Shinrin-Yoku - The Art of Forest-Bathing

In this peaceful meditation, Henry describes the art and practice of Shinrin-Yoku, or Forest Bathing. There are many benefits to creating a practice in the forest with improvements to spiritual, mental and physical health and wellbeing. Humans have walked the forest for millennia, but it wasn’t until 40 years ago in Japan that scientists studied this, and found fantastic results. Listen and learn how to best establish your own mindful forest-bathing practice.

Transcript

Hello and welcome dear soul,

And thank you for choosing this premium track.

I really appreciate your support.

All right,

What is Shinrin-yoku?

Well,

Shinrin-yoku is an expression coined by Japanese researchers back in 1982.

It was defined as making contact with and taking in the atmosphere of the forest.

It means quite literally,

Forest bathing.

Much like sunbathing,

Where you immerse yourself in sunshine,

With forest bathing you immerse yourself in the forest.

However,

Unlike sunbathing,

Where you can be completely distracted by conversation,

People watching,

Listening to,

Or watching some kind of entertaining media,

Forest bathing requires focus or attention.

You need to be fully present in the moment to reap the benefits of being in the forest.

Essentially,

Forest bathing is a form of walking meditation.

Or if you choose to sit in the forest with eyes open or closed,

It is merely a different form of a regular meditation that you would do in your home.

The studies in Japan in the early 1980s revealed that when people went into the forest and paid attention to it by being completely present in the moment,

There would be a significant drop in cortisol,

Blood pressure,

Heart rate,

And heart rate variability.

This was studied in 24 different forests across Japan,

With 12 people in each study,

For a total of 280 people.

Half the group would go into the forest and half into the city.

The next day they would switch so the city group from yesterday would now be in the forest and vice versa.

No matter how many times they tried this,

The results were the same.

Later studies in the early 2000s showed that Shinrin-yoku reduced anxiety,

Depression,

Anger,

Fatigue,

And confusion,

And increased vigor or energy that you feel you have available to you.

So how do you do forest bathing?

As you might have guessed,

It can be as simple as finding a forest and going into it.

When you arrive at the forest,

Turn off or silence your phone so that you are not distracted by the outside world.

As you enter the forest,

Look around you at the trees and plants and really see them.

Notice the sound of the birds happily chirping away.

Smell the air.

Notice how fresh it is.

Whenever I go into the forest,

It only takes a few breaths of the air for me to relax and let go.

Introduce yourself and your intentions to the trees.

In silence or out loud,

You could say the following.

Hello forest.

I am Henry.

I am with you.

I am here.

I am.

I have come to drink in your beauty and to witness you with all my senses.

I am open to receive your energy,

Your wisdom,

Your consciousness.

I am open to receive you.

And stay in the moment.

Stay present in the environment.

Keep noticing what you see and what you hear and smell.

Stop and have a look at things.

Like all the plants and all the different trees.

A creek trickling by.

See the bugs busy at work doing what they do.

If you find a comfortable spot,

Have a seat and observe everything you notice around you.

Whether you sit,

Stand or walk around in the forest,

The only thing you need to accomplish is to remain present.

If you find your mind wandering and thinking about work,

A difficult relationship in your life,

Or anything outside of the forest for that matter,

Gently bring yourself back to the present moment using your breath like this.

Close your eyes a moment.

Breathe all the air out of your lungs.

And then inhale fully through your nose.

And notice what it feels like in your body and what it smells like.

Then let out a big sigh.

And open your eyes again.

See the forest.

You are in the forest.

So consciously choose to be present in the forest.

Forest bathing can be done for as long as you have time for it on a given day.

Even a short visit can have lasting effects.

And if it is raining when you arrive at the forest,

Even better.

The sound of rain falling is also very soothing.

Just dress so that you aren't uncomfortable.

And rain in the forest can be a feast for the eyes with all the raindrops glistening on the trees and the plants.

Smell the moist air.

It smells so sweet and fresh.

Soon you will be feeling very good.

You will feel the energy,

The aura of the trees.

Being in harmony with nature is an energy exchange.

The trees take your heavy dense energy and transmute it into positive light energy.

When I think about that,

It seems like the trees are doing all the work for me.

So I like to share my energy back with them.

I set that as my intention.

I say to myself,

I am contributing to the forest.

Or I am contributing to the trees.

And I feel love and gratitude for the forest build in my heart.

And I consciously share that with the forest.

I'm sure it appreciates it.

There are ways you can enhance your experience in the forest.

One is to do some grounding or earthing while you are there.

If you are in more of a park setting with grass,

Take off your shoes and socks and walk around.

Or you can sit on a bench or a log with your feet in the grass.

We were never meant to be disconnected from the earth.

But in the last hundred years,

With more and more insulated rubber and plastic soles,

We are no longer connected.

We pick up a lot of extra electrons through the day and it can have negative effects on our health.

When we are earthing,

We are grounding ourselves and the extra electrons flow from us back into the earth.

You can also ground yourself by hugging a tree.

It's an old cliche and you may feel silly,

But it works really well.

Another simple way to ground yourself is to walk with a wooden staff.

With your bare hand on the top,

Each time the staff hits the path,

You are grounded.

So maybe you noticed it when it started,

But in the background of this recording,

I've put in the sounds of the forest and the rain.

In your mind,

Your imagination probably created a scene of being in a forest as you heard the sounds.

And just by listening to this in the background as I spoke,

You felt more and more relaxed as the time passed.

