The art of Forest Bathing -- or go hug a tree, you'll feel better!

Stella Wenstob | story

And into the forest I go, to lose my mind and find my soul.

John Muir (1838-1914)

So many shades of green and goldy-brown, you would need more than a box of crayons or a poet’s vocabulary. Sunlight breaks through the thick canopy, illuminating pale green lichen that has bearded a tall branching spruce tree. The dense carpet of hemlock needles deaden the sound of my feet, leaving only the song of the odd flitting thrush to fill my ears. Searching the branches for the bird, I stumble, catching myself against the giant spruce’s scaly bark and come away with a hand sticky with citrus smelling pitch. Low growing huckleberries punctuate the natural colors with vibrant red berries. I pop one in my mouth and am instantly assaulted by the sharp tangy flavour.

Even without trying, my mind becomes untethered in the forest. Distractions abound. It is easy to get caught up in the problems of a squirrel whowho I have disturbed from his afternoon repast.

However, this is using the woodland as a distraction or an escape. There are those that advocate this is the perfect place to find peace through mindful engagement with the forest. These people are Forest Bathers.

Western culture has long applauded natures rejuvenating properties for the soul. In many ways it is ingrained in American culture, as Henry David Thoreau (1817-1862) famously wrote of his decision to simplify his life in his cabin on Walden’s pond:

I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived... (1854)

The English Romantic poet William Wordsworth (1770–1850) also found nature to be a great teacher of the human condition:

One impulse from a vernal wood /May teach you more of man, /Of moral evil and of good, /Than all the sages can.

The influential naturalist John Muir (1838-1914), who is famous for co-founding the Sierra Club and as an advocate for preserving the wilderness, wrote extensively about the healing qualities of nature. Muir wrote in 1894 in the Mountains of California:

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees.

The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop away from you like the leaves of Autumn. Needless to say, the Western world has been experimenting with the idea of nature aiding health and well-being for some time. However, there has been very little physiological research of this phenomenon grounded in Western science. Enter, the Japanese approach.

Since its inception in the 1980s the Japanese technique of ‘‘Shinrin-yoku’’ translated as ‘taking in the forest atmosphere or forest bathing’ has grown in popularity and more research has been done verifying its efficacy. Qing Li author of FOREST BATHING: How Trees Can Help You Find Health and Happiness (2018) has done extensive research into the health benefits of forest bathing.

In a 2016 study Qing Li and others demonstrated that middle-aged male subjects had reduced pulse rate and significantly increased the score for vigor and decreased the scores for depression, fatigue, anxiety, and confusion. Adrenaline and dopamine levels, both indicators of stress, excitement, and over stimulation, were lowered after a forest walk as opposed to comparable urban area trek. Additionally, serum adiponectin (which aids in the breaking down of blood sugar) was significantly greater. Further studies have demonstrated a chemical known as phytoncides released by trees and some plants positively effects stress levels, decreasing blood pressure. Forest bathing has been determined to be so beneficial to health that it has been adopted by the Japanese government health program.

Quing Li outlines that forest bathing must be done in a meditative, mindful way, but this practice need not be done in solitude.

“Away, away, from men and towns, To the wild wood and the downs, — To the silent wilderness, Where the soul need not repress its music.”

Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792-1822)

I go to nature to be soothed and healed, and to have my senses put in order.

John Burroughs (1837-1921)

If you are the sort that requires a personal trainer to commit to a healthy goal, there are trained Forest Therapists that can guide you on Forest Bathing excursions. However, taking a like-minded friend on your quest can be just as effective.

Quing Li states that the first step to Forest Bathing is to unplug and simply focus on the green and your senses:

Make sure you have left your phone and camera behind. You are going to be walking aimlessly and slowly. You don’t need any devices. Let your body be your guide. Listen to where it wants to take you. Follow your nose.

And take your time. It doesn’t matter if you don’t get anywhere. You are not going anywhere. You are savoring the sounds, smells and sights of nature and letting the forest in. (2018) Perhaps I was unkind to myself in the first paragraph. Maybe it is not distraction I gain from the woods, but perspective. That in spite of everything life is full of beauty. As American conservationist and biologist Rachel Carson (1907-1964) wrote:

It is a wholesome and necessary thing for us to turn again to the earth and in the contemplation of her beauties to know of wonder and humility.

In our socially distant times, when human contact can be so stressful and unsatisfying, hugging a tree may be our best option. If that is too hippy-dippy for you, hold back on the actual hugging, but why not simply meander and take comfort in the woods and contemplate the squirrels?

"My soul is growing sick— I will away and gather balm from a sweet forest walk!

Hannah Flagg Gould (1789-1865)

"Keep close to Nature’s heart… and break clear away, once in awhile, and climb a mountain or spend a week in the woods. Wash your spirit clean."

John Muir (1838-1914