Rachel Schmidt, BSW, PLC
Rachel Schmidt, BSW, PLC
Welcome to The Forest Studio
A place for women in midlife to navigate life transitions and naturally design a life that feels aligned and alive. Join over 500 women who have created meaningful new chapters through reflective art, nature, and depth.
What does it mean to naturally design your life in midlife?
You spend much of your life working toward something—raising children, building a career, paying off a mortgage, or trying to make the world a better place. There is always responsibility, always something to hold, manage, or remember. And then, something begins to shift.
You may find you are no longer interested in striving for external achievements or moving up in the ways you once did. Instead, you feel drawn toward quiet, stillness, and a slower, more easeful way of living in your body. Turning inward becomes a rich and meaningful journey—one that deepens your sense of self in midlife.
Time, essence, and meaning begin to take priority. The beauty and flow of nature become the rhythm you are longing to live by.
To naturally design your life is to begin designing your life in rhythm with the natural world—listening instead of forcing, and allowing what is ready to emerge to take shape in its own time.
This is the work at the heart of The Forest Studio.
The Guide
Midlife transition support and nature-based life design for women navigating change.
Hello, I’m Rachel.
I work with women in midlife 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.
At some point, many women feel a quiet pull inward, sensing in their bodies that something more is waiting—beyond the identities they have carefully built and the lives they have competently managed. It takes bravery to listen, and even more courage to step toward what is emerging.
I bring over 30 years of experience in social work, depth psychology coaching, and teaching, along with my own lived experience in my 50s. I live in a forest among 150-year-old trees. For over thirty years, this place has been my greatest teacher, showing me how life unfolds in its own rhythm, without force, and how to trust what is emerging in its own time.
In my work, I support women as allies and thinking partners. We slow down. We listen to inner and outer landscapes, and to the patterns, symbols, and meaning emerging through your life. Together, we explore what is unfolding so it can be worked with in a grounded, real way.
I offer nature-based art courses, reflective practices, and life design support for women navigating midlife transition. This work is about learning to design your life in rhythm with the natural world—following what is emerging rather than pushing it, and allowing it to take shape.
I am here to ensure you don’t have to walk this part of the path alone.
Rachel Schmidt, BSW, PLC
The Natural Life Design Process: What This Work Looks Like
1. Coming Home
to Yourself
Who am I becoming in this next chapter?
Stepping out of the roles, expectations, and identities that have shaped your life so far, and creating space to meet yourself more directly before deciding what comes next.
2. Listening to
the Quiet
Where am I now?
Midlife often brings a quieter, more reflective season, along with shifting responsibilities and new questions. This is a space to pause and listen to what your life is asking of you, between who you have been and what is beginning to emerge.
3.The
Unfolding
How do I want to live moving forward?
Rather than forcing a new direction, we allow your next chapter to unfold naturally, aligning your time and energy with what matters most to you now.
4. Designing a
Natural Rhythm
What is the natural world reflecting back to me?
Using nature as a mirror, we slow down and reconnect with your own timing, moving away from the pace of the world and into a more grounded, sustainable way of living.
A Glimpse Inside: Land & Body Nature-Based Courses
Recently, three of my Land & Body courses came to a close, and I’ve been reflecting on what happens in that quiet, four-month container. It is a privilege to share these expressions of the inner life—the creative artifacts of women who have learned to listen to the land and their own bodies.
This series is for women who feel a pull toward certain landscapes but don’t yet understand why. If you’ve ever stood by the sea and felt a longing you couldn’t name, or sensed a home you are still searching for, this is a space to explore that calling.
Through nature-based mindfulness, contemplative practice, and creative exploration, we tend to the relationship between place and psyche, body and belonging. This often means time in the natural world, away from daily roles, and learning to meet yourself at a more elemental level through the landscape around you.
Over time, something shifts. You begin to see your life differently, and to receive what the natural world reflects back to you. The busy mind softens, and a more embodied way of knowing begins to emerge.
You might find yourself writing in the wind, mapping the terrain of your inner life, or capturing the fleeting imprint of a wave. These are simple, creative practices that bypass analysis and invite a quieter intelligence to surface.
This is slow work. Deep work. And over time, you don’t just look at the land—you begin to experience yourself as part of it, rooted, and ready for what comes next.
Explore the gallery of work from women exploring land, self, and creative expression through nature-based practice.
Kind Words
What women are saying about nature-based life design & my contemplative art courses.
Lola, 58
"Land & Body 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."
Maya, 53
“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 deep understanding of the inner life, helping you reconnect with parts of yourself that have been quiet or waiting for attention.”
Sada, 47
"I discovered a new way of being present, not just with nature but with myself. The practices opened up a longing for something more meaningful in my daily life, and what that might look like. Rachel is an amazing facilitator and created a safe and trusting online space, blending her background in counselling and contemplative arts. Highly recommend this course."