Close your eyes. Take in and release three long,
slow breaths. While standing quietly, choose one
cardinal direction and listen for sounds in that one
direction. After a few moments, turn your body and
listen in another direction. Repeat this in all four
directions. Then consider this question: What did I
notice by listening in each direction?
Tip: If thoughts arise, notice them (Oh! I’m
having a thought about returning that email or
yesterday’s upsetting phone call). Then imagine
setting the thought down on a floating leaf. Let
it drift downstream and return your attention to
listening in one direction.
The Art of Noticing
On a recent walk, I offered the above listening
invitation to the group. After about 10 minutes
of silence, I called everyone together and asked:
“What did you notice?”
Answers often emerge as impromptu poetry.
Someone might share a sound, or a person might
point to something they saw, as did an 86-year-
old gentleman during this particular walk:
“I noticed that perfectly constructed,
perfectly silent spider web shining between
two trees in the sunlight.”
He pointed, and we all looked up, and up
some more, to at least 25 feet above us, where a
spider had somehow managed to anchor her orb
between two towering big leaf maples, whose
trunks were at least 15 feet apart. It seemed an
impossible feat for such a tiny creature. And yet,
there it hung, glistening with light. The group
stood silently for a long while, just taking it in,
simply noticing. Without this man’s sharing, I
would have walked right past it. For me, this sight
became a visual companion to my favorite Nelson
Mandela quotation: “It always seems impossible
until it is done.”
It seems impossible that something as simple
as wandering in a forest could be so beneficial to
our physical, cognitive and emotional health. But
scientific research is providing more and more
evidence of the benefits. Of course, we know
intuitively that spending time in nature—whether
in a forest or garden, on a river, or at the ocean—
feels calming and peaceful. Yet, we seldom set
time aside to slow down and let the natural world
restore our sense of optimism about life.
Forest bathing is an opportunity to set this
time aside. It is one of many tools for maintaining
our health, and—unlike some prescriptions—this
one comes free of side effects and free of charge.
This article was originally published online in the
January 2019 newsletter of the Ecological Land-
scaping Alliance (www.ecolandscaping.org).
Resources: Learn More or Find a Guide
Read articles that explain the science behind
forest bathing (Shinrin-yoku) at www.nature-
andforesttherapy.org/about/science.
Shinrin-yoku.org is a great entry point for
exploring forest bathing. Check out their free
starter kit, which includes 10 invitations you can
start using right away.
Want to connect with a guide? Michael
Stein is a Certified Forest Therapist who leads
forest walks around the Puget Sound Region
through his company, Cascadia Forest Therapy
(https://cascadiaforesttherapy.com).
At the Arboretum: Cascadia Forest Therapy
and UW Botanic Gardens partner to host
regular forest bathing walks in Washington
Park Arboretum. Visit https://botanicgardens.
uw.edu/education, email [email protected], or
call 206-685-8033 for details or to sign up. m
J udy B eaudette lives within walking distance of
a mature forest near Bothell. She leads monthly
forest-bathing walks for the Friends of North
Creek Forest (www.friendsnorthcreekforest.org),
a small nonprofit born from a group of neighbors
who wanted to preserve 64 acres of urban forest
as a wilderness park. (Which they did.) She can
be reached at [email protected].
Summer 2019 v 5