5 Simple Steps to Enjoying Your Own Forest Bathing Session
I love running my group Forest Bathing sessions and creating a ‘togetherness’ within the group, but I understand there are times when you want or need to go Forest Bathing alone.
My mission is to ensure as many people as possible benefit from this nature-based practice, so here are 5 simple steps to going Forest Bathing session alone…guiding you through and showing you what to do, without me being there. And, there’s a free guide you can view, print (or photograph to save paper) and take with you, to help you stay focused.
Something to note: you can do a version of Forest Bathing without a forest, so please don’t let the lack of access to a woodland put you off. You can adapt the suggested activities and carry them all out in your garden or any safe, quiet, outdoor space. This type of nature-based mindfulness that’s easily accessible to all is commonly known as Nature Connection. Forest Bathing is one method of Nature Connection.
🌿 Related: Learn more about Nature Connection here.
Before You Set Off…
Before you go Forest Bathing alone, here are some practicalities to consider.
I cannot overstate the importance of wrapping up warm. If you are cold, you won’t be able to relax into the experience. Wear comfortable clothes suitable for the weather and take two extra layers.
Ensure you also have a good rucksack or backpack and take with you:
- a sketchbook and/or journal
- a small, waterproof picnic mat (or a camping chair if getting down to ground level isn’t easy)
- a snack
- drinking water
- some tissues.
Whilst I recommend turning your phone to aeroplane mode, you may feel comfortable leaving your phone at home. If you decide to do this, please be sensible. Plot your route in advance and tell friends or family exactly where you’re planning to go, what time and for how long. Even with a phone, it is not a bad idea to tell someone else your plans before you leave. More so if you are “heading off the beaten track” and signal may be an issue.
REMEMBER…if you don’t want to go to the woods alone, visiting your local park or even your own garden will do perfectly.
You might also want to remind yourself of the proven benefits of Forest Bathing – refreshing your memory before you go will add depth to your experience as you realise all the healing that’s happening in that very moment.
🌿 Related: Learn about the Benefits of Forest Bathing
When You Arrive…
Once you arrive in the forest or park, walk into a quiet part, ideally an area that you are already somewhat familiar with, so that you feel safe, relaxed and at ease. Remember, Shinrin-Yoku (the Japanese term for Forest Bathing or Therapy) is designed to be a pleasurable experience, so invite as much enjoyment into your practice as you can.
Now, if you haven’t done so already, turn your phone off or to aeroplane mode, so that you won’t receive notifications. Silent mode isn’t good enough in case you want to take photos and as you look at your phone and you see messages and notifications waiting for you. On seeing these, you’ll be jolted back immediately into the ‘thinking mind’. The aim of Shinrin-Yoku is to quieten the mind and reconnect with the body, emotions and breath. So do everything you can to help this happen, even when you are alone.
Did you know photos can change our memories? Learn more here.
Practising Forest Bathing Alone
Familiarise yourself with the blog on beginner’s guide to Forest Bathing and then it’s time to follow the 5 steps set out below.
Take each stage slowly and purposefully. Focus on each activity. Allow yourself at least 1 hour, but ideally 2.
For your convenience, I have made these next five stages available as a PDF download that you can print (or photograph) and take with you.
STEP 1 – Settle into Forest Bathing Alone with a Sit Spot
Bring your focus to the breath. Begin inhaling deeply and exhaling slowly. I recommend breathing in for a count of 3 and out for 4 or 5.
This activates the parasympathetic nervous system which aids relaxation. Wander slowly around the area until you feel you’d like to stop and sit for a while. I’d suggest sitting by a tree. Put a mat down if you like, and I like to pull my hood up so when I lean back, I don’t worry about creepy crawlies getting into my hair. Perhaps you prefer a camping chair and that’s also ok; you want to maximise your comfort and minimise unhelpful distraction.
Spend some time becoming acquainted with the area. Breathe deeply and slowly. Look up to the sky. Spend some time really noticing the colour of the sky and the appearance of the clouds. Bring your awareness to how the clouds move and their different layers and colours. Notice the branches and leaves in the canopy. Also notice any bodily sensations, feelings and emotions as they come.
We don’t often look up in this way, and it can be a very soothing experience. Looking at fractals (patterns that repeat smaller and smaller copies of themselves) such as branching trees are known to aid relaxation. And then slowly bring your gaze lower and lower, until you get to the forest floor. Look at the ground and really notice it, pay attention to what you see. Feel your physical connection to the earth beneath you, feel grounded, feel rooted, feel supported. Allow 20 minutes for this sit spot invitation.
STEP 2 – Focus On Your Sense of Touch
Spend at least 20 minutes exploring your sense of touch with openness and curiosity.
Feel the breeze on your bare skin, as it blows across your face, your hands, in your hair. Move your hands to face different directions and see how the experience changes for you. Feel free to remain seated or stand up and engage with your natural surroundings in this spot you’ve chosen. Touch the ground beneath you, the texture of the forest floor and the bark of the trunk you’re leaning on. Pay attention to how the different surfaces feel and notice whether it’s pleasant or not. Stay with it if it’s enjoyable.
