森林浴 (Shinrin-Yoku): Forest Bathing, and Getting the Most out of it
Forest bathing is a practice developed in Japan linked to improving and maintaining overall health, lowering stress, and improving mood and focus. It is an immersive experience that forces you to unplug from the digital world and use your five senses to truly absorb everything around you.
There are numerous benefits that are believed to be linked to forest bathing, which I encourage you to look into (Shinrin-Yoku.org is a great online resource).
In this digital era, it is a perfect way to unplug and disconnect from the online world. Using this opportunity to really take in your surroundings, allowing each of your senses to experience the smells, sounds, sights and textures around you, you are able to truly remove yourself from the stress and pressure weighing upon you. In many deep forests, not having cellphone service can assist in this immersive experience. Using your phone for the purpose of taking photos can be a great way of bringing some of the forest home with you, however, you should avoid focusing on these pictures being for Instagram or other social medias, as you will want to use this opportunity to unplug from the digital world to get the most out of your forest bathing trip.
If you choose to stay local, this can be a great opportunity to forage. If you can’t forage for things like fruit or mushrooms, sticks and pinecones are easy to find and can be incorporated into a number of creative projects (some on the blog coming soon!). You will want to ensure that there aren’t any insects hiding inside of your foraged goods by spraying your sticks or pinecones with some water and baking them in the oven for a few minutes.
When travelling abroad, taking a trip to a forest can be a truly amazing experience. Immersing yourself in plants, wildlife and climates that you may not have seen before can be refreshing and can make your forest bathing experience that much more effective. Being familiar the plants and wildlife of Ontario, I was truly fascinated by what I had seen while visiting forests in Japan and Costa Rica. I now make a habit of visiting nearby forests when travelling, and recommend you trying this for yourself on your next trip!
I aim to practice forest bathing on a more frequent basis in my own life. Each season, location, or time of day can affect us differently, and I hope to find the time to experience as many as possible. As autumn comes into full swing, I look forward to observing the changing leaves and hearing the crunch of each step, and perhaps taking some spooky night walks. If you have any forest bathing stories you would like to share, or locations to recommend, please let me know below, I’d love to hear!
