Nature will detox you for stress and make you happy.
If you want to stay healthy and happy at work, soothing stress and preventing burnout – try forest bathing to strengthen your nature connectedness.
Peace of mind and good for the health : Forest bathing is about going into the forest and bathing the senses.
We walk calmly and often stop. We turn our attention to what is moving, the sounds and the smells. We go out of the stress mode that keeps us in instinctive fight or flight readiness. We breathe deeper, our shoulders lower. The senses are awakened – the vision expands, the muscles relax. The shapes and patterns in the landscape calm us down, the oxygen-saturated forest air makes it easier to breathe
Using simple exercises, the senses are bathed. Forest bathing is quiet walks that last for two to three hours. We do not walk far, the awakening of mindful presence in the here and now is what we focus on. When the calm has subsided, it can feel really good to just sit on a rock and listen to a stream nearby, or observe movements.
It does not tak long before you can sense the forest relieving you of stress After 10-15 minutes the effect on our health deepens, and the positive effects lasts for days. This happens for many reasons, partly because there is more oxygen in the forest and because the trees secrete microorganisms that affect the body in a good way. All natural. We are part of the fauna, even though most people live in cities now.
Forest bathing can be adapted to suit everyone. In Japan, where this practice originated, there are moe than 70 parks and forest areas designated for forest bathing. Doctors can give you forest bathing on green prescription, now also in more and more countries.
Forest bath guides are now being trained and certified all over the world. As more and more research has been done on how nature affects us humans, we have a lot of knowledge about how nature affects our health.
Forest bathing gives you
🍃 better immune system and
🍃 more so-called neutral killer cells (NK cells)
🍃 lower stress
🍃 better concentration
🍃 fewer worries and better mood
🍃 lower blood pressure
🍃 improvement of breathing difficulties
🍃 better sleep
🍃 increased energy and quality of life
Forest bathing is a health-promoting and medically preventive nature contact practice that aims to provide well-being, relieve stress and encourage relaxation. «Effortless attention» is the heart of forest swimming.
Forest bathing opened Klimafestivalen 2022 in Oslo in silence. Forest bathing was a part of the tech + nature event with the tech network Girl Geek Dinners / Våk hiking app, before an outdoor talk on Nature Based Solutions in tech. Forest bathing was a meeting space for politicians and environmentalists in an endangered ravine, before a roundtable on how to prevent vulnerable landscapes. Forest bathing was a warm up before the opening of an art exhibition at the Kistefos Industrial Museum. Forest bathing can be a quiet arena for nature connectedness in many settings, where we let nature support us and calm us down.
I have used this practice as part of several writing with nature workshops, in programs for young people with drug abuse problems, as team building in companies and for individuals who need to stress down in a busy everyday life. Several politicians in the Norwegian parliament come for forest bathing walks regularly. to cope with the stressful job. A useful nature practice!
A guided forest bath can be one-on-one, open groups, people working together, friends or couples. Children and families. Groups with different special needs can also join nature, and I can bring nature to those who do not get out on their own.
And why not invite employees into nature, for digital detox and de-stressing. Preventing the increasing burnout and keeping people happier at work?
