Your guide to Forest Bathing at home

The forest is the therapist, our Forest Rangers are simply guides

Developing a meaningful relationship with nature

Now our Forest Ranger has guided you in the practice of Forest Bathing you can carry on this beneficial therapy in nature at home. Find a trail in a forest or natural area which you can easily get to from your home. Practice cultivating a quiet presence, opening all your senses and mindfully move through the landscape actively communicating with nature. Physical exercise is not the primary goal, so don’t rush and aim to make Forest Bathing a regular activity to develop a meaningful relationship with nature.

Choose a Forest Bathing trail

Here are some tips on picking the ideal Forest Bathing trail:

  • Choose a route about a mile or less in length
  • Your trail should have a diverse ecosystem with different types of environment (meadows, woodland, water)
  • Make sure it’s a quiet area

Once you've found a trail and route that is right for you, try some of the following invitations.

Invitations to try at home

An invitation is an activity to encourage you to consciously engage with the nature around you. You’ll have tried some of these on your Forest Bathing session at Forest Holidays. Below are a selection of invitations to try in a natural place near you or even in your garden. Aim to spend 20 minutes on each invitation.

  • A man sitting in his sit spot during the Forest Bathing session at Forest Holidays

    Sit spot

    Chose somewhere easy to get to, it could even be in your garden, preferably with a diverse ecosystem. Visit this spot often, daily if you can, and practice spending time there fully engaged with what is going on around you. If you visit often enough through the changing seasons you’ll be amazed at what you start to sense around you and the deep connection you will develop with nature. Use a piece of paper to start jotting down what you notice and how it makes you feel.

     

     

    A group enjoying the forest during a forest bathing session at Forest Holidays

    Place tending

    Chose a natural area that is easy to get to so you can visit often. Place tending doesn’t need to be laborious, it could include picking up litter, talking to other visitors or keeping an eye on the local wildlife.

    A view of a path through the middle of the forest

    Wandering

    This is one of the simplest Forest Bathing invitations as all you need to do is find a trail where it is easy to walk (for example a trail with little elevation change) and simply follow it, with no agenda other than to be fully present in the moment.

Gratitude alters

At your special places like your sit spot, a place you tend or find while wandering make small altars of gratitude out of natural and beautiful things you find nearby. Try and maintain these altars often thinking about what you are grateful for as you rebuild and reshape them.

  • A view along the trunk of a tree looking up at the green leaves

    Fox walking

    This invitation will help you slow down so don’t rush! Stalk through the area as quietly as you can with all your senses on full alert, just like a fox. Move through the landscape and pause when some movement, a sound or a smell catch your alert senses – give it your full attention until you feel ready to move on.

    A couple sitting in the forest listening to their surroundings during a Forest Ranger session at Forest Holidays

    Concentric listening

    This invitation will help engage your auditory sense with the nature around you. Find somewhere to stand or sit still and listen carefully to everything you can hear immediately around you. After a few moments try to expand your awareness so you can hear everything around you further away, again wait a few moments and take everything in. Expand your awareness again until you think you can hear everything possible in range.

    A bird in flight, with sun, blue skies and clouds as a background

    Feeling flight

    Find an area where you have a clear view of the sky through an open canopy and look for a bird in flight. When you find one start to follow it with your eyes and when you know its rhythm put your arms out like wings and use your whole body to move along with the motions the bird is making. Do this for a few moments and use the notes page to write down what you felt.