After losing my Mom, my brother-in-law, and my four sweet fur babies, being indoors felt too loud and too quiet at once. I needed something gentler. I needed something to help me feel again.
That’s when I discovered forest bathing. It’s not exercise or hiking. It’s simply being.
What Forest Bathing Actually Is
Being with the trees and the other beings in nature. Letting your senses guide you. Slowing down enough to feel the earth beneath your feet. Feeling grounded again. Feeling as if I belong somewhere again.
My First Walk, in the Middle of Winter
My first experience was quiet and emotional. It was the middle of winter, during my training to become a guide. I walked through my own neighborhood, into the small natural spaces I had passed a hundred times without stopping. I listened to the hush of winter. I watched my breath cool in the air. I noticed that no one else was outside. And I felt a pull in my heart, a wish for other people to be out there with me, connecting to something older and steadier than our to-do lists. Tears came. So did memories. And then the comfort.
There was no pressure to talk, to explain, or to move fast. Just space. Just breath. Just presence. Just this connection between me and the natural world.
What the Forest Gives Back
Forest bathing continues to help me feel close to the ones I love who have moved on to another space. Sometimes it feels like one of them is walking right beside me. It has reminded me that love remains, even when life changes. They are always with me.
It also sparked something new. A love of slowness. Walking at a pace where I can actually look up. We all know the pace that gets us to the destination. Forest bathing offers a different one. It makes room to see, hear, smell, touch and taste the natural world and all the beings in it.
Forest bathing taught me to pay attention. To notice the signs. To be still. It reminded me that joy and sorrow can share the same space, and that both are okay.
Some of the inspiration for my creations comes from these walks. The nature scenes, the soft colors, the sense of peace. They all began in the forest.
If you are moving through a hard season, I invite you to try this for yourself. Let the trees hold space for you. Let yourself be still. You might be surprised by what you feel.
How to Try Forest Bathing on Your Own
You do not need gear, a trail, or a whole free afternoon. You need a quiet place outside and a willingness to slow down for twenty minutes.
- Find a spot close to home. A park, or a single tree in your yard. Familiar is good.
- Give yourself twenty minutes with your phone away. Twenty minutes is enough to feel the shift.
- Find a quiet place to sit and just be.
- Start with your senses, one at a time. What do you hear. What do you smell. What is the air doing on your skin.
- Let whatever comes up come up. Grief, relief, a memory, nothing at all. There is no wrong response.
- Before you head back, notice one joy nugget. A seed pod, a bird call, the way the light lands. Take it with you.
If You’d Like a Guide
If you try it and find you would like a more guided experience, I would love to take you out.
Be well my friends,
Kris