I am often amazed at how smooth to the touch tree roots are, and how utterly sumptuous and squishy the moss is. Feel how it is for you to be supported by the tree and the ground. Feel connected and grounded, and enjoy the sense of belonging. By going Forest Bathing alone, you have complete freedom to explore whatever you are called to explore.
If you feel drawn to sketch or journal, go ahead. I like to use the prompt, “Here in the natural world, I feel connected to…” and write, but sometimes I just like to doodle. If your mind wanders, bring your attention back to the breath and the present moment, acknowledge and thank the thoughts, and let them go. There are more sensory prompts in this beginner’s guide to Forest Bathing.
STEP 3 – Take a Slow Walk Noticing Movement
Another Forest Bathing exercise you can do alone is to wander through the forest at a snail’s pace engaging all your senses. Focus on the movement around you for this invitation. Align your rhythms with the rhythms of the forest and return to your natural way of being (instead of rushing about or juggling multiple tasks). When you become aware of a particular sensory experience, stay with there and see if you can connect with it more deeply. This could be noticing a dangling leaf spinning in the breeze and watching it for some time, with awareness of how you feel as you watch, Or perhaps you become aware of the sound of the breeze blowing through the leaves, so stop awhile and listen. When you feel ready to move on, continue wandering very, very slowly.
Aim to cover no more than 100 metres in a 20-minute period noticing the movement and aliveness of the forest as you wander. This is v.e.r.y s.l.o.w so if it feels like you are dawdling and this brings up some discomfort, you are doing it ‘right’.
STEP 4 – Connect with Gratitude
Wander again slowly, breathing deeply, noticing your surroundings. Using your body radar (your gut instinct), stop at a place where you’d like to spend some time. Using the natural materials around you build a gratitude gift for someone or something in your life you feel thankful for. Take only what will help you and try to do minimal damage to any living beings. Feel into the feelings of gratitude as you create, and allow any emotions or sensations in the body to be felt. Go ahead if you’d like to journal or sketch, and I often photograph my creation (but make sure your phone is on aeroplane mode so you don’t see all the queued-up notifications as you open the camera app). Leave this gift in place when you finish, as a gift to the forest and anyone or anything else that passes.
STEP 5 – Take a Forest Bathing ‘Walk of Praise’
As you leave the forest, walk slowly and stop each time you notice that another being has given you something. It could be a moment of visual beauty, a scent, the support of the earth beneath you…. whatever you are drawn to. When you stop, find a way to acknowledge the being through gratitude; some words, a touch, a bow or simply staying with that feeling of thanks for a while. When you are ready, continue walking until you connect with the next thing that captures your attention, repeating the steps until you reach the edge of the forest.
Download the 5 STEP GUIDE here.
Things to Remember When Forest Bathing Alone
I hope I have inspired you to go Forest Bathing alone. Remember, you do need to be disciplined and limit the use of any electronic devices to maintain your focus on the present moment. The “monkey mind” might take a while to cease, so when the thoughts come, acknowledge them and let them go, like a cloud floating away on a gentle breeze. Then, bring your attention back to the breath and reconnect with the invitation you are on. You may only have 1 or 2 hours. Make them count.
A couple of hours may seem a long time for just 5 activities to start with. Be gentle with yourself. It does take practice. To elongate your time remember to consider each of your senses in turn.
🌿 Related: The Beginner’s Guide to Forest Bathing
You could also use these beautifully illustrated Forest Bathing Cards. There are 10 different activities included, as well as an introduction to the practice.
Or Join a Guided, Group Forest Bathing Event in Hampshire
If you’d prefer to step off the merry-go-round and give yourself permission to switch off from all responsibilities completely, but worry about going it alone, then do consider joining me on a group Forest Bathing session in and around Hampshire.
In the guided experience, I am responsible for timekeeping, and I facilitate all invitations and hold a safe space for everyone in the group reflection circles. We do group and solo invitations with pair shares that can be incredibly cathartic. You’ll definitely get a broader depth of experience, find it easier to fully unwind and leave with a deep sense of relaxation, spaciousness and clarity of mind. Participants often describe feeling hugely cleansed and calm at the end. Some of the feedback after the session above included,
“You’ve made me so happy today”, “Powerful, from start to finish” and “This experience has made a huge difference to how I feel about a milestone birthday”.
- Read more and view the events for Forest Bathing in the Hampshire/Berkshire/Wiltshire area here.
- Contact me to discuss a bespoke online or in-person event for your team, friends or hen do, or to find out more about Forest Bathing Guide Training.
- Enjoy a free monthly Vitamin N (Nature) Adventure 😃 designed to get you out in nature and aligned to the wheel of the year.
Go it alone or come along to a session – just get Nature Connection in some way, shape or form into your life ASAP and start reaping the benefits. Enjoy!
Sonya 🌳
Adore Your Outdoors – Spreading the Nature Nerd Word.
