31 Aug Forest bathing isn’t hard or complicated, and the effects are profound. Here’s how to do it

I’ve written and spoken about many ways to create more happiness and wellbeing.

Happiness can come from setting and working towards meaningful goals.

Happiness does come from fostering and maintaining positive relationships.

And happiness is very much related to having meaning and purpose in our lives.

I could go on, but one of the simplest but most powerful ways to create and enjoy more happiness, and wellbeing, is by spending more time outdoors, in nature. Sometimes referred to as forest bathing, this easy strategy is well worth learning more about …

via Beside Media by Mark Mann

Forest bathing has long been a trending topic in the media, but if you bring it up casually among friends or family, the response is often skeptical.

In my experience, people are more likely to be offended by the concept of forest bathing than attracted to it. The trendiness makes it seem slightly fake, and anyway, it sounds boring.

The truth is that there’s more to this practice than meets the eye. Forest bathing isn’t some mild addition to a wellness regime. It’s a powerful tool for healing, preventative medicine, and personal growth.

What is forest bathing, actually?

The practice of forest bathing, or shinrin-yoku, was developed in Japan. Though shinrin-yoku has deep roots in the Shinto religion, which invites practitioners to commune with nature at sacred shrines and special trees, the modern expression of shinrin-yoku emerged in response to a crisis of widespread burnout and rising suicides in the 1970s.

Japanese culture has preserved a more traditional or ancient recognition of nature’s intrinsic value or aliveness, argues Dr. Yasuhiro Kotera, a psychotherapist and mental health researcher who teaches at the University of Nottingham. So it’s not surprising that health experts there were quicker to prescribe a nature cure.

As the approach became established, researchers tested its effectiveness in numerous studies and experiments. The results have been impressive. The psychological and physiological benefits of spending time resting in nature and calmly perceiving your environment are so profound, they would be hard to overstate…

… keep reading the full & original article HERE