Tag: shinrin yoku

September 7, 2018

The Forest Bathing Concept of Nature Cleansing

Do you ever feel like you’ve been cleansed after you’ve been out in nature, particularly under the sun?

I’ve noticed that my house just has a cleaner quality after I come in from outside.

As though being in the sun and dirt has transformed my perception.

As though nature has made me feel cleansed from within and outwardly.

In the same way as you might put your bed sheets or towels on the line to bleach in the sun…

…You expose your body and soul to the natural elements to be cleansed.

I was trying to see if there was a word in the English language for this concept of nature cleansing, but I couldn’t find one.

As an English scholar and nature lover, I feel like it definitely needs its own word.

This sense of cleansing is a bit different than shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing. Forest bathing is a sense of immersion in a natural environment, which doesn’t quite encapsulate the quality of returning from nature feeling cleansed.

So, I went looking at Greek and Latin words for the concept of nature cleansing or nature purification.

Side note: in my search, I did find this neat Pinterest board with all kinds of meaningful nature words, and the nature word nerd in me nearly threw a party.

So, here’s what I found.

Physi means nature
Hagnos means to cleanse or purify

Put ’em together and you have exactly what I’m talking about. Physihagnos…

Um…that seemed a little clunky, so I kept searching…

Renewal in Latin is irae
Nature in Latin is naturae
Purgatio in Latin is cleansing or purging

Getting close.

I suppose I could invent a word with those, but I wanted to see if a word existed already out there somewhere.

So, I turned to Scandinavian terms.

Nature cleanse in Swedish is naturen renar and nature cleansing is naturrening. Nature purification is also naturrening.

The Norwegian translation of “nature cleansing” and “nature purification” are naturrensing.

I’d love to hear from our Swedish and Norwegian folks if naturrening and naturrensing carry the meaning we’re trying to encapsulate here. These terms flow off the American tongue quite easily and contain the recognizable “naturre” prefix.

I love how the concepts like hygge, ikigai, lagom, wabi-sabi, and friluftsliv have become popularized. Sometimes, the English language is insufficient at explaining these things.

That’s true for nature cleansing.

So, maybe we can borrow a Nordic one.

Naturrensing

Today’s forest bathing invitation: get outside today, get your hands dirty and expose your (sunscreened) skin to the sun. Then, pay attention to how you and your environment seem cleansed when you go back inside.

Tell me in the comments…do you feel the same sense of cleansing after being in nature? Do you have another word for it?

September 6, 2018

The Message in Forest Bathing: You Need to Get Out More

Today’s forest bathing message:

You need to get out more.

It’s the message that’s been pressing on me for a few weeks now.

Now, I say this completely tongue in cheek because I should be the one to talk! I really don’t get out much at all. Haha.

I work from home and love being at home, so I don’t have a whole lot of reason to leave most days.

Except when it comes to nature exposure. (And pee-wee football practice;)

We spend a staggering 90 percent of our human lives indoors!

I mean, think about it…

You get in your car to drive to work and maybe spend 3 minutes outside on your way from the car to the building.

You maybe get outside for a quick 15-30 minute walk on your lunch break, if you force yourself.

You get 3 more minutes outside on your way back to your car.

You spend maybe an hour outside with the kids or doing yard work after work.

Even on weekends, you maybe spend up to 3 hours outdoors.

Then, in the winter, in colder climates, you may spend mere minutes outside.

{Source}

That statistic makes me want to run away to Ferngully!

Seriously, so alarming, especially when we consider how much we love being outside.

Being outside obviously doesn’t come natural to most of us.

It’s a habit we need to cultivate and learn to appreciate.

In order to free yourself from that statistic, you need to make a point to get out more!

So, this week, I tried that.

I was able to get outside for a run, rather than the treadmill, because my husband happened to be home for the kids.

And on my run, I noticed a few really cool things that really roused an emotional response in me:

The doe and fawn that I startled from sleep, bounding off. Mom took graceful bounding leaps while baby humorously tried to keep up with her, three steps to mom’s one. It made me laugh.
The myriad of monarchs in my neighborhood, including two that swooped down so close to my ear, I could hear their wings. The sound of monarch wings, you guys! Do you know what they sound like?
The field of yellow wildflowers at the top of the hill I had never noticed before in all the times I’ve jogged that hill.
The cicada making its electric buzzing noise across the pavement.