This brings me to another point about Shinrin-Yoku or forest bathing.

You don't necessarily need to be in a forest to do forest bathing.

What?

Scientist and author Dr.

David Hamilton from Dunblane,

Scotland has shared some interesting studies showing that even just the sounds of a forest,

Of nature,

Can have profound positive impacts on our stress levels,

Happiness,

And sense of peace.

Even if you don't have a forest or a park near you,

You can still take advantage of some of the benefits.

This is the reason why in many of the meditations I've published,

The backdrop is the sound of a forest,

And usually with the rain.

I even have one with no music and no words.

All you hear is the birds joyfully singing away,

The peaceful sound of rain falling,

And some thunder in the distance.

Studies have been shown that this too can reduce stress and anxiety in people's lives.

You can listen while doing something else,

Like preparing a meal,

Studying,

Working from home,

Or even as you fall asleep.

Not everyone has a forest nearby or access to nature,

So this is a good hack.

To me,

Being in nature is a return home,

An ancestral memory imprinted on our DNA.

And while the forest is appealing to some,

The sound of the ocean or waves on a lake is most relaxing to others.

Now you have learned a bit about this wonderful practice.

You can go out and enjoy all that forest bathing has to contribute to us.

I'm also interested in your perspective.

Leave me a review and share what nature sounds are most calming for you,

Or where you do your forest bathing.

Thank you for listening.

I am grateful,

And I wish you much peace and many blessings.

Reviews

Henry always brings measured calm to the session. I now have Forest bathing added to my toolbox. 🧰 thank you. 🙏
Namaste

So interesting and relaxing. I learned so much Henry and feel so at peace...from my sofa! Will definitely be going into our local green space and relisten to this talk. Thank you! 🙏🏽

Beautiful, thank you.
Henri, I enjoy the nature sounds very much.
They instantly relax me. My shoulders drop, my breathing settles.
I am going to a small redwood forest later this morning to bathe. I listen often to your talks your voice is very soothin🙏

Thanks for these tips, Henry. I am fortunate to live next to a forest and need to slow down as I walk it's trails... maybe go off-trail even! I tend to emersion in my garden.

I love being outdoors and the advice in this talk will reinforce how much I can draw from the experience. I’m going to check out more of your content. 🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻

What lovely talk Henry! I have been forest bathing for years and years, although I didn't have a name for it before. Personally, what soothes me most is bird song, crickets, cicadas, the wind in the trees -particularly aspen - peepers, streams and rivers. I spent some time at the ocean and loved the sound of the sea as well. And all the time just letting it's beauty enter my eyes and feed my soul. Nature is magic ♥️🌻

Thank you! I really appreciated your advices and interactions suggestions with the forest. This is something I will definitely and mindfully practice from now on when going in nature. Blessings to you dear soul and again thank you! 😌✨️🙏✨️

Very nice and educative. I will certainly listen to more Meditation of you. Thank you so much.

I love having this meditation available for when I can’t physically get into nature. Spending time in nature and amongst trees and absorbing all it has to offer has always been calming and healing to me. Love all the sounds of nature you offer, too. Thank you. 🙏🌲❤️

I’m lucky enough to live in a forest. I find if I’m stressed or anxious going out in my yard or taking a walk helps to renew my sense of calm.

Dear Henry, I only recently realised that my love of bushwalking had a name and a science behind it- shinrin yoku!
Not sure if you have ever experienced the Australian temperate eucalyptus forest but the most evocative part for me isthe scent of wet gum leaves.
Thank you for your meditations, they meet me perfectly, right where I am.
With love Kath

A beautiful practice - one I wil return to in a space in nature and at home. Thank you

I will find a place where I can do this while meditating. Awesome practice ..

I love this! 🙏🏽💚
A couple years ago I trained with the ANFT to become a certified forest therapy guide. In this short meditation, you touch upon many of the things we learn in the course. When people gather to do an “official” forest bathing experience, all the benefits of being in *nature* are magnified by the sharing of experiences with the group (optional) after each invitation, and being with the group. The whole experience usually takes 2-3 hours.
I’m so happy to see this on IT! Blessings of the forest to you 🌲

Clear and interesting explanation , no wonder this is very high on my list of needs.
I am fortunate to live in a place surrounded by forest, and beside a creek so I do this daily , and your lovely sound backdrop blended perfectly with my chorus of summer evening crickets.
This is so restful, and encourages deep fresh breaths.
Thank you 🍁🌳🌲☀️

Very nice! Thank you for new ideas. I was doing this unconsciously, but now I can put forest bathing in my practice 🙏

Hi Henry 😊 I really appreciate your telling everyone about this practice. I always go to a little forest in a near by park. There's always a connection for me. I'm a empath and find I often can sense " feelings" from the forest. Do you think that is strange? Some times it's sadness. Perhaps I'm just going crazy. I'm very connected to nature. If I need to regroup I want to go for a walk in that little forest. We have been friends for years 😊. I didn't know it was actually called something, but it makes sense. Thanks again Henry. It's good to see you too.

Thank you so much for this enlightening information about forest bathing. I am grateful.

Thanks for the lovely experience. I am often in the forest as I live in Switzerland. But I still enjoyed this short walk very much. Blessings, Shirin

The forest feels like home to me, everytime I step into it. That's my resting place I'm creating.
Much gratitude for sharing your knowledge.
May your feet plant little kisses as you walk the earth. 🙏🏻❤️🌲👣