Forest Therapy

 Shinrin-Yoku:  The Art of Forest Bathing

Go to a Forest. Walk slowly. Breathe. Open all your senses. This is the healing way of Shinrin-yoku, the medicine of simply being in the forest. Shinrin-yoku is a term that means “taking in the forest atmosphere” or “forest bathing.” It was developed in Japan in the 1980’s and has become a cornerstone of preventive health care and healing in Japanese medicine. Researchers primarily in Japan and South Korea have established a robust body of scientific literature on the health benefits of spending time under the canopy of a living forest. Now their research is helping to establish shinrin-yoku through the world.

I established what I called Natural Communion also in the 1980’s and was intuitively led to the same conclusions as the research. The essence of Natural Communion and Forest Bathing are the same. Each has also developed little tools to help us deepen in our receptivity to the benefits. You can start being guided and then you will do it on your own. The Earthwalk Retreat is perfect for Shinrin-Yoku. Moderate Fitness required. Below is more of the article from the website. Contact me with your questions or to schedule some forest bathing time here. earthwalkways@gmail.com or 540 752 5540.

The idea is simple; if a person simply visits a natural area and walks in a relaxed way there are calming, rejuvenating and restorative benefits to be achieved. We have always known this intuitively. But in the past several decades there have been many scientific studes that are demonstrating the mechanixms behind the healing effects of simply being in wild and natural areas. For example, many trees give off organic compounds that support our “NK” (natural killer) cells that are part of our immune system’s way of fighting cancer. The scientifically proven benefits of Shinrin-Yoku include: -Lowered blood pressure -Lowerred pulse ratae -Reduced cortisol levels -increased vigor -reduced anger -reduced depression Just as impressive are the results that we are experiencing as we make this part of our regular practice; -deeper and clearere intuition -increased flow of energy -increased capacity to communicate with the land and ists species -increased fow of eros/life force -deepening of freinddships -overall increase in sense of happiness. We recognize that forest medicine appraches such as Shinrin-yoku have roots in many cultures throughout history. John Muir wrote, :Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to the mountains is going home. Wilderness is a necessity.” He is one of many people who we include when we think about the origins of the practice. Our approach to Shinrin Yoku combines leisurely walks on gentle paths under forest canopy with guided activitites and meditations to help you open you senses, hone your intuition and experience the foreset as you never have before. We draw upon mindfulness meditation practices and the techniques of deep nature connection mentorying. We also use the Way of Coucnil for group discussions at several points along the walk which helps participants learn from and teach each other as we discuss what we are experiencing together. From the website Shinrin-yoku.org