Plunge into forest bathing to ease anxiety
WHAT’S THE PROBLEM?
ANXIETY is fast becoming an epidemic, with more than eight million diagnosed cases in the UK. Women are more likely to be affected and, in middle age, I became one of them.
I wake in a panic most days. I have to force myself to get up and deal with a list of worries that extends even to the polluted city air my lungs are obliged to breathe.
In the past I took medication but my GP warns against a repeat prescription, as the pills are addictive and disturb the quality of sleep.
Somewhat surprisingly, she suggested I get out more. By which she meant venturing into nature and taking time to clear my head.
Far from being offended, I quickly discovered she may have a point. A 2010 UK analysis of studies from many countries found definitively that spending time outdoors has the power to calm the mind; just being in such environments leads to reduced stress hormone levels, lower blood pressure and a calming of the heart rate and other body systems.
Could it really tackle symptoms of anxiety and depression?
I wanted to find out.
WHERE’S THE SOLUTION?
Blackwood Forest, Hampshire, is one of two holiday parks working with the Forestry Commission to introduce the Japanese practice of shinrin yoku.
This translates as ‘forest bathing’ – therapeutic sessions of walking or cycling in the woods and meditation, in courses led by specially trained rangers.
Shinrin yoku has been widely embraced by Japanese citydwellers following evidence that simply being among trees calms the body as well as the mind, lowering blood pressure and reducing stress hormones which flood the body when it is anxious or depressed.
WHAT’S THE TREATMENT?
A stay in a Forest Holidays lodge is shinrin yoku in itself; solid wood furniture, wood-burning stove and huge wooden verandas equipped with both a barbecue, furniture for dining under the stars and a private hot tub overlooking the trees.
This is forest bathing at its most literal, and I calm down the minute I’m bubbling away gazing at the falling leaves.
However, the company running these courses has had a few rangers trained up by the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides to deliver an immersive three-hour experience designed to promote slow-mo communing with the trees and forest floor, or, as the blurb goes: ‘Developing relationships with the more-than-human world to cultivate a deep and sensual relationship with nature.’
I’m all for being forced to slow down and breathe clean air deeply, but when we get to walking in the forest we are forced to do it at a snail’s pace, which annoys my already sceptical husband.
There is some unfortunate twaddle at the beginning of the session about sharing our feelings and the last straw for my husband comes when our ranger falls to her knees and sniffs the grass in a meadow. My husband tells me he’s going back to the cabin, which is a shame as the ensuing guided meditation through the forest is calming and beautiful.
An in-cabin massage next morning in view of my private grove of trees completes an utterly therapeutic weekend.
WHAT’S THE VERDICT?
Shinrin yoku is tried and tested; I cannot help but feel grateful for the chance to sleep more comfortably than at home surrounded by the beauty of elemental nature. Experiencing the forest from the privacy of a hot tub in its midst feels profound.
Ten days later I am waking in panic again – I blame eating too late before retiring to that claustrophobic bedroom – but I make myself feel better instantly by getting out into my garden to contemplate the woodland which separates it from the road and instantly recreates in me the utter calm of the forest.
WHAT’S THE COST?
Cabin with hot tub sleeping four for three nights from £610; guided forest bathing session £30; in-cabin massage £120. More details at forestholidays.co.uk.