Winter Forest Bathing - Forest Bathing Central

I’ve written about How to Forest Bathe in the Winter before, but I think the topic of winter forest bathing is worth revisiting again.

And again.

Every year.

And also in article form. Heh.

After several more winters after the first writing, I’ve come to appreciate winter forest bathing even more. And I wanted to share some new insights with you.

[For further reading, check out How to Forest Bathe in the Winter and A Winter Forest Bathing Exercise]

If you’d rather listen/watch, check out the video version here.

First, let’s talk about the setting…

Choosing a setting for your winter forest bathing experience

I love to visit all my normal stomping grounds for winter forest bathing. In the video above, I visit a tract of land owned by a local school that I travel quite often. I recommend choosing a setting that’s familiar to you as well, so you can see the differences among the seasons (and you don’t get lost on ungroomed trails).

The cool thing about the winter forest is that it’s barren and “see-through.” You can see clear through the forest when all the leaves and greens are gone. The stark contrast is visually stimulating and allows you to get to know your area better, through all of its phases.

Not all trees are barren though. You should be able to find a stand of evergreen trees, such as pines or cedars, that still hold their green color. Forest bathing under the pine trees is a great place to experience the living influences of the forest, even in winter.

Nature Scratch and Sniff

I’ll touch on this more in its own dedicated post, but nature Scratch and Sniff is one really potent way to use your sense of smell in the forest.

Next time your standing under the pine trees, grab a needle and dent it with your fingernail. Then, bring it up to your nose.

You get a really strong whiff of pine as the needle releases its essential oils.

I like to try this with other materials too, like bark and herbs. Try the scratch and sniff method next time you’re out forest bathing.

[Bottle some of that evergreen goodness for daily use with DIY pine needle body oil]

Now that you’ve found a place to practice shinrin-yoku, let’s talk about what that practice might look like.

Forest Bathing Exercises for Winter

I like to follow the following general formula when I head to the forest in the winter:

Threshold exercise: transition from your daily life into the forest. Enter the forest with intention, take a stretch, and find a sit spot. Try the breath work described in the next section.
Grounding: try to gain your bearings. Close your eyes and feel yourself in space, your weight, your positioning, the ground under your feet.
Checking in with all five senses: concentrate on the smells, sounds, air temperature, and visuals around you.
Complete a forest bathing exercise or two (see below).
Exit exercise: transition from the forest back into daily life. You might take one last deep breath at the edge of the forest, step forward and exhale back into your routine.

Here are a few example exercises to try:

Concentric Circle Exercise:

Use all five senses to experience your own body at its core.
Then, move your senses out to your immediate surroundings.
Then, move out a little further to 15 feet around you.
Then, move out again and again as far as you can see and hear.

Reverse Senses

After you take in the sights, sounds, smells, taste, and touch of your immediate environment, reverse your focus and try to imagine what it feels like for the forest to see, smell, hear, taste, and touch you.

For example, you may reach out and touch a tree and feel its solidity, temperature, and texture against your palm. Then, think about how your warm, smooth hand feels against the tree.

Or think about how the birds you hear experience the sounds you make. Imagine how your own warm body heats up the air around you.

Reverse Senses is a great exercise to nurture a reciprocal relationship with nature.

Breath work in the winter

I love the taste of breathing in the winter. When you inhale, you can feel the chill, minty air as it reaches the bottom of your lungs. The winter air is different, and you can literally feel it, in a visceral sense. That’s one major benefit to take advantage of in the winter.

In fact, aside from an oxygen chamber, breathing deeply in the fresh cool air is one of the best ways to oxygenate your blood. Oxygenated blood has many benefits, such as improving your immune system, helping your body self-repair, reducing stress, and improving brain function because every cell in your body needs the molecule.

How to incorporate breath work into your forest bathing practice

Always begin your practice with a session of deep breathing. I like to take a series of 10 breaths with my eyes closed.
Use the Wring-Out Technique to warm up. Gently twist your body side to side as you loosen up your spine. Follow the movement with your breath, literally wringing out air as you twist into an exhale.
Return to your breath as you practice mindfulness in the forest. Deep, full belly breaths are a foundational practice in forest bathing.
Try one of these Four Forest Bathing Breathing Techniques.

Overcoming barriers to winter forest bathing

By far the 2 most common reasons for avoiding forest bathing in the winter are:

I hate winter. It’s too cold.
I don’t have the time.

To that, I say, you have a choice. ‘

You can either choose to try to enjoy winter forest bathing and make space for it or not. That’s up to you, not any external factor.

If you’re too cold, wear more layers.

I know that sounds really trite, but honestly, it’s the hard truth. The only reason why you’d be cold is if you weren’t adequately dressed. Simply add more layers.

Another trick you can use is to warm up before you start your practice. You might even choose to go forest bathing after you work out. The colder environment will feel good after a good sweat. Otherwise, you can do a few blood-pumping exercises (i.e. jumping jacks, walking lunges, etc) before you head to your sit spot to warm up.

If you say you don’t have the time, replace your words with “it’s not a priority.”

You’ve heard that saying before, right? Instead of saying you don’t have time to exercise, what you’re really saying is exercise isn’t a priority for you. Same with forest bathing. And that’s okay if it’s really not a priority for you.

While shinrin-yoku might not be for everybody, it has undeniable benefits–check out the stacks of studies–which we still need in the winter.

There really aren’t any barriers to nature bathing. Heck, you don’t even need the trees. So, if you really appreciate the break and all the psychological and physical benefits–or you just love nature, then you can make it happen.

Final thoughts

I really hope these new insights inspire you to give winter forest bathing a shot. The forest can give such a welcome reprieve in the winter, just as it does in the summer. And we still need that exposure to phytoncides, sunlight, and nature in general in the winter.

Would you do me a favor?

Would you get out there today, and then post a picture of your excursion in the Forest Bathing Central Facebook group? I’d love to see what winter forest bathing looks like for you.

From my roots to yours,

~Jess