Haiku is the perfect complement to forest bathing.
Dontcha think?
The meticulous form of poetry is all about putting tiny moments into quick words.
The words make meaning out of seemingly trivial moments.
Most classic haiku is based on nature too.
The noticing takes practice in mindfulness.
You have to pay attention first, to be able to put those moments into words.
So, haiku gives you an objective and outlet to pay attention to small details.
If you go looking for those moments, to be able to put them into words, you’ll suddenly notice them everywhere.
So, just like you do when you go forest bathing, you go into nature…
Take in all the sights, sounds, smells, feelings…
And put them into words.
Carefully crafted, meaningful words.
Haiku is a tool you can use to really capture your forest bathing experience.
If that right there makes your stomach leap a little, like it does to mine, then keep reading…
Since forest bathing and haiku seem to originate from the same realm, I thought it would be fun to combine the two here. Let’s take a look at what haiku is all about.
How to write forest bathing haiku
Let’s talk about how to write forest bathing haiku so you can try it for yourself.
- First, pay attention to any tiny little instance or detail you notice in nature. A fake-looking mushroom, a cobweb spindle running across your forehead, the sound of fingers rubbing on bark. Perhaps you may wish to write them down in your nature journal.
- Then, try to put those details into words. Each haiku poem is about just one of those minuscule details, not a bunch. You don’t need to explain the meaning of life in 17 syllables, just one simple element at a time. Takes some of the pressure off.
- The traditional haiku uses 5 syllables in the first line, 7 syllables in the second line, and 5 syllables in the third line. Try to arrange your words thusly.
- Marvel at the significance those simple moments carry. How interesting they are. How much haiku enriches your forest bathing practice.
By practicing haiku, you get better and better at noticing those slight moments.
If you were really dedicated, you would challenge yourself to write three haiku poems after every forest bathing trip.
Forest bathing haiku examples
Here are a few of my favorite examples of forest bathing haiku. Notice how the writer notices, how the senses are at play:
The smell of some tree
I don’t recognize causes
Me pause on my walk
~Calvin Olsen
Moon surprises me
With its fullness: it all but
Drowns out dead branches
~Calvin Olsen
Break in the weather
I lean on a tree, the tree
In gusts leans on me
~Calvin Olsen
Over the wintry
forest, winds howl in rage
with no leaves to blow
~Natsume Soseki
An aging willow–
its image unsteady
in the flowing stream
~Robert Spiess
When you go looking
for the secrets of the woods
you miss them happen
~Jessica Collins (that’s me)
We scare each other
The deer running from its bed
And me standing still
~Jessica Collins
And this one’s just for tongue-in-cheek fun…
You don’t get famous
Writing haiku, you could earn
fame by living it
~Jessica Collins
The Forest Bathing Haiku Challenge
The next time you go forest bathing, bring your journal along. Don’t force the haiku or the noticing, but let the little images of the forest come to you and jot them down.
Let the magic happen in front of you, don’t force a search party to find it. You get me?
When you get home, try putting those moments into poetry.
I’d love for you to share what you come up with in the comments below or the Forest Bathing Central Facebook group.