Category: All Things Natural

Forest Bathing: Nature’s Therapy

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Need a break from the fast-paced world we live in? Or perhaps get away to quiet your mind and return feeling re-energized and renewed? Try Forest Bathing, but please, leave your towel at home. No bath is required.

Developed in Japan by Tomohide Akiyama in 1982, Forest Bathing or Shinrin-yoku is a term that means ‘taking in the forest atmosphere.’ It’s simply being in nature with no destination in mind and allowing yourself to just be.

With Americans spending over “93% of their time indoors,” and over 11 hours online every day, we’re in desperate need of quality outdoor time.

How Does It Work?

To achieve forest bathing to its fullest, set aside two to four hours. But if all you have is twenty minutes, allow yourself that total amount of time.

You don’t have to have a forest nearby, a park will do.

First, put the phone away or anything that will cause distractions. The focus is for you to be present.

Go for a walk or find a private spot. If you’re walking, don’t worry about your final destination. Go slowly and wander.

During this time, observe your surroundings and your breath. What do you hear? What do you smell?

Be present.

See an interesting leaf? Pause and look at it.

Close your eyes. Listen to the rustling of the leaves. The sound of the birds. Try to leave the everyday stress behind.

Once your time has come to a close, reflect on how your body feels. Your mind. Let the feeling linger.

Dr. Qing Li, a researcher from Japan, is an expert on Forest Bathing. He believes trees promote health and happiness and has made it his mission to spread awareness about Japan’s age-old practice.

The Benefits

According to Dr. Qing Li, he believes Forest Bathing can:

  • Reduce stress
  • Improve sleep
  • Improve mood
  • Increase energy level
  • Boost the immune system and more

Living in a world where screen time is at an all-time high, it’s no wonder Forest Bathing has become such a trend. In fact, there are retreats and classes dedicated to the practice. You can even become an official guide.

In the end, it sounds like nature’s calling. Perhaps we should listen and visit it more often.

From the words of John Muir, naturalist, author, and environmentalist, “The clearest way into the universe is through a forest wilderness.”

In other words, have you had your bath yet today?

Inspired by Nature: PB Review

Posted in Adventures of Parenthood, All Things Natural, book review, Family, Life, Parenting, picture book, Review, Science, Thoughts, Uncategorized, writing8 Comments

My family loves spending time in the outdoors. After busy days at work, school, and moving through the daily hustle and bustle of life, there’s an urge to escape and get back to nature. A call to the wild, you could say.

Trekking through the forest, discovering a new trail, or watching the kids run wild and free, there is no doubt that nature is healing.

Over the past couple of years, we’ve set a family goal to visit as many national parks as we can. Our kids take part in the junior ranger programs and have the privilege of meeting the park rangers that work tirelessly to protect our landscapes and wildlife.

The kids have learned about animals, plants, trees, and how to preserve our natural treasures. So far they’ve each earned five badges, one for each park we’ve visited.

The reason I share this is that recently, I came across this picture book titled: OLIVER THE SECOND-LARGEST LIVING THING ON EARTH by Josh Crute and illustrated by John Taesoo Kim.  Not only is it beautifully illustrated, but it’s a story inspired by nature.

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Age Range: 4-8

Publisher: Page Street Kids

Synopsis: A tree named Oliver is tired of being the second-largest tree.  He stretches his limbs in winter, lifts logs in spring, soaks up the sun in summer, and munches on mulch in autumn, trying to grow big enough to be noticed. Until he discovers that he’s been a part of something much larger, the Sequoia National Forest.

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It’s a humorous story with a lot of heart, and there’s an excellent note at the end about the Sequoia National Forest and other second largest things in the world.

It’s a great reminder for children that you don’t always have to come in first. In fact, being second is important, too.

Why We Family Garden

Posted in Adventures of Parenthood, All Things Natural, Life, Parenting, ThoughtsTagged , , , , , , 1 Comment

Rows upon rows of colorful produce, neatly packaged and anxiously waiting to be chosen. Shoppers are inspecting each perfectly shaped apple, taut skinned peach, and crisp lettuce head while contemplating the purchase of pineapples shipped from Costa Rica. Comparing this to the dirt covered carrots, roots dangling off the ends, or the misshapen strawberries freshly picked off the vine, when I have the choice, I’ll choose the latter or whatever else is in season.

This thought encourages my husband and me to continue talking with our son and daughter about how we get our food and why we should appreciate it. No more wasting half eaten apples or tossing a banana out because it has too many brown spots. Instead, we’ve shifted our old habits and started new ones. Let’s toss them in the backyard composter and watch them magically turn into black gold or throw them in the freezer to use in smoothies later on.

“In the United States, food now travels between 1,500 and 2,500 miles from farm to table, as much as 25 percent farther than two decades ago,” according to an article from World Watch Institute.

Imagine the many hands and miles traveled a single orange or stem of grapes go through before it graces our table. All the effort put into planting, growing, harvesting cleaning, packaging, and shipping just for our enjoyment. Then to be picked over because it’s not as shiny or perfectly shaped as the next.

“In 2008, 43 billion pounds of perfectly good food was thrown out of grocery stores,” according to Move For Hunger.  

Whether the food is damaged, out of date, unattractive, or left untouched due to lack of interest, that’s equivalent to $165 billion wasted each year. That’s an astounding number when you think about it.

Our environmental impact is a topic near and dear to our family’s hearts. We do our best to keep our carbon footprint at the forefront of our minds when making life decisions. That’s why we’ve decided to start a family garden.

It’s an easy way to demonstrate to our kids the amount of hard work involved in the growing of our favorite fruits and vegetables. Sure, we could hop into the car and drive down the street to the local supermarket. But that wouldn’t be an accurate representation of how the process works. Not to mention, tasting the long awaited fruits of your labor is immensely gratifying and humbling.

“Mom, where does our food come from?” our curious daughter will ask. I think to myself, I’ll tell you, and I will show you.

In the spring, we let our kids help pick the seeds, turn and add compost to the tired winter soil, dig, drop the seed, cover, and mark each planting bed. With careful attention, water, and lots of patience, our kids make a stronger connection to the earth and their food by reaping what they sow.

The pleasure we get from watching our children pick tomatoes or raspberries off the vine while shoveling them into their mouths and scouring the beds for more delicious treats is insurmountable. Humorously, I’ve learned my lesson and started planting double of everything after watching the goods get consumed before they even reach the kitchen.

With the rising statistics of unhealthy Americans in our country continue growing, nothing seems more important than instilling a healthy attitude about food within our children and helping them discover the growing process.

As the growing season comes to an end and fall is upon us, we take time to prepare the beds for the next season, tally the seeds that we need to purchase for spring, and say a word of thanks for another successful planting season.