Forest bathing | Shirin Yoku

Yesterday was one of those crappy days where a 5 minute job morphed into taking all morning. And even then, the completed job was promptly discarded. This was followed by a bout of clumsiness that even I, the dropper of the open yoghurt carton (mercifully nearly empty), could barely believe.

This is not me. It's tick weather, I'm not sitting down outside!

After I'd cleaned up the splatters of vanilla yoghurt from the front of the washing machine, my week-old suede (ruined!) slippers and the hindquarters of my startled dog, I was really fed up with myself.

I needed to hit the reset button. Or the gin. I went for the reset button and headed for my local park.

Now, forest bathing is really to be experienced in as isolated a forest spot as you can find, and our park is quite the hive of activity most days, but it does have a wonderful collection of trees. So off I stomped to see if it would work.

I guess I should back up a little and explain what Forest Bathing is. You don't need a swimsuit or flippers for this kind of bathing. Although I guess you could wear a bikini if you want. But this is Scotland and even with this heatwave we're enduring  enjoying, we still have midges and clegs (horseflies), so keeping covered is probably for the best.

It's a concept that originated in Japan and I wish I could tell you that it was a traditional practice with a lineage of a thousand years, but actually forest bathing, or Shirin Yoku as it is properly known, was started by the Japan Forestry Agency in 1982 (1) as a method to help super-stressed, sedentary and highly urbanised Japanese to return to a more relaxed state. There was the added bonus that if Japanese people could reengage with the natural world, they would care about their natural environment again. 

It was 2018 or thereabouts that it started to become more popular in the UK and with the horror of 2 years of lockdown, getting into woodlands and forests became very important for our mental health and wellbeing. 

To forest bathe, you must use all 5 senses to engage with your surroundings - visitors to the forest are invited to find an area to practice in. Phones off, of course - if you're doing it for the 'gram or tiktok, you're not doing it properly.

After getting yourself comfortable, begin to engage your senses in a deliberate manner. Let's take each sense in turn:

Sight - look around you - become aware of shape, colour, sunlight and shade.
Sound - what can you hear? the rustling of leaves, birdsong, the creak of branches.
Smell - what can you smell? Perhaps you will need to go closer to the tree - sniff the crushed leaves, the bark, the earth. Do sun-warmed areas smell different from those in shade? 
Touch - how does the bark feel, the top of the leaves versus the undersides
Taste - well, I'd be a bit careful with this one because some trees, like the Yew, are so very beautiful but so very toxic! 

There is no set of tick boxes, rather you are simply being present.

And this forest bathing stuff is not just new age drivel, the Japanese have statistics (2) that indicate REGULAR sessions can reduce blood pressure and improve mood - maybe even lower cortisol (stress hormone) and support immune function. 

After The Great Yoghurt Disaster, I would have been happy with improved mood - so would it work for me? 

For sessions to be beneficial, they should be at least an hour - maybe even 3 hours. There's no way I could spent 3 hours in the park without being reported to the police, so I planned to try 30 minutes.  I took a book in my pocket - because being spotted beneath a tree doing absolutely nothing will again result in a wellfare call to the local police station. Sitting with a book though, that's quite understandable.

I took myself off to the furthest away point of the park and hopped off the path and into the No Man's Land that is the banking between Lovers' Walk and the football pitch. There is a fair covering of trees in this area, so I figured I should be able to remain unobserved and practise my 5-sense immersion.

What could I see? Several weed seedling trees, a few oaks, a cedar and one tree who fell in a storm a year ago. I could see the bright Pixar blue sky. The leaves were quite a dark green. There was dappled sunlight around me. And someone's spaniel who came to say hello.

What could I hear? The leaves rustling so loudly it sounded like the sea. Birdsong. Someone calling for this spaniel that was intent of giving me her ball.

What could I touch - so many different kinds of bark! lichen, moss, leaves, prickly things, a yellow tennis ball covered in dog slaver.

What could I smell - the trees didn't have much of a smell, I must be honest. Disappointingly scent-free in this little strip. Similarly the leaves, crushed between my fingers simply smelled of greenness. I daren't get down to smell the spaniel. She was pretty wet though. I bet she had an amazing warm, wet-dog smell. 

Taste - I tasted nothing. I was pretty close to the island's cottage hospital, but there was no way I was putting anything from the park into my mouth. I found a bit of bonio in my pocket and threw it for the spaniel, who snarfed it down before darting away with her ball to find some more water or her owner.

All in all, it was about 20 minutes that I spent looking very shifty in amongst the trees in the park. 

But by the time I walked back home, I did feel a lot more positive about life. Whether that was from the trees or the mad spaniel, I'm not sure.

A spaniel with a ball, not THE spaniel with a ball. Does look like her though.

Have you tried Shirin-Yoku? Did you enjoy it? Is it part of your regular relaxation practice? 

(1) https://www.japan.travel/en/japan-magazine/2309_shinrin-yoku-the-japanese-art-of-forest-bathing/

(2) https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC9665958/