Lately I’ve noticed many people bring up the term “forest bathing” again…
Now while no one will judge you if your thoughts went straight to a certain magical cliff bath over the edge of our oldest indigenous forest, forest bathing does not refer to cleansing oneself in a bathtub in the middle of forest either, instead it refers to walking in nature, in forests, spending time in the forest, laying down on the forest floor, hugging and connecting to the trees! Sitting in the forest, meditating, breathing in what the forest offers, and breathing out in turn, what the forest breathes in, realizing we are one with nature.
If you Google the term it roughly reads as follow:
The term “Forest bathing” or shinrin-yoku (which directly translates to forest bath) is the mindful practice of immersing your senses in a natural forest atmosphere. Originating in Japan in the 1980s, it is a slow, meditative form of nature therapy focused on sights, sounds, and smells rather than physical exercise.
Now science shows that doing this lowers cortisol levels, blood pressure, and heart rate!
On a natural herbal medicine view point forest bathing exposes you to phytoncides (natural plant oils) that increase white blood cell activity. So you are truly becoming healthier using by showing up!
Doing this obviously improves your mood, helps you focus, and calms you down through parasympathetic nervous system activation.
Now if all this sounds super woo-hoo, it’s actually super simple to do! Simply turn off your phone (ok maybe not that easy for some lol) and take stroll through the closest forest!
Now comes the fun part, take note of everything around you, feel of the bark on the different trees, the different shades of green from the leaves, to the grasses to the moss, the sounds of the birds, the critters, the monkeys, baboons and chainsaws… now breath, take long, slow deep breaths. Smell all the different smells that the forest offers, take in all the goodness and nourishment that surrounds you, know that all works in your favour.
We are nature, we need nature to be whole
And like always, only take memories and only leave footprints.
Stay wild
Adi Forestbeing