Unable to see the wood or the trees. Photo: Xiaomei Chen
Source:
https://scmp.com/news/hong-kong/health-environment/article/3008767/forest-bathing-way-escape-hong-kongs-stifling Health & Environment
Is ‘forest bathing’ a way to escape Hong Kong’s stifling city buzz and truly appreciate nature?
- Sensory practice involves immersing oneself in nature and paying attention to wild surroundings, sometimes with the help of blindfolds, to connect with the peace and quiet
Jasmine Nunns helps people reconnect with the outdoors. Photo: Jonathan Wong
A howl breaks the silence surrounding the High Island Reservoir in Sai Kung. It is not by any wild animal though, but by Jasmine Nunns, a forest therapy guide, calling to her participants – or “forest bathers”.
“Forest bathing offers a break from city life. Listening to the sound of birds is not like listening to traffic and people. It’s about reconnecting with our bodies, and other people,” says Nunns, 33, founder of Kembali, a group that offers nature and forest therapy walks, as well as workshops for corporations and individuals.
Nunns has been guiding nature walks on various trails across Hong Kong since 2017, as well as organising women-only swimming groups in rock pools and waterfalls. She says she hopes to help participants experience the healing power of nature. Participants are invited to wear blindfolds to encourage them to explore their hearing and spatial awareness.
“We’re stressed out, we’re more disconnected than ever, and the statistics of young people who are taking their own lives ... Hong Kong is the hardest place to do this kind of work, but it’s necessary.”
Nunns grew up in Lam Tsuen, Tai Po, where she spent a lot of time with her younger brother playing in the mountains and rivers – what she considers “the best playground in the world”.
After graduating from university with a bachelor’s degree in geography, Nunns joined an NGO, where she brought therapy dogs to local government schools in Hong Kong. She later joined an environmental group, teaching children how to grow food, manage soil and composting, as well as to live sustainably. Although her work reflected her beliefs, Nunns felt something was missing.
“I was giving information to my students, but if they don’t connect with it, it’s difficult to make an impact. Even if they get it on an academic level, they don’t feel it in their bodies.”
A certified transformational life coach, she hopes that through facilitating the connection between people and nature, respecting and protecting the Earth would become intuitive.
“When we begin to see the land, water and animals as our guardians, brothers, sisters and friends, we don’t need to be told to live a more sustainable life – it just becomes something we do.”
When we begin to see the land, water and animals as our guardians, brothers, sisters and friends, we don’t need to be told to live a more sustainable life
First-time forest bather Crystal Goh, 32, says she was not used to being exposed to the wind, but, after a while, she started to enjoy the feeling and the fresh smell of the air.
“Being surrounded by nature helps me realise we are inhabitants of the earth and have a responsibility to care for it,” says Goh, who has a PhD in neuroscience and is also a mindfulness meditation coach. She adds she intends to incorporate elements of forest bathing into her research.
Fellow forest bather and pilot Katrine Friis Olsen, 29, says: “It’s really wonderful, liberating and soothing to be out in nature. Jasmine helps us engage with nature in our own ways.”
Nunns still works part-time for the environmental NGO, but hopes to eventually dedicate her full attention to Kembali.
“Of course I worry about not being able to make a living, but I’m on the path to learning to trust that this is my purpose.”
She also remembers experiencing bullying through her childhood and teens, and worrying about rejection and facing cynicism, but has since overcome it: “Someone called me a witch, but as soon as I heard this word, I had these shivers, but in a great way. I really connected with the ‘witchery’ of my craft, whether or not the comment was meant to be derogatory.”
She admits it is challenging to live a lifestyle like hers in Hong Kong.
“I want to be meditating every day for at least 20 minutes, but I don’t because I’m busy like everyone else. In a way, it’s a gift to be able to put myself in the shoes of other Hongkongers because it’s humbling to be reminded that the relationship I cultivate with myself and nature takes time and practise.”
Kembali’s nature and forest therapy walks, lasting about three hours on average, start at HK$280 (US$35.5) per person.