Rachel Schmidt, BSW, PLC
Rachel Schmidt, BSW, PLC
When You Want More Out Of Your Life
Come Down to the Forest & Find Your Rhythm
Welcome to The Forest Studio, a place for women to naturally design a life that feels aligned and alive, while navigating life transitions.
Through contemplative art, nature, and depth-based practice, new chapters begin to emerge.
What happens when the life you’ve built is no longer the life that feels meaningful to you?
If you are feeling a quiet pull inward - a sense in your body that something more is waiting beyond the identities you have carefully built and the life you have competently managed - you may already be standing at the edge of something new. It takes bravery to listen, and courage to move toward what is calling you.
You may have spent years working toward something: raising children, building a career, caring for others, managing a home, carrying responsibility. There was always something to organize, solve, remember, or hold together. And for a long time, that rhythm made sense.
But now, something is shifting. That way of living no longer feels like enough.
You are beginning to long for a different kind of life, one that feels more alive, spacious, and deeply your own. A life with more meaning, more beauty, more moments that restore you. A life that is slower, cyclical, restorative, and rooted in what feels deeply real.
This is the work at the heart of The Forest Studio.
Moving between who you once were and who you are becoming is deep, sacred work—and you don't have to navigate it alone. If you are ready to bridge that gap, join my upcoming women’s self-reflection circle, A Season of Change. Together, we will help you find your rhythm, reconnect with your inner wisdom, and naturally design a next chapter that is entirely, beautifully your own.
A Safe Space to Land
Hello, I’m Rachel.
I work with women who sense something is shifting, who feel caught between who they once were and who they are becoming, and are beginning to listen to what is asking to change.
I created The Forest Studio as a quiet, beautiful, reflective space to support women moving through this transition. I bring over 30 years of experience in social work, depth psychology coaching, and teaching to this work, along with my own lived experience. In my 50s, I have navigated the transition of an empty nest, the complexities of caring for aging parents, deep seasons of grief, and the release of a career identity I had simply outlived.
My daily life is anchored in a forest of ancient, 150-year-old trees. For over thirty years, this place has been my anchor, keeping me grounded and connected to a natural way of being, one that is seasonal, cyclical, and rooted in the natural rhythms of the living world.
From this grounded perspective, I partner with women as a supportive ally and thinking partner. Through one-to-one consulting and contemplative art courses that bring you into relationship with the natural world, you begin to listen more closely to what is calling you.
Rachel Schmidt, BSW, PLC
The Way We Walk: Natural Life Design
We don't force or rush the next chapter; we let it unfold. My framework is a slow, seasonal approach designed to help you step out of old identities, listen to the quiet, and gently align your days with what matters most to you now.
The Way We Walk: Natural Life Design
A Glimpse Inside: Land & Body Contemplative Art Courses
What happens when we slow down enough to listen to the land and our own bodies? This gallery showcases the creative artifacts and inner expressions from women who chose to step away from their daily roles to meet themselves at a more elemental level.
Through nature-based mindfulness and quiet, contemplative practice, they bypassed the busy analysis of everyday life and allowed a deeper intelligence to surface. What you will see on the next page are the tangible traces of their four-month journeys — artistic reflections of women learning to experience themselves not just as onlookers, but as a rooted part of the living world. Click below to explore their shared stories of land, self, and belonging.
Kind Words
What women are saying .
Lola, 58
“Working with Rachel is a rare experience. She holds space with such care, insight, and wisdom that you immediately feel seen and supported. Her guidance blends reflection, creativity, and a deep understanding of the inner life, helping you reconnect with parts of yourself that have been quiet or waiting for attention. She supported me in creating a meaningful and exciting next chapter that I am truly loving.”
Maya, 53
“I discovered a new way of being present, with myself and in nature. The reflections in Rachel's life design process opened up a sense of longing for something more meaningful in my daily life, and a curiosity about what that might look like. Rachel is an amazing ally who creates a safe and trusting space, blending her background in counselling and contemplative arts. Highly recommend this work if you too are looking for your next chapter."
Sada, 47
The Land & Body Course helped me see how life moves through landscapes and through myself - in rhythms and flows I had not noticed before. By tuning into these natural patterns, I gained a clearer sense of how to move with life instead of against it. It’s a powerful way to understand change and find balance. This was my 3rd course with Rachel."