Forest Bathing

 ‘Shinrin Yoku’ is a Japanese concept for forest bathing. It is a therapy using nature to cure mental and spiritual issues.

When we use the term ‘bath’ conventionally, the pictures we can imagine are of splashing water under a shower, drenching oneself by pouring a mug full of water lifted from a bucket (the majority of Indians use this method to bathe). Adventurous guys may dance under a tubewell or submerge in a pond or river to bathe. Everything is to cleanse your dirty body with water, and the latter part may include some fun component as well.

Sunbath is another concept to burn your skin for vitamin D and capture the heat on winter days. Both bathing modes have a relaxing component as well.

Forest bathing is a very interesting concept. It cleanses your mind and soul amidst nature. You do not bathe here in a conventional sense. You bathe your mind and soul in the music of wilderness, in the sound of nature, in the absence of you but the presence of everything else. The songs of birds orchestrated by the beating drums of leaves dancing to the tune of the breeze, the crushing leaves under the hooves of animals, the melody created by insects, everything drenches your spirit and soul. You bathe under the shadow of trees, the filtered sunlight, drooping drops of morning dew, the entwined branches, the harmony of togetherness of fauna and flora, the overall drawings on the canvas of wilderness. Mind it, forest bathing is not scouting for wild animals; instead, it is hunting for stillness in you. Forest bathing is therapeutic and curative. Embrace nature, and you will find the true meaning of yourself.