The Japanese art of ‘forest bathing’ can improve focus, lower stress: What it is and how to get the most benefit
Forest bathing, or shinrin-yoku in its original Japanese, is a mindfulness practice that involves immersing oneself in nature. The decades-old practice pulls from research that shows that spending time in nature can help lower stress levels and improve focus.
Recently, forest bathing is growing in popularity, thanks in part to social media where people are sharing their experiences exploring forests and other green spaces and taking in all that they have to offer. Over 45,000 videos have been shared on TikTok with the tag #forestbathing. Users says they’ve seen an improvement to their mental health.
“It’s slowing down. It’s connecting to nature with all your senses. It’s just being in a natural setting and being present,” says Mark Ellison, a certified forest therapy guide and trail consultant, and founder of Pinnacle Forest Therapy.
“The key things are to find a place where you can spend some time uninterrupted, and then notice the things that are around you.”
Forest bathing can be done solo, or with a guide like Ellison. He helped found the first certified forest therapy trail in North Carolina at Pinnacle Park. There, Ellison guides people along the trail and encourages them to notice what they hear, see, smell and feel along the journey.
The experiences Ellison leads usually last about an hour and a half, and involve minimal talking to prioritize periods of reflection and meditation.
It can sometimes be an emotional experience, he says, with some people crying during the walks. “It’s really a contrast to how we typically spend our days, which are usually distracting and usually in stressful environments,” Ellison tells CNBC Make It.
“Some people seek that out as a way to deal with grief. I’ve guided a number of individuals and families who specifically came to go on the forest bathing experience, to remember someone who passed who was very connected to nature.”
Forest bathing can greatly benefit your mental health
When people spend more time in nature, it can have great benefits on how they feel, Ellison says.
“One of the key things about forest bathing and how it supports our mental health is that through using our senses, it helps us to really calm down,” he says.
“We’re always in a hurry, and we’re always connected to technology in our homes, and so [it’s] disconnecting from that.”
Ellison encourages people who forest bathe to turn their phones off or put them on silent if they feel comfortable doing so. Avoid “the temptation to take pictures and check social media and those sorts of things. Be fully engaged with what nature offers,” he says.
Mark Ellison poses with a group on a forest bathing experience.
Courtesy of Mark Ellison.
When you forest bathe, it can also enhance your attention span, he explains. This aligns with “ attention restoration theory,” which was introduced by Stephen and Rachel Kaplan at the University of Michigan.
The theory suggests that “spending time in nature helps our attention capacities that we use on a daily basis, relax,” Ellison says.
“It keeps us engaged enough to be interested and not bored. But it lets our primary attention capacities rest. And so they’re like a muscle. When they get fatigued, they’re not as effective.”
‘Start in small doses’ and increase over time
To reap the benefits of forest bathing, you don’t have to head to a trail if you aren’t comfortable. Ellison emphasizes that it can even be done in your backyard or a local garden, and bringing a pal along could make the experience less scary.
The practice also doesn’t have to be 90 minutes to be beneficial, he adds.
“You could just go out in your backyard and just sit by a tree and just do 15 minutes. And then if you feel comfortable with that, continue on with longer periods of time out in nature,” Ellison says.
“Start in small doses and maybe keep a journal and just write down some of the things that you experience and notice while you’re out there.”
If you don’t have easy access to green spaces, Ellison recommends surrounding yourself with nature by getting plants for your space, hanging photos of beautiful landscapes on your walls or using them as screensavers and listening to nature-inspired sounds like ocean waves.
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