FOREST BATHING RETREAT: LIFE+LEISURE

Forest bathing benefits are backed up by science, Nina Karnikowski discovers on a three-day retreat in the Southern Highlands.

I’ve never spent this long staring at an insect. For the past 10 minutes, I’ve been standing in the rain, watching a tiny grasshopper carefully step its way across a leaf; watching it lift a hind leg and delicately shake off a water droplet, then roll onto its torso to dry the left side.

I’m transfixed, my attention zooming so far in that all the mental chatter has stopped and I’m simply here. Which means, I suppose, that this Southern Highlands ‘forest bathing retreat’, run by outdoor tour company Experience Nature, is delivering on its promise.

“Immerse yourself in the forest, absorb its sights, sounds and smells, and you will reap numerous psychological and physiological benefits,” read the website invitation. In a world reeling from war, disease and natural disasters, it’s hard to resist this temptation to focus on nature.

Our guide for this three-day experience is a petite blonde named Christie Little, a holistic psychotherapist and counsellor, and the first person in NSW to become an internationally accredited ‘nature and forest therapy guide’.

As she explained last night over dinner at the newly refurbished Osborn House, our base for this retreat, forest bathing is a mindful, sensory experience in nature. And, for the record, it does not involve bathtubs.

The experience isn’t focused on the body, as a regular bush walk might be, and it’s not focused on the mind either, as with other nature walks where you might learn the names of plants. Forest bathing is about slowly connecting to and contemplating a landscape, through a series of guided exercises, in a way benefits our tech-addled brains and fried nerves.

“Nature is the therapist, I’m just the guide showing the way,” says Little, who, after working as a burnout coach for companies including Siemens, Accor Hotels and PwC, eventually burnt out herself.

“Around that time I learnt about this thing called ‘forest bathing’, that reduced the biomarkers of stress, improved the functioning of the immune system, and enhanced mood, creativity and attention span.

I immediately knew it was something I needed to pursue and to teach, since I knew I was far from the only one burning out.”

During our first cold, grey morning out in the gardens surrounding our plush boutique hotel, Little leads us through a concept called ‘pleasures of presence’. We’re ‘invited’ (Little stresses that nothing is mandatory) to close our eyes and focus on what we see, hear and smell around us, then walk slowly – very slowly – through the gardens.

Keeping every moment as slow and intentional as possible is key, so we can really notice what we notice in each moment, using all our senses. As Little says, “anxiety lives in the past or the future, it’s very rarely in the present moment, so the gateway to that is through the senses.”

As I walk through the light rain, I find myself burrowing my nose into a lavender bush; stroking the fuzzy leaves of a lamb’s ear plant, and sniffing sap and fresh cut grass on the crisp air.

They’re simple acts of connection, things I would have done as a kid, that just make me feel good. Feeling good is really what forest bathing has been focused on, ever since the term was coined in Japan in 1982 (they call it shinrin-yoku).

That was when the Forest Agency of Japan began promoting the mental and physical benefits of being present in the forest, as a response to increasing rates of karoshi, that terrifying Japanese term meaning “sudden death by overwork”.

The practice is also big in Europe (some say it originated in Germany, where it’s known as waldtherapie), and is growing in strength across Asia and the United States. Celebrities of the ilk of Gwyneth Paltrow, Kate Middleton and Justin Bieber are among its proponents.

But, as Little points out, these nature connection techniques are not new or continent specific. “Indigenous communities the world over, including the traditional custodians of the land on which we’re standing, the Gundungurra people, have been connecting to the environment in this way since time immemorial.”

It’s a connection that has been lost in recent decades, as we spend far more time with our noses buried in our devices than we do outside. Considering the rising number of catastrophic weather events because of global warming, this disconnect is as harmful for the natural world, as it is for our bodies.

After another of Little’s ‘invitations’ - this one to find an analogy for ourselves in the garden - I spend 15 minutes contemplating how a vine creeping up an agapanthus stalk represents nicely how I require support to get to where I want to be.

Nature is full of metaphor, of course, and when we share ours within the group, there are stories of resilience and vulnerability, loss and joy, beauty and pain - and each of us has found a fitting natural expression for our feelings within the landscape, on this small patch of earth.

For the uninitiated, forest bathing is unexpectedly spiritual and deeply rousing, and this first session leaves a few of our group of eight women in tears. Given the combination of fresh air, physical activity, vitamin D, phytoncides (organic compounds released by plants that boost our immune systems) and no technology, it is no surprise that most of us also express feeling more relaxed and focused after the session. There is plenty of research to back up these feelings.

