Minnesota with my family and three huskies.  I'm a Nature and Forest Therapy Guide, certified by the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy. I am also trained as a Natural Mindfulness Guide and am an ordained Daoist Priest in the 22nd generation of the Quanzhen Longmen tradition. In previous lives, I've worked as an acupuncturist in Minnesota, an organic farmer in New Mexico, and a barista in Tennessee, among others things.