Published by: Digital Schools
Shinrin-Yoku, Nature Gazing Part 2
My favourite thing in the whole world is staring intensely at living things, foraging for wild edibles, and musing about the magic and history of places out of daily reach.
I am a nature baby – and my top therapeutic activity to restoring tranquillity and calmness to my day is to spend as much time as I can in nature alone.
Feelings of frustration, angst, irritability and brain fog are lifted with enough time surrounded by friendly trees and the sweet sound of birds in the trees.
When I feel off, I know what to do!.
Run, in the direction of the nearest parkland, water source or wilderness and stay there until I feel normal again.
Applying the practices of mindful awareness and patience – and allowing time and intentional focus on the natural and alive – bad moods shift, the mind clears up, and I can return home feeling more connected and less emotional.
Without intending it, my daily practice of Nature Gazing is not too dissimilar from the course of Shinrin-Yoku,(forest bathing) that was established in Japan in the 1990s to help people manage stress and mental illness.
Shinrin-Yoku – (Forest Bathing)
Thank You
As we journey further into the how and why nature gazing and simple therapeutic practices can work magic on our well-being, I would like to acknowledge the custodians and the traditional landowners of the Kulin Nation and the Worimi peoples whose country keeps me sane.
To Birpai, the country that raised me. Everything I know has come from that place.
