Forrest Bathing

I've just spent the morning forest bathing, or Shinrin Yoku as it is originally know in Japan. I was apprehensive about it, as I am with everything new. Especially things that are an alternative medicine, which is strange really as I almost always find them beneficial.

A very dear friend Shaun had recently became qualified as a guide in the area. So with his new found enthusiasm, he offered his services to a group of us. So at an absolutely ungodly hour of the morning we set off to for the local forest. The skies were cloudy and a mist hung in the air. I was not excited about the prospect of getting soaked to my skin wandering a wood, before I had even had my morning coffee. However a promise is a promise so onwards I went.

It began with weirdness, standing in a circle just off the beaten path, but not out of eyeline of the morning walkers. We must look like we trying to do some kind if satanic ritual I thought to myself. "I invite you to pick up something from the forest floor and then throw it away and with it anything that takes you from being present here today" Shaun said in his soft calming barrow tone. I looked around at the muddy ground searching for something interesting among the dirt, leaves decaying wood and litter. I settled on a piece of wood only starting it's journey of decay. As instructed I carried it for a few minutes before throwing it from me with intention. Fully committing myself to whatever the next few hours would bring.

To tell you what happened doesn't really do the experience of what happened next any justice. Nothing extraordinary was asked of me, in fact nothing was asked of my at all I was merely "invited" to participate, to give as much or as little as I was comfortable with. I prefer the words "I invite you to ....". There is a softness and ease in the choice that follows those words for me.

In summary all that actually happened was we walked, mostly in silence, listened and observed the natural world around us. We also had a delightful tea to end proceedings. Doesn't sound particularly intoxicating does it?

Well the mental, sensory and spiritual experience is much more intense. Which each "invitation" that I accepted I was opened to the wonder and awe of the forest. The smell of wild garlic, the sound of every little creature living there. The simple beauty of life death and rebirth cycle that permeates every inch of this wood. The colour's ! How could I have every thought to myself "it's just green". Green yes but every shade imaginable and the more I looked the more colour I saw. This forest has a kaleidoscope of colours as vivid as any Van Gogh in the world. My mind, myself too wrapped up in small things, and my own self seeking had been blind to this natural wonder. Without the gift of these guided invitations I fear u would have remained so. With this clarity came a calmness, a sense of ease, the weight of anxiety that I had been carrying for so long had lessened. This was after all the main benefits of forest bathing, to improve health and reduce stress levels.

Towards the end of this session we were invited to find a tree and spend some time with the tree. I learned a lot from this tree. You see I realized tree's don't get sad, or depressed when things are working out. They just grow! If their nutrients are far from them, their roots grow deeper. If the canopy blocks their sunlight , they will bend and grow towards the light. If they are damaged by man or nature, the trauma leaves a scar that heals and makes that tree all the more unique and beautiful with its very own story.

Forrest bathing has shown me a lot. To stop and be open to the wonders of nature and take in her nourishing effects. And to live like a tree, to have string deep roots , that my trauma is mine and makes me unique and beautiful, and finally to always grow towards the light.