One measly half-hour gave me all these gifts!

And it made me think of all the crazy rare things I’ve seen out in the country since we started living here. Things I never saw in the city and never would’ve happened upon if I weren’t “getting out there.”

The bald eagle that grabbed a fish right out of the water and took off with it. Seriously, I hadn’t seen an eagle in probably 10 years before moving out here. Now we see them regularly.
The two bucks we saw, standing on their hind legs, fighting each other out in a field.
The hawk hunting blackbirds in our backyard.
The entire life cycle of a monarch from tiny white egg to breathtaking butterfly.
The hilarious view, over the four-foot growth in the field, of just the mom, dad, and fuzzy baby sandhill crane’s heads. Another laugh-out-loud moment.

I could go on and on…

But I think you get the point.

The more you get out, the more you get to see. The more life you get to experience!

It just makes me think about all the beauty that’s out here for the taking. Right now!

It’s all around us.

But we can’t see it unless we open the curtains, swing open the door, and step outside.

Will you do that today?

Your invitation: get outside today one extra time and find a comfortable spot to observe. Just look around and notice what blessings you would’ve missed if you were inside.

I recorded a video with more of my thoughts on this, if you’d like to have a listen….

{If you’d like three free forest bathing invitations and a forest bathing starter guide to help you make more of your time in nature, click here to grab the PDFs}

Please share the lovely blessings you got to see while being outside today in the comments. I’d love to hear!

August 30, 2018

Your Forest Bathing Resource Guide

I recently shared my recommended forest bathing resources with our email subscribers and I thought I’d share it again here, along with a giveaway of TWO of my favorites on this list. Make sure you scroll all the way to the bottom.

Also, I’ll add all these books to our Suggested Resources page when I get a chance for easy reference.

{BTW, I’ve used Amazon affiliate links for all the books in this post. I make a small commission if you make a purchase, but it doesn’t affect your cost at all}

My foray into nature literature began in a college class…

I was assigned to read a clip from Henry David Thoreau’s, Walden, which I hadn’t discovered yet and recently re-discovered in my basement boxes. Little did I know what that little clip would ignite inside of me!

When I started to read the clip, it moved and mesmerized me. You can see the evidence in my voracious underlining and margin notes.

Check out that little note on the bottom. My little to-do list says to wash my car, schedule a haircut, and buy this book.

Something about this literature made me swell inside.
Someone had put the things I’ve felt in nature into succinct words.
Those words and the imagery they created made me feel lighter and alive-er.
I recognized from a soul level that nature was part of my calling.

I went on to study Environmental Studies for awhile before changing my major and earning my bachelor’s degree in English.

(See that? It was there all along: Nature + Literature = Pure Me)

And if you’re anything like me, you feel that too when you read a piece of nature literature.
Or, maybe you haven’t even discovered it yet.

I want you all to be able to soak in the rejuvenating vibes these pages conjure up.

So, I put together a list of recommended forest bathing resources.

The top 15 forest bathing resources for your library:

The Top Three Forest Bathing Books

1. Forest Bathing, by Dr. Qing Li
Dr. Qing Li is the head researcher behind all dedicated forest bathing studies to date. When he writes a book about forest bathing, you just buy it. Because Qing is king.

2. Your Guide to Forest Bathing, Amos Clifford
Amos Clifford runs the organization that certifies forest bathing guides. He’s very knowledgeable about forest bathing and all the subtle nuances of shinrin-yoku. This book provides a great overview of forest bathing.

3. Forest Therapy, Sarah Ivens
Sarah Ivens book is like hanging out with your best friend, talking about how to find meaning and contentedness in your life. She infuses the practice of nature bathing with whimsy and enchantment.

Though it looks like this book is back-ordered, you can still get existing new or used copies. That’s how I snagged a copy.

Watch for my forest bathing book one day, k?

The Top Five Nature Literature Writings

If I were to run a nature literature course, these books would be part of my quintessential reading list. You just can’t talk about nature literature without mentioning names like Thoreau, Muir, and Leopold.

4. Walden, Henry David Thoreau
5. Nature Writing, John Muir
6. Nature and Selected Essays, Ralph Waldo Emerson
7. A Sand County Almanac, Aldo Leopold
8. The Singing Wilderness, Sigurd Olson

Top Three Nature and Science Picks

If you’re anything like me, you like to understand how things work. You like to understand as much about nature and trees as you can, not just at a surface level, but at a cellular level. These books provide detailed insight into how nature actually affects your body and mental state. They give you a scientific insight into why you’re drawn to the forest, which is pretty fascinating.

