An Introduction To Forest Bathing

A short talk to introduce you to Nature & Forest Therapy also known as Forest Bathing. Here I talk you through what a Forest Bathing may entail and the type of invitations you may be offered. Also we briefly touch on the history of its origins.

Transcript

Hello and welcome to this introduction to nature and forest therapy.

My name is Maria and I am the founder of Mindful Connections.

I'm a nature and forest therapy guide,

A Shinnyin-yokyu practitioner,

A natural mindfulness,

A mindfulness teacher,

Compassion teacher and also a forest bathing facilitator as well.

I quite often get asked the question exactly what will I do?

What does it actually mean?

What does forest bathing,

Where does it come from?

So I just thought I'd give a brief talk today about what it is and a very very brief history,

Just touching on that history really and what you can expect when you do attend a session.

Now I've already mentioned there's a number of different trainings that I've undergone and I guess one built on the other over the years and today I actually,

The practice I actually work to is the ANFT which is Association of Nature and Forest Therapy which has been the biggest training,

The biggest deep dive I went into.

So I'm going to talk to you a little bit about that as opposed to some of the others,

Although I do still practice some of the others but in different ways.

So nature and forest therapy is inspired by the Japanese practice of Shinrin-ryokyu.

Shinrin-ryokyu translates into English as forest bathing and that's why that's the phrase that's so well known.

Shinrin-ryokyu is a term coined in roughly about 1980s in Japan.

It was during a time when Japan changed from a nation that spent time outdoors to a more tech-based economy and with this transition the government noticed a massive spike in stress-related illnesses,

Cancers,

Autoimmune diseases and so it began research projects to find out you know how do we combat this,

How do we stop this in its tracks.

And one of the first things that kind of came to light which is probably one of the biggest things that people seem to know about forest bathing is they discovered that trees keep themselves healthy by showering themselves in chemicals called phytoncides.

So when they're under attack they emit this aroma,

These chemicals and that might be under attack from insects,

From fungi so they release these chemicals to fight off and kill off anything that's actually attacking them.

So now if you think about humans and because our ancestors evolved in the forest and we're not that far away from that time in the human life span,

We have a real special reaction when we inhale phytoncides.

When I say inhale that can be inhale through your breath or even absorb through skin and our bodies in turn produce a real special white blood cell called natural killer cell or an NK cell and these cells kind of roam around our body looking for stressed and cancerous cells and destroy them.

So it can really be said you know the forest bathing is almost breathing in or bathing in the forest atmosphere of phytoncides.

So as I mentioned I practice the ANFT which is the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy and that was really inspired by Shinran Rockhue.

Amos Clifford who founded the ANFT wanted to design a forest therapy three-hour experience so that people could not only achieve the many health benefits associated with forest bathing but also work on their relationships with nature and quite often you'll hear the an expression of the more than human world and that's kind of with every living being from plants,

Trees,

The ocean,

The air,

Other animals,

Insects,

Flat birds you know it encompasses everything of nature and we are part of that nature.

It builds that relationship with our local community and also builds our own relationship with our true nature as well.

So the ANFT has a say in a motto that says that the forest is the therapist and the guy just opens the doors.

So let me tell you how we actually do that in a session.

We do this by offering a series of invitations and we call them invitations quite specifically because they are just that.

I think the biggest thing to really acknowledge with nature and forest therapy is there is no right or wrong way to do this and the main point is to relax into it and know that you're doing okay.

So we do talk about lots of different invitations there are hundreds to choose from actually so when you are invited to do something if you are really drawn to do something else do that.

Follow your body follow your heart.

You know we might for an example we might give you an invitation that's around water but on your route to that water you may be completely and utterly drawn to a tree or a plant or even maybe something on the forest floor and that's absolutely fine.

You know that's what's presenting for you in that moment so just go with that.

All we ever ask on a walk is that you do keep relatively within the group so we can know that you're safe and well.

So to give you an idea,

Averagely they're about three hours long.

We meet in specific places and then we go off.

Now under the ANFT we do the first two invitations are always the same.

The very first invitation we offer you is called Pleasures of Presence and that's a nice short probably 10-15 minutes guided bringing you through each of your senses and the premise behind it is it gives you an opportunity to really step out of your traveling,

Your busy week and into the forest.

It's a chance to really awaken each of your senses and you know when we slow down we notice that much more.

So bringing us into our second invitation is really like a silent walk but as slow as you possibly can because once you have slowed down to that kind of level as I said you do notice loads.

