The tender terra Approach
At the heart of Tender Terra is a simple intention: to help people remember and reconnect with the earth, one another, and themselves.
About tender terra
Rooted in shinrin-yoku, the Japanese practice of forest bathing, this space invites you to slow down, awaken your senses, and return to a reciprocal relationship with the more-than-human world. We trust that the forest is the therapist, the guide opens the doors.
When we pause long enough to notice, we begin to feel again.
When we feel, we remember.
When we remember, we reconnect — especially with the deeper parts of ourselves that have gone quiet over time.
This work is both personal and planetary. Every moment of presence in nature is an act of restoration: for our nervous systems, for our communities, and for the Earth herself. Healing happens in relationship. Healing happens together.
Tender Terra exists to make this remembering accessible, welcoming, and grounded. It’s a place where everyone is invited to belong.
Mission
To support individual and community well-being through trauma-informed, nature-based experiences that strengthen connection, restore balance, and cultivate a deep sense of belonging.
Vision
A world where access to nature, sensory awareness, and relationship with the land are essential parts of a healthy, equitable, and connected society.
Values
Connection
We believe healing happens in relationship and honor the interdependence of people and the natural world.
Accessibility
We design experiences that are welcoming, inclusive, and available to people of all ages, identities, and abilities.
Reciprocity
We engage with the natural world with respect, gratitude, and care, honoring the impact our choices have on the planet.
Presence
We slow down, awaken the senses, listen deeply, and act intentionally.
Stewardship
We recognize that tending the Earth and tending our communities are inseparable responsibilities, and we commit to protecting and restoring the places that sustain us.
Integrity
We guide with professionalism, respect, cultural awareness, and a commitment to ongoing learning.
All website photos taken by Jas Maisonet.
Meet Jas Maisonet
Founder & Certified Nature and Forest Therapy Guide
Hi, I’m Jas. I grew up in a time with fewer screens and more trees, when connection felt simple and nature felt like home. Much of my childhood was spent outdoors, at day camps, with neighborhood friends, and in the quiet rhythm of play. As a counselor, camp taught me how to pay attention, how to care for a group, and how powerful it is when people feel seen, supported, and safe enough to explore.
As an adult, I studied Visual Media at Rochester Institute of Technology where I earned my BFA. Post-graduation, I wandered through many professional worlds — corporate, nonprofit, academia, and various creative industries. I learned a lot about systems, design, burnout, inequity, and the many ways people try to stay connected in a noisy, fast-moving culture.
But beneath every role and every transition, I felt the same steady tug: a call back to the earth, back to community, back to purpose.
During the global pandemic, something in me remembered. The slower pace led to clarity. I founded and led QPOC Hikers for 5 years before taking a break and starting the guide training program with ANFT. Forest therapy gave me language for something I’d always known: when we quiet the noise in our heads, and return to our body and senses, we hear ourselves again. When we reconnect with ourselves and the land, we naturally reconnect with each other.
Tender Terra is both a culmination of my professional journey and a homecoming.
It’s where I bring my full self — my background in photography, design and storytelling; my lived experience and intersecting identities; my values of equity and accessibility; and my deep belief that healing is communal.
I also carry the teachings of my Taíno and Carib ancestors, who understood that everything is connected and that balance begins when we return to relationship with our natural relatives. The Earth holds memory. Water restores. Fire transforms. The wind carries messages and songs. These ways of knowing guide me in quiet, grounding ways.
Through Tender Terra, I weave together ancestral wisdom, lived experience, and the science of nature connection to support others in finding their way back to presence, to belonging, and to themselves. Thank you for joining this journey.
“In the quiet company of the forest, we remember who we are. One love, one Earth, one heart.” — Jas
What I Bring to This Work
- Certified forest therapy guide with training rooted in reciprocity and relational ecology
- Certified CPR & ARD training
- Certified Wilderness First Aid training
- Background in communications, design, and community-based storytelling
- Experience working with youth, nonprofits, and diverse communities
- A trauma-aware, culturally responsive approach
- A welcoming space for folks navigating identity, belonging, transitions, and reconnection
- A commitment to environmental justice and collective well-being
tenderterra.com 