
Autumn is my favourite time of year.
I have made it an annual ritual to make a sojourn in the first weekend after Labour Day to Glacier National Park. The intense heat of summer has dissipated, the cool crispness of the mornings is evident and the swaths of holiday traffic has diminished.
It is still dark outside when I leave Kelowna early Sunday morning. I make a quick stop for my morning coffee and continue on my way. As I travel through the North Okanagan, passing Vernon the aroma of endless corn fields permeates the air.
By first light an ethereal white mist rises up over the Shuswap River near Grindrod. By the time I am travelling on the Trans-Canada highway near Malakwa, the sharp and jagged outline of the Selkirk Mountains appears in the horizon. Near Revelstoke, the warm orange disc of sun rises in the east, distorted by the haze of some distant wild fire. In an hour or so I pull into the parking lot at the Hermit trailhead.
Hermit trail is a short but steep trail with incredible views of Mount McDonald, Mount Sir Donald and other Selkirk mountains, the Illecillewaet Glacier and Roger’s Pass. The hike is a grueling 820 metre elevation climb similar to the Grouse Grind in North Vancouver. The air is fresh and full of the aroma of Engelman spruce, Ponderosa pine, Douglas fir and western larch. After two hours of a steady uphill climb, two Cliff bars, one banana and 1.5 litres of water, I reach the top.
I am rewarded with breathtaking views, mountain fresh air and stunning vistas. I pause and imbue the incredible and powerful energy of natural world around me.
“Forest bathing” is the term used to describe an individual’s exposure to natural surroundings in a quiet, relaxed manner. It is an immersion into the world of trees and other living foliage. It means leaving the city and digital world behind, being off line and tuned in to Mother Nature.
“Shinrin-yoku” is the Japanese word meaning “forest bath” that was first coined in the early 1980s. In response to the rapid technological advances in the Japanese economy, some government officials suggested getting away from work and the digital world would be therapeutically beneficial. Particularly, exposure to trees and other foliage in a natural setting could have profound healing and health benefits.
Immersion into the natural world is not unique to the Japanese. North American Indigenous cultures have always practiced a strong connection to the natural world. Scandinavian cultures have a long history of Nordic nature healing. Many other cultures throughout the world have incorporated various aspects of nature therapy.
Real mindful exposure to nature involves the acumen of the five senses. You have a direct concentration and focus on the natural world around you. Your senses are quietly inundated by the sights, sounds, smells, tastes and tactile stimulation of nature.
You see the trees and other living foliage around you. Your eyes visually discern the earth below you and the mountains around you. You see the birds, insects and other animals.
You listen to the quiet hum of the natural world. You hear the array of bird calls and chorus, the motion of insects, the movement of water cascading down a mountain side and the wind as it sways through the trees.
You smell the natural odours around you. From the sweet aroma from trees, to the pleasing fragrances of wild flowers and the mustiness of the earth below your feet, you breath in the natural smells of nature.
You taste the savouriness of the forest, the saltiness of the earth and the sweetness of wildflowers and other foliage around you.
You touch the forest floor as your feet move across it, you climb across rock that are eons old, brush across a limb of shrub or a leaf of a tree.
Science is beginning to recognize the health benefits of forest bathing. From relaxation and stress reduction, to helping the immune system and improving mental health, the benefits are multiple.
Blood pressure and the heart rate slows as the cardiovascular system relaxes. Stress hormone levels, including adrenaline and cortisol, moderate blunting the stress response and promoting systemic relaxation. Muscle tension begins to ease and slacken.
The aromatic oils and resins from trees and other plants improve the sinuses, throat and lungs. Breathing becomes easier and fuller. The brain and nervous system relax into parasympathetic dominance.
After returning from my hike in Glacier Natural Park, I experience a mountain high caused by the mountain fresh air, the energy of Mother Nature and the dopamine response in my nervous system. Also, my thigh muscles burn with lactic acid as a reminder after the strenuous climb that is Hermit trail.
Forest bathing is a cheap and powerful therapy to recharge your body physically, mentally and spiritually.
The information provided in this article does not, and is not intended to, constitute medical advice. All information and content are for general information purposes only.
This article is written by or on behalf of an outsourced columnist and does not necessarily reflect the views of Castanet.