The Forest Bath

Gratitude, openness, pacing, and attention are the elements of this Shinrin-Yoku practice.

Simple invitations promote relaxation, reflection, peace, play, connection, rejuvenation, and healing.

The forest is a complex and integrated community of life. Shinrin – Yoku is a personal exploration that fosters connection.

We begin with an orientation to each particular location, and our time together. Opening to the forest begins by shaking off the business of our lives. Our first walking connects us to our selves, and then introduces us to our elemental connection to the forest around us.

As we carry on we expand our sensory engagement. Where it takes us is each individual’s discovery.

The atmosphere of the forest is a gift that is available to us at all times. There are some common themes within people’s experience - relaxation, playfulness, wonder, peace - but predicting yours might quash the spirit of openness and discovery that enriches Shinrin – Youko.

Periodically we will take time to briefly share our experiences and reflections.

The pace is slow and no great distances are covered. The journey is into the wrichness of the moment and the depth of a forest experience.

The Bath Sites

Our Forest Bathing sites are chosen for their seclusion from the business of Greater Victoria (BC), and their proximity to it. We are blessed with a variety of protected forest land in our region so we needed travel far. There are good locations out in East Sooke, and in the Highlands.

There is one site that is wheel chair accessible, and in any case only easy to moderate ups and downs are involved. We want not to leave even footprints so trails that can carry 8 or ten people at a time are preferred.

There are also locations in the Cowichan Valley and around Nanaimo that provide great opportunities.

History and Science

Today the benefits of time spent in a natural environment are intuitively known by many. It has long been that way.

The International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health reports that “Cyrus the Great built lush green gardens in the crowded urban capital of Persia 2500 years ago to increase human health and promote a sense of “calm” in a busy city. The 16th Century Swiss-German physician, Paracelsus, declared: “The art of healing comes from nature, not from the physician”.
In the 1980’s a Japanese government initiative was launched to support the use of time spent in forests for the promotion of health and well being.

Academic and scientific communities have been gathering evidence demonstrating Shinrin-Yoku’s benefits. The studies are varied and range from simple and well controlled tests of mood before and after a short walk in the woods vs time spent in an urban setting, to laboratory testing of isolates of forest plants for their immunological impact.

Meanwhile in California the personal benefits of Shinrin – Yoku have been tied to deep ecological perspectives illuminating the interdependence of human’s and our environment.
At the same time the tools of intention and mindfulness have been explicitly added to the practice.

Your Host

My name is Michael Timney and I am Registered Clinical Counsellor in private practice in Victoria BC. I am often wiping mud and dirt from my shoes.

I have been tramping around swamps and woods since I was allowed out of my mother's sight. I was first drawn to Forest Bathing by the funny images that came to mind when I heard of it. I looked into it and decided to start open minded experiments with the simple approaches to being in the forest. The attention to pacing, and intentional attitude of receptivity, were immediately familiar from the elements of eastern mindfulness that inform clinical practice. The payoff for taking the practices into the forest was striking.

Being in the forest naturally supports slowing and turning awareness inward, while noticing the depth and richness forest presents to us. Shinrin-Yoku has deepened my appreciation of the lands around us.