A friend of mine was recently sharing how much she has been enjoying spending time in the woods these days. She found a great spot, a park bench, in the woods near one of her favorite museums. Whilst sitting there, focusing intently on the trees, she found an inner balance. She imagined the roots going deep into the earth, connecting with one another and forming a lively underground network. She looked up and took in the beauty of the canopy of leaves and branches reaching high into the sky, catching the affectionate rays of sunshine. All the while, she was taking in the sights, sounds, and smells around her. So peaceful.
Image courtesy of Maden Deresi through Pexels.com
Forest Bathing Is an Ancient Practice, With a Modern Name
In her retelling, I was reminded of an article I read about forest bathing, defined as “taking in the forest air,” or as the Japanese call it, shinrin-yoku. It is an intentional immersion to activate all the senses whilst in the woods for at least twenty minutes, so not just a stroll. One finds a comfy spot, on a bench or even lying on the ground. Rather than a guided meditative practice, the idea is that one activates each sense at a time. For example, focusing on the feeling of the soil, moss, or grass with one’s bare feet. Inhaling deeply the scent of pine or decaying leaves. Observing the colors, shapes, and light patterns. And then, listening to animal movements or the leaves rustling. It is suggested that by returning to the same spot repeatedly, one forms a relationship over the seasons.
Shinto and Buddhist traditions share the belief that humans and nature are deeply connected. Many ancient tribal cultures also believe in the healing powers of nature. Many studies show that being in nature helps reduce anxiety and depression. And many other scientific studies also show physical benefits of being in nature, including lower cortisol, our stress hormone, as well as lower blood pressure and heart rates. Interestingly, a Japanese researcher found that forest bathing boosts our immune system as well, by increasing natural killer (NK) cell activity.
The Biophilia Hypothesis: Humans Need to Connect to Living Systems
The term biophilia was coined by Erich Fromm in 1964 to describe a psychological orientation of being attracted to all that is vital and alive. Later, in his 1984 book titled *Biophilia*, sociobiologist Edward O. Wilson popularized the concept, defining it as the “innate tendency to focus on life and lifelike processes.” I like his thesis, which argues that “exploring and affiliating with life is a fundamental process in human mental development where instinct aligns with reason.” I have always had a hard time aligning instinct, something that feels like internal logic, with reason, an external logic. The word philia, Greek for friendship/love, is also so lovely to use in this context, reflecting a reciprocity.
The term shinrin-yoku was actually only coined in 1982 by the Forest Agency of Japan. The word and promotion of the concept was a direct response to an emerging health crisis from technology and stressful lifestyles. The concept is believed to build on three traditional ideas connecting people to nature: yūgen, komorebi, and wabi-sabi. Yūgen is a profound, mysterious awareness of beauty — not limited to nature, but a subtle sense of the universe’s depth that can be triggered by it. Komorebi means “sunlight filtering through trees.” Wabi-sabi celebrates finding beauty in imperfection and change.
A Forest Walk Invigorates Through “Fractal Fluency”
The engineer in me loves to explore nature for ideas on design. Because nature is composed of fractals, or patterns, our vision evolved to process them extremely efficiently. Think about how quickly one is able to distinguish different seashell patterns at the beach and sort them. Our brains also quickly recognize the repeating patterns in nature, like branching trees or clouds, albeit at a different scale. It is amazing to me that when we are in nature, our brains enter a visual comfort zone. In my own experience, this is also why I find parts of a city with a similar architectural style relaxing — the patterns repeat through the use of materials or shapes. In contrast, urban environments that are dense and without noticeable symmetry or green space tend to be draining, because we are working harder to process our environment.
Biophilic Design as a Public Health Strategy
While shinrin-yoku is embedded into the philosophical approach to living in places like Japan, South Korea, and China, doctors there do prescribe forest bathing as preventative care. In contrast, Western healthcare systems offer only isolated cases of formal prescriptions. In the UK, national treatment guidelines for depression recognize that exposure to nature alleviates depressive and anxiety symptoms. However, there are established global frameworks, including the UK’s NHS Green Social Prescribing programme, Canada’s PaRx (where physicians prescribe free Parks Canada passes), New Zealand’s national Green Prescription (GRx) initiative, and US ParkRx networks. Additionally, hospitals have historically incorporated the color green into their color schemes and are now incorporating more “green architecture.” A really interesting example I came across was the Fractal Chapel in the state hospital in Graz, Austria, that uses patterns that mimic the forest, and lots of wood.
A Regular Dose of Nature Can Reset What Ails You
Nature and our relationship with it is symbiotic. When work feels overwhelming, I tell my colleagues that I need to take a walk. Heading outdoors is my reset.
What is your nature reset — is it seeing fractals, smelling the air, or touching wood?