Forest Bathing

Forest Bathing explores the Japanese tradition of shinrin-yoku, a kind of forest therapy based on immersion in nature, and the various health and wellbeing benefits we can derive from it to live better, calmer lives.

The urban chaos is both beautiful and stressful. Although we feel as if the city is our natural habitat, a walk in the forest will make us reconsider that. According to the book, just gazing into the forest can decrease our stress levels by up to 60%!

Therefore, you ought to reconnect with nature by following a few simple steps. Firstly, find your ideal forest-bathing location. This is especially important because we have to connect with the place, and for that, we must like it.

Once you find your forest-bathing location, do nothing. That is exactly what you have to do. Admire nature’s patterns and smell the fresh air. If you find it odd to sit in silence, without urban noises, that’s completely normal. The key is to focus on your breathing.

Touching nature allows you to physically interact with it, creating a powerful healing connection. Picking up rocks, twigs, leaves, and pretty much any natural element from your surrounding allows you to experience a deeper interrelation.

From a scientific point of view, the benefits of these practices are incontestable. Nature has a low electric charge which balances our electrons when we make contact with them. You can benefit from this healing process by grounding yourself.

To do that, you can walk for about 20 minutes with your bare feet on grass or soil. However, pay attention not to touch glass or other pesticide-sprayed surfaces. Another thing you can do to empower this connection is tasting the forest food.

Savoring berries, tree fruits, or edible plants you may come across can excite your senses through your taste buds. This will make you feel happy and awaken your sense of wonder. You’ll be happy to learn that they also contain healing electrons from the earth.

Ideally, you would want to forest bathe every time you feel down, need an energy boost, or just some peace of mind. However, most of the time, our personal and professional lives leave us little time to do these kinds of things. But not to worry! You can bring a little bit of nature inside your personal space by decorating it with plants, scented candles, or natural oils. They all have great benefits on our stress levels and implicitly, our health. And they make our houses look amazing! You can brighten up your space with a few potted plants that will improve your air quality by taking in carbon dioxide. Some plants, like succulents, can also do that without light, so…