9. Your Brain on Nature, by Selhub & Logan
10. Vitamin N, by Richard Louv
11. The Nature Fix, by Florence Williams

Top Two Field Guides

I would always recommend you pick up a field guide for your area, because they help you identify nature better. When you can name the trees, animals, wildflowers, and birds around you, you start to feel better acquainted with the forest. You start to understand what’s going around you better.

12. Trees, from the Discovery Channel
13. Kaufman Field Guide to Nature of the Midwest (This is the field guide for my area, but there are Kaufman Field Guides for other areas too)

Now, I promised you a giveaway;)

I have double copies of both Forest Bathing by Qing Li and Walden & Civil Disobedience by Henry David Thoreau, so I’d like to pass them on to another nature lover.

I’m giving you four different ways to earn entries into the Rafflecopter giveaway.

The giveaway runs until 12:00 midnight ET on 9/4/18.

Good luck!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

June 21, 2018

The Health Benefits of Grounding and Negative Ions

Why the heck am I talking about grounding and negative ions on a forest bathing site?

Stay with me, here.

I promise, it’s relevant and fascinating!

By the end of this article you’ll understand how negative ions affect your health and wellbeing and how to cultivate them.

You’ll also have the indelible urge to kick your shoes off and walk through your yard.

Hopefully…;)

So, before we go any further, let’s break down the science of matter, ions, and grounding. A little middle school chemistry and physics lesson. It will help you understand this so much better.

Let me just tell you, I’m a huge skeptic when it comes to pseudoscience-y type stuff. I’ve been known to scoff at salt lamps and crystals.

Grounding though?

Completely rooted in science.

If it wasn’t, we wouldn’t be here.

The Science of Charged Particles

Like you learned in school, everything on earth is made up of matter.

All matter consists of atoms, which consist of protons, neutrons, and electrons.

If an atom has more protons than electrons, it has a positive charge.

Now, even though we tend to appreciate positivity in an emotional sense, when it comes to atoms and our health, negative is actually better.

Negatively charged particles abound on the earth’s surface, and you can get negative electrons by planting your feet on the earth.

Everyday items that emit a positive charge, on the other hand, include cell phones, televisions, pollution, and Wifi.

High concentrations of positive ions are actually detrimental to your health.

You can remove any charged state by grounding.

Grounding your feet is the same process as grounding a gasoline tank to keep it from exploding.

The only way to ensure electrostatic energy (static) doesn’t explode the gas is to connect it to the earth and neutralize the charge.

You can change your own charge by getting a transfer of electrons from the earth too.

The human body, when connected to the ground, creates a closed circuit for energy transfer.

The earth literally supplies you with electrons to neutralize your charge.

So, does your charge really have any effect on your health?

According to science, it totally does!

The Health Benefits of Grounding

Earthing, or grounding with your feet, has significant research-backed scientific benefits. Don’t take it from me, take it from the research on the benefits of grounding. Essentially, negative ions are antioxidants; they neutralize oxidants, or free radicals. They allow your body to achieve equilibrium or homeostasis at a cellular level.

Negative ions:

Reduce inflammation, which contributes to chronic disease
Improved sleep
Reduced cortisol levels
Relieve pain
Faster healing
Calms the sympathetic nervous system

I don’t even like to limit these amazing benefits to bullet points, but for the sake of readability, I will. We could go into depth about each one of those! They’re not just a side note, they’re the headlines!

As the study authors state, the Earth’s surface is “the ‘battery’ for all planetary life.”

Another study of the effects of earthing indicates how “earthing the human body may be an essential element in the health equation along with sunshine, clean air and water, nutritious food, and physical activity.”

Real scientific proof that we need to reconnect with the earth.

Best Ways to Neutralize Your Charge

So, just like you exercise and eat healthy, you should get your negative ion infusion every day.

Your morning routine is a great time to practice earthing. My personal morning routine consists of spiritual time, journaling, personal development, and now grounding.

Shoes are an insulatory shield against the negative ions, so kick ’em off.

According to my research, the areas with the best saturation of negative ions is near water, grass, or sand.

