Shinrin Yoku - Forest Bathing
If I could prescribe a medicine for our time, it would be the medicine of the woods and our precious outdoor spaces. Shinrin yoku or forest bathing is such a medicine. There is a growing body of research that supports the benefits of being in nature, not only for our physical health but also our mental wellbeing.
Calming our nerves by lowering the stress hormone cortisol, lowering blood pressure, anxiety, depression and aiding sleep are a few of the findings from the research. Along with this Dr Li, President of the Society for Forest Medicine in Japan, has found that trees release chemicals ``phytoncides” , which boosts our immune system. The benefits are numerous and well researched. In Japan, which has more than 60 certified forest therapy centres, Shinrin Yoku is an established preventative therapy, and has been an integral part of their health care system for many years.
Radnor Forest in snow, by Caroline Faulder
Practicing Shinrin Yoku, involves a full and deep immersion in the natural world. This is done by purposefully engaging all our senses, allowing yourself to notice ever more deeply the intricacies of nature.
To begin, find an outdoor space such as a woodland or park. Giving yourself permission to walk with no particular purpose other than to be there, we are not going anywhere in particular, so it does not matter if we follow a path or wander off the trail to discover a new direction. We are simply walking, dawdling even. Opening our senses to experience the sensations that arise in nature, softening and slowing our footfall. Attuning our hearing to sounds both near and far, the call of a bird or closer the rustling of leaves beneath our feet.
A peaceful track in the woods, by Caroline Faulder
Allowing our eyes to rest on the varied patterns on tree bark or the play of light through entwined branches, the textures of cobwebs, grasses, clouds. We take a deep breath and smell the richness of the damp earth as the wind presses against our skin, our curiosity is awakened and we reach out to touch a raindrop suspended on the tip of a branch and feel its cool silken texture as it runs along our finger. By now we might be smiling as the medicine begins to work. The laced, bent back of bracken, arching over the path, in its rich brown, is so beautiful that it takes our breath away and we stop a while to appreciate its gift. Our heart rate slows, and our breathing deepens, our shoulders may relax down from there loft position too close to our neck, lulled by the rhythm of slow walking and deeper breathing - we are practicing Shinrin Yoku, waking up to our senses by relating to nature in its own language which is both wordless and a song, immense and rich beyond measure.
If you were offered such a restorative medicine would you take it? If your answer is yes, then put on your shoes and go for a walk. You will feel better.
Looking out across the forest in winter, by Caroline Faulder