Did you know forest bathing is good for the soul? Don’t know what it is? In this blog post I’ll tell you all about our experience.
The other morning morning I saw a post on Instagram from Lisa (@back_roads_and_bucket_lists) about a unique date night, and so, that night I surprised my husband by taking him forest bathing!
What is Forest Bathing?
Forest bathing, otherwise known as shinrin-yoku is a practise that originated in Japan in the 1980’s. Basically, the idea behind it is that being surrounded by trees and appreciating nature by using all of your senses works to relieve stress and improve your well being.
Our Experience
A friend of mine recently asked on her Facebook “When was the last time you tried something for the first time?” It really got me thinking that it’s been a while since I tried something new and expanded my horizons, so when I saw Lisa post about a unique date night that would be stress relieving and help you reconnect with your partner, I signed us up before even asking Carlos if he wanted to go.
We met Lisa and her husband Ryan at a nature trail in New Ross. One other lovely couple joined us who were staying at the ‘lil Rustic Retreat to celebrate their 22nd wedding anniversary.
The first thing Lisa asked was for us to put our phones on airplane mode and not to look at them during this experience. We gladly obliged, ready to just be present in the moment. This is also why we only have the one photo that Lisa took for us.
She said we were going to spend the first 15 minutes walking in silence and just taking in as much as we could with all of our senses. She told us to grab our partners hand and we began walking in silence along the trail.
I will admit, it was awkward at first. I’m not a fan of silence, it makes me feel uncomfortable. However, like everything else that starts out uncomfortable, you ease into it and I began to enjoy it. Every now and then along the path we would see a rock painted with inspiring sayings.
We came to a spot by the lake and Lisa gave us direction on how to physically and mentally reconnect with our partners.
On the walk back she told us to take our time and if something caught our interest, then we should take a closer look. We listened to the sounds of the birds and crickets and the wind whistling through the trees. We touched bark and moss and leaves. We crushed some pine needles and inhaled the scent. We looked around and saw things we didn’t notice the first time, including a little snake that slithered right by my feet.
Good for the soul
I have been in the forest many times, but every time I had had a mission. To finish a hike, to get a workout, to get to the lookout. Never once have I just gone in and slowly wandered just for the sake of really taking in my surroundings. It was such a refreshing, relaxing experience.
There were more things Lisa had planned for us, however part of the trail access had been taped off because of Covid, so instead, she invited us back to her ‘lil Rustic Retreat to finish off the night off with some more thoughtful, reconnecting journalling.
It was a fantastic evening, and in the end, Carlos enjoyed it too. In a stressful time like this, it’s so important to find ways to relax and reduce stress. I highly recommend forest bathing, you might be surprised how much you like it!
Love to go on adventures in Nova Scotia and want a place to record them? Don’t forget to grab your own Our Best N.S. Adventure Journal!