"Shinrin Yoku" - a bath in the forest
You use all five senses to make a connection with nature and clear your mind. It´s called Forest Bathing. It´s preventative medicine, not a treatment. And that´s what you do, bathe in the atmosphere of the trees, the other plants, the clean air, the scents and listen. The effects it can have on us are amazing. They have been verified in many studies.
it lowers blood pressure,
it regulates the pulse,
it reduces stress hormones and
it multiplies and activates our natural killer cells
For more watch the video about Forest Bathing:
The colour green attracts us
The Germans love the forest, the British love their gardens and parks. I like to walk along beside a stream and hear the water trickling, or sit under trees and listen to the rustling of leaves. These sounds soothe me. Nature is healing.
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"I think that every city should have a park, or better still, a natural forest of five hundred or a thousand acres, in which no branch should ever be sawn for fuel, as a public property to be preserved forever for their instruction and recreation.
Henry David Thoreau, Journal. October 15, 1859
This sentence inspired the American conservation movement.
Is Forest Bathing for us?
The successful concept is based on the fact that we do not have to ward off so many stimuli in the forest. Our attention capacity is not overloaded - on the contrary.
The news gets even better. Just five minutes in natural surroundings that please us improve our mood and increase self-esteem. Don't you feel like going to the forest right away?
I haven't known for long that this concept comes from Japan, but I always felt better after a walk in the forest.
We don't always feel able to go for a walk.
It is possible to achieve a similar effect without leaving the house. If you look out of the window at a tree, it has a healing effect. Patients in hospitals need fewer painkillers if they can look out into a natural green landscape or at a tree.
Update 31.07.2020
Last Friday I had the opportunity to try out "Experience the forest with all your senses" in a group during a training course. This was at the same time a kind of behavioural therapy for me because I haven't been out and about mixing with people for a long time. (We abided by all the safety precaution rules) Participants came from different self-help groups. It was possible for those with physical and mental impairments to take part. I walked with a cane. Having done my research on the subject of forest bathing, I was sensitized to all kinds of impressions. The rustling of the dry branches and leaves under my feet, the smell of moss, and the rotting and the different trees: spruce, oak, beech fir, and birch tickled my nose. I actually noticed how I began to relax. In the middle of the forest, for example, we learned how important the bark beetle and millipede really are, and then we were able to explore, smell and feel the trees of our choice intensively. I experienced this as an exercise in mindfulness. Unfortunately, not enough time was planned to lie down on the forest floor, but I still felt some positive effects. I no longer felt rushed and stressed, like on the way to the meeting point. I can highly recommend trying this out. In our "neck of the woods" Alb Donau, you can book events of this kind, also explicitly "Shinrin Yoko".
I think and hope that there are similar offers in other districts near you.
Off to the woods!
Some years ago I had a calendar with beautiful pictures of Scotland. At the end of the year, I did not want to part with it and laminated all the pictures. In the self-help group, I often used them as a greeting or for meditation.
It was intuitive. In the meantime, I have learned that even just looking at pictures of nature with lots of greenery measurably improves our mood and calms us down. This was proven in a study in 2015. The study was intended to encourage people to plan more green spaces in towns. I like the English concept: Every city has its park, its recreational area. Here I sometimes miss that.
So let´s take a look and get healty!
The actual term Forest Bathing is relatively new. However, the concept of people regenerating in the natural world is very old. It was David Thoreau´s 200th birthday in 2017. He spent a year living in the woods. “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.” Thoreau.
Thoreau's "Walden" became classic world literature. It became a source of inspiration for those wishing to leave the straight and narrow and pursue a life far from the burdens of the hustle and bustle. A Back to Nature guide. Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King are said to have referred to Thoreau.
"I have no doubt that in the gradual evolution of humanity, the time will also come when animals will no longer be consumed." That would be very topical now.
Henry David Thoreau Rebel and eco-pioneer
https://www.br.de/radio/bayern2/sendungen/radiowissen/natur-als-inspiration-102.html#
Henry David Thoreau: Who was the Walden author really? (2020, June 9). Literature cafe.de. https://www.literaturcafe.de/henry-david-thoreau-wer-war-der-walden-autor-wirklich/