We kind of look at what's in motion and you've got the big things that's in motion but really this allows us to notice those minute things that on a normal walk we would just walk on by and never ever see.

So it allows us to really start tuning in to what's around us and getting to know it.

There's two things that I always tell people that these sessions are not.

They're not a hike and they're also not a naturist program as much as I am absolutely fascinated by.

I do do other practices where we kind of discover the meanings behind trees,

The characteristics and how that applies to us and the names of different plants etc.

That isn't what we do here.

Here is all about just really really it's a date morning of slow really.

It's allowing you to reconnect with your surroundings and yourself.

We do those first two invitations.

I was about to tell you about what lots of people say but I will leave that to Lou a bit later.

We then offer you probably three more invitations.

Between each invitation we bring you back to what we call a gather and share.

This is really a beautiful opportunity of returning to a space together almost like a sharing circle.

It's a safe place to express ourselves to really listen and also be heard.

All is welcome if you wish to be silent during those circles that's fine if you want to express yourself via a quote.

When I do some virtual ones sometimes we have people from all over the world so I also express and say you know if you want to use your mother language that's also welcome.

You might only use your own flow of words you might want to use the lyrics of a song.

Absolutely everything is welcome.

I guess the biggest thing for the shares are we encourage people to both speak and listen completely from our hearts.

It's a place where we can gently place our attention to really listen and hear what's been expressed by other people.

There are hundreds upon hundreds of different invitations and there's more invitations being developed every single day.

For me the middle part is what's crafted,

A craft with what's presented in that moment and I let nature indicate to me and just show me the way on that.

It can be anything from textual,

It could be partnership invitations and each one of them is crafted for you to get a deeper experience.

That will obviously depend on the group and the needs of the individual group as well.

For some people it can be complete stillness just sitting up against a tree.

For somebody else it could be that partnership where they need a little bit more communication between two people and that works really well as well.

The final invitation is always a shared tea ceremony.

Wherever possible we use a plant from the land.

For me not all of the places that I use,

All the woodlands,

The owners and the managers don't always like me to pick anything.

I might bring rosemary,

I do thyme,

I do hibiscus,

I grow a number of different things that I can bring with me if necessary.

At least again we are making a tea that's actually coming from the land and into us.

It's a beautiful time to kind of complete the session.

We then normally chitchat,

Quite often bring chocolate to share and just allows us to come back out of that really deep state ready for going back out of the woodland or the beach wherever it happens to be and back into our own lives again.

I'd really encourage absolutely everybody to give it a go.

There are nature and forest therapy guides throughout the world.

You can actually find people in different offerings on the ANFT website.

Some of them are virtual,

That's quite a nice way to have an introduction.

They're normally about an hour to an hour and a half long and the full forest or beach.

We call it nature and forest therapy because it can be anywhere.

There are every element of nature,

Be it a woodland,

A meadow.

There are a number of people that use arboretums.

I have loads of colleagues that myself also use the beach as well.

Everywhere has its own elements and benefits that that gives you.

I was going to tell you what some of the comments that I get and how I can often feel after a forest bathing.

It gives you what you need on that particular day is the biggest thing I'm going to tell you.

Every single experience can be completely different.

For me there have been times where I have felt such a deep level of calm,

Of inward peace.

I have slept like a baby that night.

It has been just a real unloading of stress.

Other times I have felt so invigorated,

Had so much clarity,

Had so much focus that it's completely and utterly restored me.

They kind of echo some of the things that people tell me.

Feeling a deep stillness,

Feeling that focus,

That clarity.

People tell me about the sleeping patterns.

They tell me how calm they feel.

I have a lot of people that come back to multiple sessions and use it as part of their own self-care.

There's something very,

Very different between being with a group of people where you're sharing that experience and maybe going off and sitting somewhere or doing various different invitations.

Because you've booked on to something,

It's a little bit like a yoga class,

Because you've booked on to it,

You turn up and you're present for it.

Sometimes when we try and do these things on our own we might not do the full extent of time,

We might skip bits.

It's just different and that group,

That community that we also,

That gets created on every single experience is just so united.

It's like like-minded people.

That in itself is really beautiful and rich with content as well and wisdoms.

It's often what other people say that just can light you and help you on your journey as well.

I hope that's given you some insight.

As I said,

I really encourage you to attend and experience this for yourself because the experience of it is what will,

Can only tell you how it's going to be for you.

Thank you for listening today and I hope it's been useful.

Thank you.

Reviews

As a fellow ANFT guide that was a beautiful summary of Forest Therapy!

Simply beautiful and calming voice. Loved listening to this