Inevitably by the end of a Forest Bathing Walk people will say, “I feel so calm and peaceful.”
“I feel a sense of connection that I never imagined possible.” “I will never walk in the woods the same again.” When both China and Korea picked up the practice from Japan in the eighties, they measured people’s vital signs before and after their forest experience. They collected an immense amount of data which showed the tremendous health benefits of this practice. The science exploring these benefits has continued to grow in magnitude. People experience a sense of being present in this moment rather than distracted by a thousand extraneous thoughts. The sense of a vital living cooperative community that Nature allows us to experience is inspiring. She has so much to teach us. These walks give us time to slow down, pay attention in a different way, notice things that we normally pass by quickly and open our senses to breathe in a deep sense of connection.
I am often inspired to write poems that describe my experiences on these walks. Here is one that might encourage you to go on a forest bathing or mindfulness walk into another world that is always ready to receive you with love when you take the time to pay attention.
by Carol Marcy
Whispered messages by Carol Marcy
The old ones whisper messages though
the summer breeze breathing singing leaves
Put down your phones
Rest your eyes
Feel your feet caressed by soft earth
Let the dappled light play with your hair
Open your heart and listen below the surface
These woods are filled with stores
Unspoken words sing your heart and mind
open to worlds of wonder
The Wood Thrush and Song Sparrow
send you messages of love
The pungent pine and peat filled marsh
take you back to the old ways
Mushrooms offer a mysterious invitation
to life below the surface
Peepers chant and strum evening prayers
grateful for partnership and ongoing life
Follow paw and hoof prints down the hidden pathways
to an interior, perhaps not yet explored,
to coyote and owl songs
singing secrets of night time treasures
to the art of creation begun long before you were born
Let your love fly on the wings of the wind
taking you places only hinted at in dreams
Rest in discovery
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