22/11/2025
You know how I have been thinking a lot about how nature affects us. Well, I came across something this week that felt like it was written for me. It is called Shinrin yoku, which is the Japanese practice of forest bathing, but not in the way we think of it here.
I always imagined it meant going for a nice walk in the woods. But in Japan it is something deeper. They see the forest as a place that settles the whole body, almost as if the trees are quietly doing the work for you.
It actually started back in the nineteen eighties when people were completely burnt out and living exhausting city lives. The government encouraged everyone to spend slow time among the trees to help recover from stress. And scientists there measured what happens to the body. Your heart rate softens, your blood pressure eases, your stress hormones fall. Even your immune system becomes stronger for weeks afterwards. All from walking slowly and breathing in the forest air.
But the part I love most is the feeling behind it.
It is not about exercise. It is not about achieving anything.
It is more like the forest gives you permission to stop performing for a while.
You wander, you listen, you breathe, you rest your hand on the bark of a tree, and something in you sighs and says, this is the pace I have been craving. There is no rush, no noise, no need to pretend. It is just you and the trees and a kind of quiet that feels kind.
It made me realise how much tension we all carry without noticing. Tight shoulders, tired eyes, a mind that never switches off. And the idea that an hour in the woods can begin to unwind all of that feels so simple and so human.
Next time life feels heavy or noisy, let us go to the woods together. Not to hike. Not to talk. Just to be.
A little Shinrin yoku, right here in Ayrshire.
I swear the trees know exactly what to do. š²š
