Forest Bathing (shinrin-yoku) [Archive]

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dado potato

1-17-21, 1:18pm

Luckily I live with forest all around. After I send this I can take my my snowshoes half a mile from my doorstep to the nearest trail and "bathe" my senses in the forest. I especially enjoy pausing on a hilltop and listening to the breezes sighing in the needles of the red pines.

I recently heard of the Japanese practice of shinrin yoku. I have ordered Clifford Amos' book. Your Guide to Forest Bathing.

For a few years I have had a sit-spot in my yard, without consciously making a practice of forest bathing there. Nor did I leave my sit-spot in pristine natural condition. I planted some perennials in front (primrose, sweet woodruff. trillium, astilbe, lupine and day lilies), and behind it (bee-balm, coneflowers, etc.)

With this thread I hope for comments/experiences that all y'all would express regarding forest bathing, Nature and Forest Therapy, and related topics.

razz

1-17-21, 2:03pm

Lucky you with the forests and trails so close to your home.

Forest bathing in my back yard among the trees and flowers has been my saving grace with all the covid restrictions. Walking my little dog through the large cemetery with its well-established tall conifers and deciduous trees, I have seen and met many walking daily. Trail walking on old rail tracks is very popular as well.
Going out into nature is a wonderful form of spiritual renewal.

razz

1-17-21, 2:03pm

Double post

Simplemind

1-17-21, 3:02pm

I was a believer before I ever heard of it. Although we live in the suburbs our house backs up to a huge greenway. We have creeks on both sides of the property and it is heavily wooded. We walk out there daily (miles of trails) without any feeling of being in an urban area. We have never fenced our property so we maintain it keeping an eye on preserving habitats and adding to them. Every year I add more daffodils to the outback. I love sitting in the spa before bed looking out into the woods and listening to the wind in the trees and star gazing.

JaneV2.0

1-17-21, 3:15pm

I live close to a large nature park that borders on Lake Washington; there are also several smaller lake front parks nearby. And my property has plenty of trees and foliage, which is one of many reasons I will probably never live anywhere but a suburb.

catherine

1-17-21, 3:16pm

I LOVE the concept of forest bathing. While we didn't live in a "forest" in NJ (far from it), our house being next door to a wooded park fit the bill for meandering, walking along the creek, just feeling embraced by nature. Ironically, I miss that in VT. Our neighbors enjoy the golf course look, so there aren't too many trees right on my street, so I go to one of two state parks on the island, both which are less than a 10 minute drive, to get my hit of forest bathing.

Yppej

1-17-21, 4:08pm

I am a weather wimp so definitely am not forest bathing this time of year, but I have to say DP that you have the most unique posts here and get people thinking about different topics which is a breath of fresh air.

herbgeek

1-17-21, 6:44pm

I made one of my January goals to spend at least 15 minutes a day outside, on days that aren't actively precipitating and I've been doing pretty well with that one. I have a large mostly forested yard, that abuts another forested lot, then State Park. I put in several (short) walking paths through the woods that I try to walk most days. In the summer, I had 3 Adirondack chairs at various points on these paths. Since pandemic, and not being able to go out as usual, I started an afternoon ritual of enjoying an adult beverage from the views of the 3 chairs, and calling it "progressive drinking". :~)

I've been exploring the trails in my town- my spouse prefers walking on the street to the woods, and for years I've done it his way. This year, I have started solo hiking. Its pretty safe and I'm only intending to go locally and these are paths I know or have a map for. I did start humming loudly the other day when I heard some wildlife foraging not too far off the trail. We have lots of bear, and while they /should/ be hibernating this time of year - you never know and it really hasn't been all that cold yet.

rosarugosa

1-18-21, 7:21am

When I first heard of forest bathing, I thought it exactly described what we do in the woods, really soak up all the sounds and sights and smells of nature. We don't abut woodland but we have a nice 2200 acre wooded park that is about a 5-minute drive from us.
Herbgeek: That sounds like a delightful ritual!

lmerullo

1-18-21, 7:43am

I love being surrounded by nature.

Like herb and others, I've tried to make time in my day to just be outdoors. Mostly I sit and daydream, but some weekends I'm out most of the day. Dh isn't used to this, and asks me what I'm doing, and I tell him the Wi-Fi reaches the chairs (adirondak, too).

Teacher Terry

1-18-21, 11:17am

I love being outside and my backyard is beautiful. When I move into my condo I will spend time in one of our beautiful parks walking the trails like I did last time I lived in one.

dado potato

1-20-21, 5:58pm

Back in 2013 razz started a discussion on this same topic, which came up for me when I searched this site for "shinrin". There were contributions from
Rogar
bae
Tussiesmussies
puglogic
Gardenarian
RosieTR

In Your Guide to Forest Bathing Clifford asserts that each of us carries a forest inside us... which is capable of a connection with the living trees we might walk among in the forest today. My inner forest would consist of trees I was aware of earlier in my life.

