FOREST BATHING / DE-STRESSING
Mindful Meandering In Nature
Forest bathing, forest therapy, woods immersing, de-stressing: call it what you will but a walk in the woods boosts physical and mental health and energizes the spirit
The results of studies after studies on the benefits of walking in the woods are beyond awesome.
For one, it is the easiest way to get fit. One does not need to buy an exercise gadget for the purpose of increasing one’s physical well-being.
Half an hour a day of brisk walking is found to be beneficial. It reduces the risks of heart disease and diabetes.
It also helps maintain bone health while keeping energy levels even; it stimulates the brain, and helps to sleep better — among many other advantages.
Another research, meanwhile, suggests that people who walked in the woods or forest for at least 15 minutes felt more relaxed and experienced less negativity.
Those who participated in the research also experienced reduced anxiety and stress, compared to those who walked in a city environment.
Suffice it to say that walking in the woods for exercise is free, and that the gains it offers us, based on several studies and growing evidence, are not a sham.
Mindful meandering while admiring nature
While brisk walking offers a bountiful set of benefits, physically and mentally, what about a slow walk or perhaps a mindful meandering in the forest or woods?
People call it forest bathing or forest therapy; some refer to it as forest soaking or forest immersing.
I also call it de-stressing in the woods, and with very good reasons.
From experience, it occurred to me that taking short walks in the woods refreshed me from my stressful work schedule.
With my husband, it was always meant to be a brisk walk, a physical exercise.
But the beauty of wildlife in the woods — the trees, the flowers and plants, the birds and other animals, even the streams and creeks — enthralled me.
I stopped to take pictures and preserve such beauty in photos, but this was secondary.
I stopped mainly to gush in admiration: the shape and height of a tree, the colourful wildflowers that attracted a throng of buzzing bees, the songbirds on top of trees tweeting their hearts out.
It isn’t easy for me to describe how my spirit gets energized as I marvelled at nature’s beauty. My cup of gratitude runneth over.
And I did not realise, until much later, how therapeutic my meandering in the woods proved to be.
All things considered, I would attribute my good mental and physical health to regularly engaging, for the past few years, in forest bathing or forest therapy or woods immersing, or call it what you will.
And two years after I resigned my corporate job (to focus on my neglected book projects), my enthusiasm in writing about nature and how it nurtures humanity is in top form.
Maybe you’d also like to start taking a meandering walk in the woods and reap all its benefits.
Recommended reading:
Dr. Preeti Singh stated what many of us feel and believe in, that nature is a blessing to us, and that it adds spice to our life.
Monoreena Acharjee Majumdar shows how multi-talented she is with this piece with her illustrations which I found so apt.
This is in relation to Dr. Preeti Singh’s Nature Prompt, A Walk In The Woods, which was inspired by William J Spirdione whose poetry and photography are simply amazing. Check his story about trees:
Many thanks to Reciprocal’s Sahil Patel, Dr. Preeti Singh, and Yana Bostongirl for you warm support to us, contributors, of this publication.
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