To get the most effective dose of negative ions:

Walk in bare feet in wet grass, either after it rains or in the morning dew
Walk in the sand along the shoreline
Use a humidifier or diffuser to take the static (positive ions) out of the air
Use a Himalayan salt lamp

Doesn’t that sound rather spa-like?

You can now add grounding to your list of benefits of forest or nature bathing. Next time you’re in the forest or out on your back lawn, kick off your shoes and let nature have access to your body.

I was going to say, “hey, try this, it couldn’t hurt,” but I think that would belittle this entire article and all the science behind it.

No, I think you should definitely try it! And I think it definitely helps!

If you’d like to learn more about grounding and negative ions, check out these resources:

More earthing resources

*For a full list of earthing studies (to prove its benefits), check out these resources from the Earthing Institute.

If you’re a visual person, these thermal images show pain reduction after grounding in real time.

And if you’re a total science nerd like me, or still a skeptic, you can even check your own voltage with a voltmeter before and after earthing.

Try this ASMR foot friction exercise to get your daily dose of grounding and negative ions.

What do you think?

June 19, 2018

9 Minute Nature Meditation with Cypress Essential Oil

*This post contains affiliate links which affords me a small commission at no additional cost to you.

Cypress essential oil.

One sniff and you can understand why people use it to clear their airways.

One drop to the skin and you can understand why people use it to relax muscle cramps.

It feels icy.

That minty cooling effect feels good on the skin and in your lungs.

Some quick research points to some of the benefits of cypress essential oil.

Cypress essential oil packages up some of the magic of the forest in a bottle.

Dr. Qing Li used Hinoki cypress essential oil when he performed some of his forest bathing medical research. If you haven’t met him yet, Dr. Qing Li is THE leading researcher on shinrin-yoku in the world. If there’s a forest bathing study, Dr. Li was probably involved.

So, as you can imagine, there’s something to cypress, or the forest in general.

Benefits of cypress essential oil:

Respiratory support
Promotes calm energy
Antibacterial and antiseptic
Immune support

Respiratory support

If you’ve ever breathed cypress essential oil in, you’ve experienced the invigorating effect it has on your lungs. You can feel it floating around in your lungs.

It’s great for breaking up coughs and congestion when you have a cold.

It also helps you take big, deep, cleansing breaths. You almost feel like you can take deeper breaths when you inhale it. It feels like it cools and expands your lungs.

Energized calm

Cypress oil is also calming and energizing at the same time, so it’s perfect for mental clarity. It’s both invigorating and relaxing. If you’re working on a big project at your job, for example, take a quick breathing break to breathe the oils in and notice how it helps you transition from a distracted frenzy to a calm focus.

Antibacterial and antiseptic

With its antibacterial and deodorizing properties, cypress essential oil is perfect for freshening up your feet and armpits when diluted with a carrier oil. It helps heal wounds and prevent infections elsewhere on your skin too.

Immune support

Cypress essential oils contain phytoncides. Phytoncides are the oils that the trees disperse into the air in the forest. Dr. Qing Li’s research uncovered that it’s these phytoncides that provide a major boost to the immune system. They also lower your stress response. Winning!

I got some cypress essential oil with June’s forest bathing Go Love Yourself Box, which btw I contributed to (the workbook features snippets from our Forest Bathing Immersion Library), so I thought I’d put it to good use with a mindfulness meditation.

If you’re wondering what to do with cypress essential oil, this is a good place to start.

And I’m sharing it here so you can try it too!

Cypress oil mindfulness meditation

Since cypress has a pine-y, earthy smell and comes directly from the forest, it’s perfect for a forest bathing meditation, no?

It’s even a great way to practice forest bathing when you can’t make it to the actual forest. Since the essential oil contains the same phytoncides you find in the forest, it proves effective too!

Finally, this meditation is the perfect “Threshold Exercise,” or a practice to help you transition from your normal everyday routine into your forest bathing practice. It slows and deepens your breathing, it refocuses your attention on the present moment, and it changes your mood.

You never want to go straight from the office into the forest without leaving your baggage and distractions at the entrance.

BTW, if you don’t have cypress essential oil, you could use a pine, spruce, peppermint, or another minty oil. I suppose you could even use peppermint tea if you have no oils available;)

Without further ado, here’s your Cypress Essential Oil Mindfulness Meditation.

Take a moment afterward to gauge how the meditation made you feel. Then, come back here and share in the comments.