Upon reflection, I believe I do carry an inner forest.

I distinctly recall the sensations I felt as "a boy out on a limb" of an immense cottonwood tree in my childhood hometown.
... and gazing up a towering ponderosa pine that grew beside Rapid Creek in the Black Hills.
... and 2 summers ago visiting South Manitou Island and walking to see the ancient white cedars in the "valley of the giants".
... etc.

The nugget of insight is "the forest has your back". That is, the forest I behold today embraces (or hugs) the forest I carry when I relax and allow the connection to happen.

http://www.manitoutransit.com/islands/cedar.html

catherine

1-20-21, 6:26pm

This is awesome, dado.

First of all, you made me nostalgic mentioning members that have left since 2013.

But regarding forests, I truly do feel different when I'm among the trees. My heart rate goes down, I feel detached from the world, and I feel safe and protected, so I think connecting with my inner forest makes sense. Derrick Jensen has said that when he doesn't know an answer to a question or a solution to a problem he asks a tree.

Do you recommend Clifford's book?

If you do love trees and books, I would highly recommend books by Gene Logsdon, particularly A Sanctuary of Trees.

dado potato

1-20-21, 8:12pm

Do you recommend Clifford's book?

If you do love trees and books, I would highly recommend books by Gene Logsdon, particularly A Sanctuary of Trees.

Thank you for the heads up on Logsdon's book. I will put it on my reading list. I have barely cracked Clifford's book. I would say the idea of the inner forest appealed to me immensely. I can bolt it on to concepts from C G Jung, Joseph Campbell, and Aldo Leopold.

A couple days ago, as I was walking in a forest that has grown back after the cutover, for a long time I was into the rhythm of my snowshoes. I saw the blistered bark of balsams, and at unexpected moments I heard calls of a nuthatch and a pileated woodpecker. I thought perhaps the meaning was, "we'll get through this."

http://www.dnr.state.mn.us/trees/balsam-fir.html

razz

1-20-21, 9:39pm

That is the comfort found in nature - undisturbed by human emotions, serene, restorative and at peace.

dado potato

1-26-21, 8:19pm

Today I broke a new trail in the forest... tramping on snowshoes. I am investigating a new sit spot, with conifers standing to the north, at my back, and a small pond to the south. I am thinking it will be a highly pleasurable spot at which to sit during spring thaw

I want to take off my fur-trimmed hat to Orwell Village School in Orwell VT and Walter G. Byers Elementary School in Charlotte NC. http://www.edutopia.org/video/how-practicing-mindfulness-outdoors-boosts-well-being

dado potato

1-28-21, 7:47pm

I see in the news that the states of Washington and Mississippi are taking new initiatives to form alliances with landowners in the interest of forest health. (I am sure things are afoot in other states that I have seen nothing about.)

Where wildfires are a threat, conditions are more vulnerable with dense forests, ladder fuels, and an absence of defensible space around structures.

Wherever you live, I suppose there is a state Department of Natural Resources webpage about forest health. Kudos to the foresters who have put up actionable information. I, living in the Northern Highlands of WI, look to MN and WI for my information.

http://dnr.wisconsin.gov/sites/default/files/topic/ForestHealth/AnnualReport2020.pdf

razz

1-30-21, 7:37pm

Dado, you might enjoy music in the forest
https://www.classicfm.com/composers/bach/news/forest-xylophone/

razz

2-4-21, 3:16pm

Alternatives to cutting down trees acknowledged with $3,000,000 award to a Vancouver environmentalist valuing the forests we need to breathe.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/vancouver-environmentalist-wins-3m-award-1.5900101

catherine

2-4-21, 7:52pm

dado potato

2-7-21, 7:39pm

Looking ahead to spring, I wonder what is the best thing I can do for the sake of the trees around my dwelling.

There are some dense conifers. I could get under them and saw off the lowest branches. The rationale is that I would be removing a "ladder of fuel" in case of wildfire. Some of the neighbors have sparky campfires in the summer.

Also part of me wants to find a good spot to plant an Eastern Hemlock... can live for 800 years.

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. Second-best is this coming spring.

catherine

2-7-21, 7:59pm

ches. The rationale is that I would be removing a "ladder of fuel" in case of wildfire. Some of the neighbors have sparky campfires in the summer.

Also part of me wants to find a good spot to plant an Eastern Hemlock... can live for 800 years.

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. Second-best is this coming spring.

Sounds like a good time to me.

I follow the Portland Japanese Garden on FB because I'm so in love with it, and they just posted this picture. Magical.

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