What is Forest Bathing?
by Jane Scanlon, Certified Nature & Forest Therapy Guide, Above the Clouds Forest Bathing
How would you answer this question:
“When I connect with nature I feel _____.”
Maybe your answer includes feelings like these: Relaxed. Alive. Focused. Less stressed. Energized. Grounded. Free. Curious. Like a kid again. Grateful. Joyful. Closer to God.
These are common feelings people experience when they get away from distractions and noise and step outside into a natural space with trees, earth, sky, birds and fresh air. But for lots of reasons, most American adults spend more than 90 % of their waking hours inside and rarely connect directly with unpaved ground. Even if we can access the outdoors, it’s not always easy to make time and detach from our devices, information overload, and the drive to do.
Consider Forest Bathing! The practice of Forest Bathing is part of a wellness movement that recognizes the powerful connection between nature and human health – physical, mental and spiritual. It encourages us to spend sensory based time in a natural space – any natural, no walls space.
What is Forest Bathing?
Forest Bathing or shinrin-yoku is rooted in research in Japan in the 1980’s at a time of escalating stress related illnesses: It is full sensory immersion in the beauty and wonder of nature and “bathing” in the beneficial atmosphere of trees. (Other nature spaces work too.)
It is an evidence-based wellness practice that has been popularized in many countries for health benefits like lowered blood pressure, decreased anxiety and stress hormone levels, help with depression, attention, boosted immune system and it can even help our bodies fight cancer cells. Forest Bathing has been part of the national health care system for years in countries like Japan, Finland, Scotland and South Korea where physicians write prescriptions for relaxed time outside!
Here at Garden of the Gods, we’ve been offering group Forest Bathing walks since 2021 with certified Nature & Forest Therapy guide, Jane Scanlon, of Above the Clouds Forest Bathing. Jane offers a sequence of prompts to help quiet the busy mind, open the senses and imagination and encourage guests to deepen their relationship with nature in a joyful, mutually healing way.
Different from a hike, a guided forest bathing walk is more about being fully present to a small area in a mindful way, than logging miles and getting somewhere. The pace is unhurried. Guests can sit or lie down, enjoy solo wandering and gathering as a group to reflect on what they hear, smell, touch, taste and simply notice. Walks might only cover a mile during a three-hour experience closing with a peaceful tea ceremony of gratitude, using native plants with known health benefits.
That list of feelings described earlier? They came from participants on guided forest bathing walks. Want to experience Forest Bathing for yourself? Join us on our next outings at Garden of the Gods on September 27th or October 26th. Space is limited, register here!
For more about Forest Bathing check out Above the Clouds Forest Bathing https://www.abovethecloudsforestbathing.com/