Forest Bathing: How Trees Can Help You Find Health and Happiness
By Dr. Qing Li: Chairman, Japanese Society for Forest Medicine
Penguin Random House LLC, New York, 2018
Forest bathing, or Shinrin yoku, is a concept and practice originating from Japan in the early 1980’s. The phrase "Shinrin yoku" also translates as “forest medicine”; no surprise in a country where Nature is embedded in national culture. Both official religions (Shinto and Buddhism) consider the forest the realm of the divine, and two thirds of the country is covered in forest. By contrast, the capital city of Tokyo is the most densely populated metropolis in the world, and 70% of the current 123 million Japanese citizens live in about 5% of the land area of Japan - the entirety of which is approximately the size of the state of Montana. One need only watch videos of Japanese urban sidewalks or subway trains to get a sense of the overcrowded living conditions. This is the dichotomous reality of the nation that gave birth to the now-worldwide and ever-growing phenomenon of spending time in the forest as a place of healing, physical and mental health restoration, and spiritual reconnection to our planet.
Dr. Li’s book takes the reader on a journey through the importance of forests in Japanese society including documented medical benefits of spending time in Nature as an antidote to long indoor work days and “technostress”, testimonials from everyday people who experienced changes in their physical and mental health and in-depth descriptions of various forest bathing sites in Japan with the unique significance of each. In each place, the practice recommends being unhurried and walking slowly or stopping as desired, while fully engaging the five senses.
Dr. Li founded the Forest Therapy Study Group and, over the course of several years, measured metrics such as sleep duration and quality, blood pressure and bloodwork profiles focusing on white NK (natural killer) cells and anticancer proteins, cortisol levels, incidence of heart disease, and levels of anxiety and stress in patients who either practised or did not engage in Shinrin yoku. This book even offers a self-administered test which is meant to be taken both before and after spending a couple of hours in the forest and asks one to rate on a 1-5 scale various emotions like sadness, fatigue, preoccupation and energy level. Comparing one’s scores before and after a forest bathing trip reveals the effects of spending time amongst trees and their associated flora and fauna.
My favourite takeaways from the book were practical tips on how urban residents who are not necessarily in proximity to a forest can reap the benefits of regular Shinrin yoku practice. City condo dwellers can experience the advantages of forest time by making time for a walk in a park, walking barefoot on the earth and filling their home with plants. Dr. Li emphasizes the importance of letting children spend time amongst trees and play in the forest so that they develop a relationship with it, and will thus understand the importance of preserving the natural world. “When we love Nature, we are more likely to look after it and preserve it for the future.”
Written by Laurie Smith