The latest natural therapy: how Japanese forest bathing gets you back in touch with yourself and mother earth
A walk through trees or sitting under a tree have been shown to be relaxing and therapeutic. Forest bathing, or shinrin-yoku as the Japanese call it, lowers blood pressure and boosts the immune system. So get out there and hug a tree
There is something about escaping the city and standing below a canopy of trees, breathing in fresh air and listening to birdsong in the distance that evokes a sense of calm – and it is exactly this insight that forest bathing builds upon.
“The forest is the therapist, the guide just opens the doors,” says Jasmine Nunns, Hong Kong’s first certified forest bathing guide, who leads meditative walks through the trees.
“Living in Hong Kong, we’re so separated from one another,” says Nunns, who runs Kembali, which offers nature and forest walks that use the healing power of nature as a way to rebalance life. “There’s a lot of competition, a lot of stress and targets to reach. Nature is a place where I can reconnect with myself and the land. It’s a reawakening and that’s therapeutic in itself.”
While nature-based therapy stretches back centuries, the practice of shinrin-yoku – literally translated as forest bathing, or taking in the forest atmosphere – was developed in Japan in the 1980s, when it was adopted as part of the country’s national health programme. Research went on to reveal a raft of health benefits, including reducing stress, boosting the immune system and lowering blood pressure.
