Shinrin-yoku

In these harrowing days when it is still possible to leave one’s lair for exercise purposes, I highly recommend indulging in the Japanese practice of Shinrin-yoku (Forest Bathing). The excerpt below is from my first book, Be Happy Forever? Make a Garden!, where in Chapter 1:  How to Survive Making a Garden, I refer to a previous section on avoiding heat stress–I was waiting to post that bit until summer, but I grew weary of waiting for it when I was living in the cool Pacific Northwest so I finally posted that topic on August 3rd. Meanwhile:

Take a Bath Already

Go on, take a bath, especially if you have been induced into a sweaty state by the previous section on heat stress. I don’t want you to be rode hard and put up wet. I want you to feel relaxed, refreshed and revitalized, and there is nothing like a nice long bath to effect that preferable state; but I am not expecting you to run the water and break out the bubble bath. I expect you to bathe in the woods. You may have heard of Shinrin-yoku, the Japanese art and science of forest bathing. The forest is your bathtub, its vapors the warm soothing waters, its verdant architecture an exfoliant for the spirit. And it’s like one of those fancy walk-in tubs, where you don’t have to labor over the top of the tub to get in. Just walk right in, and the trees, the breeze, the singing birds and earthy fragrances emanating from the vibrant earth will do the rest; but, as with bathing in a tub, there are important things to consider in order to be safe and to derive maximum benefit from the soaking.

First of all, you cannot think of it as going on a hike, for the exercise of forest bathing depends on slow walking, wandering about without destination. You have arrived the moment you set foot in the woods. On a hike you are usually going somewhere—to a vista, a waterfall, a picnic spot, or perhaps just to complete a loop, with success defined as arriving back at your starting point in one piece. With Shinrin-yoku you are at your destination with your first breath of forest air. Stroll, don’t hike. Move at slow-deer speed. Stop, look and listen every once in a while. Use all six of your senses. Yes, six, not five. See, hear, smell, touch, taste and feel things deeply. In his book Forest Bathing, Dr. Qing Li recommends even laying on the ground. I can confirm that full body contact is the best way to immerse yourself, and flat on your back looking up into the canopy is the most appropriate way to bathe, not to mention that it is the best way to bring your relentless bipedal motion to a halt.

Second of all, you must breathe. I know, it can be such a bother; but you’re hopefully going to be breathing anyway and you might as well do it correctly. I harp on this earlier in this chapter in the Secret to Living a Long Life section, and I just can’t let it go. Whilst immersing yourself, begin breathing slowly and deeply, inhaling the forest fragrance as the ultimate aromatherapy. Dr. Li reminds us that the most primal of our senses is the sense of smell; so even if you are a committed mouth-breather, breathe in through your nose. Dr. Li describes the constituents of the air you are breathing, which include abundant oxygen and the ubiquitous components of forest air known as phytoncides. If you know Latin word roots, you know that phyton is Greek for ‘plant’ and cide means ‘to kill’; but don’t get paranoid. Phytoncides are a component of a plant’s self-defense mechanism. Just don’t piss off the trees and you’ll be safe…