Just Love Forest
A 716 acre ashram in the Appalachian foothills of Poetry, Georgia
A sacred forest & Community for Healing IN NATURE
FOUNDED IN 2020 | ROOTED IN THE PRACTICE OF FOREST THERAPY (Shinrin-Yoku)
Inspired by the devotional lineage of Ram Dass and Neem Karoli Baba
💌 We'd love to stay in touch
Each week, we share reflections from the forest and invitations to upcoming retreats, gatherings, and ways to connect more deeply with the land.
In a time of deep disconnection, we offer something rare:
A sacred forest and a circle of people who care.
At the heart of Just Love Forest is the Japanese practice of Shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing. It’s a simple, powerful way of being with nature that awakens all the senses and invites us back into relationship with the living world.
Everything we offer - retreats, community gatherings, green burials, moments of stillness - is shaped by this practice. We don’t just walk through the forest. We listen to it. We let it change us.
Just Love Forest is more than a place to visit.
It’s a living, breathing community of humans and trees, joy and grief, silence and song.
Whether you're seeking rest, connection, healing, or remembrance, the forest is here to welcome you, just as you are.
THE FACES OF JUST LOVE FOREST
What We Offer:
Monthly community building weekends
Financially accessible and restorative healing retreats in nature
Green burial grounds for humans and pets
Private forest access through membership
Whether you come to walk in silence, grieve a loss, join a circle, experience the joys of nature or simply breathe, the forest welcomes you, just as you are.
This is not just a place to visit. It’s a place to return to. A place to belong.
Come home to the forest
&
Come home to yourself
Your Guides
James Bala Yancey, Founding Steward
Certified Forest Therapy Guide & Meditation Teacher
I believe that nature doesn’t just heal us. It reminds us who we are.
My journey began with trails and rivers, working on mountain paths in New Mexico, guiding canoe expeditions in the wilderness of Minnesota. But it was a spiritual awakening during meditation in 2017 that changed everything. I had a vision of a forest for healing - not just as a refuge, but as a living community for remembrance, and return.
That vision became Just Love Forest.
Rooted in the teachings of Ram Dass and the lineage of Neem Karoli Baba, I now serve as Founding Steward of this 716-acre sanctuary in Poetry, Georgia. Here, I guide others through forest therapy, nature-based retreats, spiritual discovery, grief rituals, and green burial. But more than anything, I listen to the land, to the moment, and to what’s ready to unfold.
Whether you come to this forest to breathe, to heal, to celebrate, or to say goodbye, it is my honor to welcome you, just as you are.
Nivay Sahaye, Head Steward
His name means “fearless in service,” a reflection of both his nature and his devotion to the forest. Through direct experience, living with the seasons, tending the earth, and cultivating stillness, Nivay guides the stewardship of this land as a living practice of love, responsibility, and remembrance.