Communicating with Trees: A Practice for the 5 Senses

The beneficial effect of the forest on our well-being, mental and physical, is not new, to put it mildly. In Japan, the practice of walking through the forest has been elevated to the rank of art and is called “shinrin-yoku” (literally “forest bathing”). Dr. Qing Li, an associate professor at the Japanese Medical School in Tokyo and an expert in forest therapy, together with colleagues conducted a series of studies that proved the healing effect of forest baths:

• shinrin-yoku reduce the production of stress hormones – cortisol and adrenaline, reduce anxiety and irritability;
• improve memory and concentration;
• stimulate the immune system and increase working capacity;
• improve mood and restore sound sleep.

How much time do you need to spend in the natural environment to feel this effect? Dr. Qing Li recommends getting out to the park for 2 hours if possible, and into the forest for 4 hours, although the first results will be noticeable after 20 minutes.

How often? Weekly or biweekly. But to support immunity, it is enough to take a forest bath once a month.

How to get the most out of practice? Leave all gadgets at home so that nothing distracts from communication with nature. When you reach the nearest forest or park, you can walk slowly or sit or lie down if the weather permits.

The secret is to engage the five senses. Enjoy the sounds, smells, inhaling the fresh air with full breasts, absorbing the forest into yourself.

1. Listen. Listen to the sounds of the forest. It is difficult to find peace in a metropolis. Do you remember the last time you heard such silence? Today it is a truly scarce resource of the planet, which is on the verge of extinction.

But, of course, complete silence does not always reign in nature. When the anthropogenic noise subsides, listen to the voices of nature: the singing of birds and the rustle of the breeze in the foliage, the creak of branches or snow under your feet, the sound of light rain, the murmur of a stream. Research shows that nature sounds reduce stress levels and promote relaxation.

An exercise: If you find it difficult to tune in to the sounds of nature, and unwanted thoughts still creep into your mind, focus on your breathing. With a deep breath, let go of all distractions. Close your eyes to sharpen your perception of sound. Inner peace, silence in thoughts and focus on the sounds of nature will make your hearing thinner and sharper. Now all that is required is to remain calm and listen.

2. Peer. The light that we look at during the day most often comes from flickering screens, and not from the sun’s rays playing in the leaves of trees. But our eyes are not designed for monitors, so many hours of vigil at the computer results in headaches, eyestrain and technostress.

Obviously, for most of the history of mankind, we were surrounded by green. We are accustomed to natural landscapes, and the beneficial effects of green color are recorded in our genetic memory. Peer into the play of green tree crowns, watch how light streams through the branches. Find ornamentation in flower petals, snowflakes, pine cones, and fern leaves. Look at how a tree grows: the trunk divides into two branches, which also bifurcate, after which each of the resulting branches again divides in two, and this pattern is repeated again and again. There is scientific evidence that looking at natural patterns promotes relaxation and reduces stress levels by 60%, and we automatically calculate them in natural chaos.

An exercise. Look at the sky and the clouds, the ripples that stirred the mirror of the pond. Admire the running of thin streams of a stream or the intricacies of the divergent branches of a tree. Come closer to the tree and carefully examine the veins on the leaf or flower petal. Soon you will begin to notice patterns in everything around you. Record your stress levels before and after the exercise and see how admiring the fractal patterns of nature helps you relax.

3. Taste it. Qing Li recommends familiarizing yourself with edible wild plants and local cuisine: “There is no better way to taste the area than by eating the products that are grown there.” In the middle lane, it is easiest to do this in summer and autumn, you can collect medicinal plants, mushrooms, berries, brew tea with herbs.

If you are absolutely sure of the safety of the plant, pick a few leaves or twigs and throw them into a cup of tea, which will end your forest bathing session. Having met a spring with clean water, put your palms together like a bowl, scoop up water and drink it right in the forest. And if there is no food or water nearby, inhale deeply through your mouth. Taste the fresh forest air.

4. Breathe in. The sense of smell is the oldest of the available senses, it directly affects the physical and mental state. Smells affect mood and behavior, closely intertwined with emotions and memories. The pleasant smell of phytoncides is one of the most effective elements of shinrin yoku. Walking through the forest, you breathe in its healing power. All it takes is just being in the forest.

The aroma of the forest depends on the types of trees. Pine needles exude a strong dry aroma, sometimes mixed with notes of turpentine. Aromatherapists use the essential oil of this tree to relieve mental and physical fatigue, clear a restless mind, and improve concentration. And the smell of spruce has a grounding effect and helps to emotionally liberate.

If you got a deciduous forest, do not worry. Although deciduous trees do not produce essential oils, the smells of fallen leaves, earth and moss also have a therapeutic effect. The smells of the forest improve their well-being, and the negative ions of the air, which are inaccessible to the sense of smell, help them in this. In nature, there are much more negative ions than in a confined space, and their concentration is especially high in forests and near running water.

Exercise “Mountain pose and breathing exercises in the forest.” Stand straight, arms down. While inhaling through your nose, slowly raise your arms out to your sides until your palms close over your head. Hold this position for a count of four. Then stretch up, rise on your tiptoes and turn your palms forward. As you lower your arms, exhale slowly. Return to the starting position, inhale deeply again and allow the lungs to fill with fresh forest air. Repeat the exercise three times.

5. Establish tactile contact. Touch allows you to physically merge with nature in the literal sense of the word. Many people like to take forest baths without shoes. When we walk in shoes, we block the flow of electrons from the underground bowels, and direct contact with the earth maintains the coordinated work of all body systems.

If it’s uncomfortable or you don’t want to take off your shoes, touch nature differently – immerse your palms in a pile of fallen leaves, expose your face to the wind and feel its coolness with your skin. Place both palms on the tree trunk, try to feel the flow of power emanating from it. Lean against a tree or hug it. In the summer, you can lie down on the ground. Dip your hands in the stream and feel the water running through your fingers.

Grounding exercise. If the weather permits, take off your shoes and socks and stand on the ground, grass or sand. Focus on how your feet feel. Place your feet parallel to each other and straighten your shoulders. Do not stick out your chin and keep your back straight. Keeping an even posture, stretch your relaxed arms along the body and imagine how the tension and heaviness accumulated in the body flow into the feet. Imagine that roots grow from the earth through the soles of the feet deep into the body. Catch the feeling of harmony and unity with nature.

For maximum effect, Dr. Qing Li recommends grounding every day for 20 minutes. Plunging into the world of nature, we can touch the great mystery of life and establish a connection with something greater than ourselves. Canadian scientists have proven that the feeling of unity with nature increases the willingness to accept happiness, and the strength of this feeling can predict how happy we will be in the future. If today in the forest you felt a surge of happiness, it is likely to remain with you tomorrow.

Source: Shinrin-Yoku book. Japanese art of “forest baths” (Bombora, 2018).