When the Woodland Sings
On one of the warmest, sunlit days of the year, thirty women arrived at Coed y Werin — fifteen in the morning and fifteen more in the afternoon — for a forest bathing & Tai Chi experience unlike any they had encountered before. For many, it was also their first discovery of this hidden woodland. The expressions of wonder said everything. Nestled quietly in the heart of Caerphilly, Coed y Werin may well be one of the county’s most beautiful hidden sanctuaries.
Our visitors, all members of the Women Wellbeing Walks group, gathered at the woodland entrance full of curiosity and anticipation. After a warm welcome and a short introduction to the woodland’s history and community beginnings, they stepped beneath the trees and into a slower rhythm of time.
A Meander Through the Heart of the Wood
The group wandered through shafts of dappled sunlight, along winding glades and the old dram road lined with hazel, its quiet corridor alive with birdsong and the subtle movement of spring. Hidden among the branches were dormouse boxes, small signs of the care and conservation quietly woven into the woodland.
There was no destination to rush towards. This was not a walk measured in miles, but in moments.
Eventually the women reached the clearing beside the leaf bench, briefly noticing the long ponds shimmering surface alive with tiny tadpoles, before continuing to the waterfall where the forest bathing session continued led by our qualified Forest Bathing Practitioner, Jayne. Some leaned quietly against trees warmed by the afternoon sun. Others perched on logs or simply sat in stillness listening to the woodland breathe around them.
In that calm and sheltered space, they were guided through a contemplative practice designed to slow the mind, deepen the senses and reconnect with the present moment, a rare gift of time dedicated entirely to themselves and the present moment.
Then came an unexpected visitor. A buzzard swept in low over the clearing, close enough to look them over, as if curious about the humans sitting so peacefully in its woodland. It circled close enough for everyone to pause and look up in awe, gliding silently through shafts of light. It was brief, beautiful, and utterly unforgettable an encounter every single woman there will remember.
The Woodland Has Always Been Singing
The session also introduced something truly remarkable: our biosonification device.
There is music already happening in every woodland you will ever walk through. It moves through the vascular tissue of ferns, pulses across the mycelium threading the forest floor, and rises with the morning dew into the broad leaves of wild garlic. We simply lack the ears to hear it — until now.
The forest has always had a soundtrack. Technology doesn’t create it — it simply lends us the ears to finally hear what has been playing all long.
Through biosonification, the electrical signals travelling through living plants are translated into sound. What the group heard was the woodland’s own voice, its quiet rhythm made audible for the first time. Every note unhurried. Every melody entirely its own.
The women were entranced. Many sat in silence long after, simply listening. It is, as those who experience it often say, music to meditate to.
Coed y Werin offers something increasingly rare, a place to slow down, to breathe, and to remember that nature has always been there, patiently waiting. We are so grateful to Women Wellbeing Walks for sharing the their time with us, and to every woman who stepped into the trees and let the woodland do its work.
Below is a super post of their day from the Women Wellbeing Walks groups social media https://www.facebook.com/reel/4709995059275364
We hope to welcome you back soon.
Biosonification works by detecting the tiny fluctuations in electrical resistance across a plant’s surface — fluctuations driven by the movement of water, minerals and sugars through living tissue. These signals are mapped in real time onto musical notes and tones, effectively turning each organism into a living instrument whose melody is written by its own biology.
For a forest bathing session, this technology transforms the practice entirely. Instead of listening to the forest in the usual contemplative sense, participants begin to feel they are listening with it. The boundaries between observer and observed start to dissolve. That is precisely where the deepest restoration happens.
Not all plants make equally interesting musical subjects. What our device, PlantWave, rewards is dynamism, rapid internal moisture shifts, active sap flow, high cellular responsiveness. Below are the organisms that are likely to produce the most compelling, evolving soundscapes in a woodland setting.
🌿 Mosses
CHAOTIC · FAST-PACED Carpets of woodland moss are among the most responsive subjects you’ll find. Because they absorb water directly through their leaves rather than roots, even a light breeze or a single shaft of morning sunlight through the canopy triggers rapid electrical spikes.
🌱 Ferns — Bracken & Hart’s-Tongue
CASCADING · SHIFTING Ferns have thin, highly sensitive fronds that transpire water at an impressive rate. Clipping the electrodes to healthy frond tips you’ll hear cascading note sequences that respond visibly to changes in canopy light. It is said that when a cloud passes overhead, the music shifts. We look forward to experiencing this and it’s real-time plant responsiveness.
🌸 Wood Sorrel & Bluebells
IMMEDIATE · SENSITIVE · RESPONSIVE Both species have delicate cell structures with no thick waxy protective layer, meaning their internal electrical resistance reacts almost instantly to touch, air movement, or temperature change. For participants who want to feel a direct, tangible connection between their own gentle touch and a musical response.
🍃 Brambles (Blackberry Vines)
CONSISTENT · MELODIC · EVOLVING The thick, fluid-filled stems and broad leaves of bramble act as highly stable electrical conduits, producing melodic streams with a quality of genuine musical phrasing. Unlike the more reactive plants, bramble tends toward consistency with a steady, evolving voice in the woodland choir that works beautifully as a grounding anchor for a forest bathing session.
🌳 Willow & Birch Saplings
DRAMATIC · WIDE-RANGING · DYNAMIC Young saplings and the low-hanging leaves of willows and birches have exceptionally high sap flow and aggressive vascular activity. This translates into wide, dramatic leaps between low and high pitches. The musical equivalent of a large dynamic range.
🍄 Woodland Fungi — Mushrooms & Mycelium
DEEP · DRONING · HARMONIC · OTHERWORLDLY Technically not plants, but the most extraordinary subjects in the woodland. Mushrooms are rich in water and mineral salts, excellent conductors with their connection to the mycelial network beneath the forest floor to infuse the device signal. Fresh wild mushrooms typically begin with deep, droning bass tones that gradually shift and layer into rich undulating harmonics.
Pictures and video courtesy of Women Wellbeing Walks
This years calendar of events is delivered by Caerphilly Woodlands Trust with the support of Caerphilly County Borough Council’s Countryside Service and the Gwent Green Grid Partnership.
This project is funded by the Local Places for Nature scheme. It is being delivered by The National Lottery Heritage Fund in partnership with the Welsh Government
Ariennir y prosiect yma gan y cynllun Lleoedd Lleol ar gyfer Natur. Mae’n cael ei ddarparu gan Gronfa Treftadaeth y Loteri Genedlaethol mewn partneriaeth â Llywodraeth Cymru