A 2010 study run by Tokyo’s Nippon Medical School, for example, took sample groups to 24 forests across Japan and found that the biodata of those forest bathers, when compared to that of city-dwellers, had lower concentrations of the stress hormone cortisol, as well as lower blood pressure and heart rates.

Studies performed in other countries, including Finland and the US, revealed similar reductions in anxiety and stress.

A 2009 study from South Korea put three groups suffering from major depressive disorders through four therapy sessions in three different environments: a forest, a hospital, and regular outpatient therapy.

The forest group saw a 61 percent remission rate, much higher than those in hospital (21 percent) or outpatient therapy (5 percent).

These studies and others similar to them suggest that nature may be among the most potent medicines in our kit. They also hint at something Little describes as “small ego, large self”, which happens when we’re in nature. “Being in a flourishing natural environment reminds us that we matter less than we think we do, and that can be a really good thing for our mental and physical health,” says Little, as we drive into nearby Morton National Park for the afternoon.

This ego diminishment is one of the first things I notice during our next forest bathing exercise: finding what Little refers to as a ‘sit spot’.

“A sit spot is a place you choose to sit, in observation and reverence to the environment,” says Little. “It’s usually a place you would return to each day, observing the subtle changes in the environment over time and through different seasons and weather events.”

Little invites us to find a sit spot within cooee of where we’re standing, and to write, or draw, or simply sit and observe.

By now the sun is shining, and I follow a narrow path about 50 metres down into a gully, past glistening grass trees (Xanthorrhoea) and she-oaks, or Casuarina.

I stop before a mossy rock face and sit on a log, moisture quickly seeping through my jeans, and watch the water droplets dripping from the spongy pillows of moss. I notice different kinds of moss – some like mini stag horns, others like tiny tree ferns. I touch the wet velveteen surface, sniff it and think of sauerkraut, open my mouth to inhale the wet air.

The longer I sit, the more I remember that I am part of this living, breathing ecosystem – leading me to ponder that the biggest mistake human beings could well have made in recent centuries is to forget this simple fact.

Soon, after what feels like a few minutes but could very well have been an hour, Little calls us back and offers another invitation.

“In Japan, they call this ‘meeting a tree’. I invite you to take a slow walk and choose a tree, then just be with it for a while. You might talk to it, some people breathe with it or even sing to it, whatever feels good to you.”

I stand with a big, old eucalypt, its trunk scorched from the 2020 bushfires. Running my palms over it, I notice a split in the rough black bark and push my fingers inside, feeling the soft, smooth layer of new bark sitting just beneath.

In the face of this small but mighty reminder of the unstoppable, regenerative power of nature, I feel a surge of hopefulness about the future of our planet. Maybe if we all spend a little more intentional time in nature, absorbing its lessons, we could become a more positive force for protecting it by way of return.


NEED TO KNOW
RATES
Experience Nature runs three seasonal nature-based retreats through the year, priced from $1,550, including all accommodation, meals and nature therapy sessions.

DATES
The next forest bathing retreat will run from July 22 to 24 at Bundanon, the home of Arthur Boyd, followed by a spring Coastal Retreat in October at Bangalay Villas, Shoalhaven Heads. For more information, visit experiencenature.com.au

WORLD’S BEST LOCATIONS FOR FOREST BATHING

Sagano Bamboo Forest, Japan
This magnificent bamboo forest, on the outskirts of Kyoto, has been declared one of the ‘100 Soundscapes of Japan’ by the Japanese government. Take time to stop, close your eyes and listen to the wind rushing through the creaking bamboo.

Pacific Rim National Park Reserve, Canada
Head to Vancouver Island to explore this unique combination of lush coastal rainforest, mountains and wild beaches, stretching 125 kilometres down from Tofino to Port Renfrew. Find a ‘sit spot’ to appreciate the pines and fir trees, breaching whales, calm turquoise waters, and snow-topped mountains.

Corcovado National Park, Osa Peninsula, Costa Rica
Corcovado is home to 2.5 per cent of the world’s biodiversity, covering just over 400 square km. It is one of the last places on earth to see jaguars, and other fascinating creatures, including the endangered Central American tapir, and the world’s largest eagle, the Harpy.

Warrumbungle National Park, Australia
Six hours’ drive north-west of Sydney, the park is home to otherworldly rock formations dating back 13 million years, and provides some of the best hiking and forest-bathing opportunities in the country. It is also Australia’s only Dark Sky Park, meaning there’s no better place to stargaze.

Svaneti Region, Georgia
This remote mountain region is preposterously pretty, particularly from June to mid-October, when the hills are ablaze with yellow and purple wildflowers, attracting butterflies and bees. A bonus for forest bathers: you can hike all day and only meet a few travellers.

This story first appeared in print and online here