What Is Forest Bathing (Shinrin-Yoku) ?

Forest in Lough Hyne, West Cork

Forest bathing, also known as shinrin-yoku, began in Japan in the 1980s as a preventive healthcare practice to combat stress, insomnia, and depression. It involves slowing down and connecting with each of your five senses. The experience of seeing, hearing, smelling, and touching is different in a calming a green environment. This is becoming a big thing here in Western Society. This is what I do daily on my morning walk and it’s available to everyone and actually costs nothing. 

What Forest Bathing can do for you

Spending time in nature goes beyond just helping you relax. Forest bathing boosts your immune function, lowers your blood pressure, reduces your stress hormones, activates your "rest and digest" nervous system response, and enhances your overall mental health, improving conditions such as anxiety, depression, anger, and fatigue. Have you ever went on a walk within the trees and felt poorly afterwards despite how you felt at the begining?

How to Forest Bathe

Forest bathing is taking a slow, mindful walk in the woods where you really pay attention to the sights, sounds, and smells around you. It's all about being totally in the moment and soaking up the forest's vibes. Listening to the wildlife (birds and animals) and wind whistling in the trees, seeing the sunlight filter through the tree tops, smelling natures many and different fragrances, feeling the textures of a tree bark while hugging a tree or that gentle breeze on your face. Enjoy your Forest Bathing session and maybe journal your observations.