PHOTO BY WIB MIDDLETON
Forest Bathing
Immersion into the Healing Power of Nature by melanie choukas-Bradley
A s a species , more than 99 percent of our
evolution was lived in full proximity to nature . Urban life is new . Although many of us have separated ourselves from nature , we have never left her embrace . Here in the Ag Reserve , we are always immersed in nature .
In the 1980s , the Japanese Forestry Agency began encouraging overworked and stressed citizens of Tokyo and other cities to visit the country ’ s forests and bathe in the natural wonders surrounding them : to sit and lie under ancient trees , dip their toes in rushing waters , breathe the healthful air near waterfalls , and inhale all the scents of the cedar and hinoki cypress forests . They coined the practice Shinrin-yoku or forest bathing , and it resonated in Japan , where a reverence for nature is woven into all aspects of the culture . Today there are over 60 forests dedicated to shinrin-yoku in Japan and they are visited by hundreds of thousands of people each year .
While some cultures have long had the vocabulary and inclination for silent nature connection , here in North America the practice of spending quiet time in nature has been often undervalued since European contact and settlement . The original North Americans , who cherished and honored nature in all their traditions , were sickened by diseases for which they had no immunity , killed , and were relocated to reservations . Many of those traditions , kept alive by their descendants , are being newly honored by those of us who are searching for more nurturing and sustaining ways of relating to the Earth . We owe them a debt of gratitude
10 plenty I autumn harvest 2020