How forest bathing can lower your stress (no hiking required)
Social Work Professor Chizuru Nobe-Ghelani, a certified forest therapy guide, shares tips to slow down through immersion in nature. Photo by Rachel Salles on Unsplash
Spending time in nature can boost your mood, lower stress and even improve your immune system. Science backs this up – and you don’t even need to break a sweat.
“Forest bathing (Shinrin-yoku in Japanese) is the practice of slowing down and mindfully connecting with the natural world through our senses,” explains Chizuru Nobe-Ghelani, School of Social Work professor and a certified forest therapy guide. “Unlike a hike or fitness walk, this experience is about rest, reflection and gentle awareness.”
One of Nobe-Ghelani’s research focuses is earth-based healing grounded in traditional ancestral knowledge. She explores earth-centred healing not only at an individual level but also at the community and ecological level.
For Wellbeing Week (Oct. 20 - 24), we’re bringing you some tips to boost well-being that includes connecting with nature meaningfully.
For the full line-up of events that TMU is hosting for Wellbeing Week, visit the website.
What is forest bathing?
The practice takes two or three hours and engages all five senses. You can do it alone or with a trained guide.
“We activate sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste to create deeper connections with the natural world,” Nobe-Ghelani says.
The key? Slow down. This isn’t about exercise or reaching a destination. It’s about honouring the inherent connection humans have with nature that has eroded in modern times.
Chizuru Nobe-Ghelani is a social work professor with expertise in earth-based healing and community engaged research and education. As a certified forest therapy guide, she helps others reap the therapeutic and physical benefits of time in nature.
Six steps to try forest bathing
Even looking at pictures of nature can be calming and provide mental health benefits. Images like these can help us slow down and inspire enjoyment of nature.
- Start by centring yourself. “One way is lowering your breath for a few minutes, with your eyes closed,” says Nobe-Ghelani.
- Listen closely to your surroundings. Ask yourself: What do you hear? Can you identify the birds? Listen to the textures as you take a few steps. Is it crunchy or soft?
- Engage your sense of touch. “Choose a rock, tree and plant (be mindful they are safe to touch!) and gently run your fingers over the texture,” she says.
- Engage your sense of smell. “Take in a slow deep breath through your nose, then exhale out your mouth,” says Nobe-Ghelani. Ask yourself: what do you smell? Close your eyes and breathe in the scent again. “The smell of mud or pine trees are both known to improve mood and immune function,” she says.
- Engage your sense of taste. “In Japan, where forest bathing became popularized, we say, the air tastes good when you are in a natural environment like forests and mountains,” says Nobe-Ghelani. “You may put your tongue out and enjoy the moisture of the air.”
- Finally, engage your sight. “When you are in nature, everything feels vivid with colour, lightness and darkness,” she says. “You may feel as though you are seeing the trees for the first time.”
Can’t get to a forest? Try these instead
On campus:
- Lie down on the Kerr Hall Quad grass
- Visit the DCC rooftop garden (in the spring and summer)
- Find a tree that speaks to you and sit with it
- Walk barefoot to feel the earth’s energy
In Toronto:
- Explore the city’s parks and ravine systems
- Take a day trip to the designated forest bathing trail (external link)
At home:
- Listen to bird songs (even recorded ones reduce stress)
- Simply pause, breathe and notice your surroundings
Why nature matters for well-being
Spending time in nature and deepening our relationship with the natural world is critical for our health and well-being.
TMU’s Urban Farm offers green space and a natural environment with its rooftop gardens which support sustainable cultivation practices and foster greater connection to the land through food sovereignty initiatives.
On the heels of the National Day for the Truth and Reconciliation, Nobe-Ghelani reminds us that solidarity with Indigenous communities requires acknowledging the damage that lost connections with the natural environments have had on Indigenous communities and their lands.
“By spending time in nature mindfully, we can reflect on our responsibility as guests (if you are settlers) and the stewards of Mother Earth,” she says.
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