Author: Esther Neela

In my younger days, when I was introduced to the basic elements present on earth such as wind fire, earth, sea and sky, I tend to favour the earth element more than the others. Whenever I think of earth, the trees come to my mind. I love trees or greenery. Back in my younger days, there was always an opportunity to be close by frangipani trees, casuarina trees and more. These days the varieties of trees found in Singapore differs. Of course, we do have the “common” trees that can be found along the roadside.

Trees are great healers too! In Japan, there is something known as shinrin-yoku or forest therapy. Forest therapy or forest bathing (as some may call it) is the practice of taking a short, leisurely visit to a forest. Walking through a forest or to a place of greenery does provide someone with health benefits. There are many articles on this and below are two of those articles.

Forest Bathing: A Retreat To Nature Can Boost Immunity And Mood
https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/07/17/536676954/forest-bathing-a-retreat-to-nature-can-boost-immunity-and-mood

The Japanese practice of ‘forest bathing’ is scientifically proven to improve your health
The Japanese practice of ‘forest bathing’ is scientifically proven to improve your health

Spending time with trees or plants not only improves our overall health, but it just allows us to be in the moment. Quite often in our life, we are occupied with many matters that we may at times feel disconnected to our own self. Forest Therapy / Bathing is a good idea to get ourselves connected and unified – with the help of the energy and vibrations of the trees.

For those of us who are city dwellers and do not have access to “forest” or a place near us that provides us greenery that much, there are many ways we can experience “forest therapy / bathing” too.

Some ways:
a) have some greenery around us such as green plants around our work desk or our homes
b) If work requires you to be desk bound, one way is to have a desktop wallpaper or screensaver of greenery or forest. At regular intervals, close your eyes, and keep that visual forest in your mind. As each moment passes, imagine yourself being in the premise and enjoying the “green” moments.
c) build a Zen garden or invest where you can “draw” your own Zen garden, such as can be found here in this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?gl=SG&v=MNH9jpwvc7Q&hl=en-GB
d) If you are the type who prefers fish and aquarium, you also can have that in your indoor space to have an “escape” or feel “closer” to nature.
e) neighborhood parks also gives a form of relaxation. Look for parks nearby you and make a point to go for walking around that place.
f) If you have a Koi pond or any pond, spending time near it, also can give you a form of relaxation. I find this works for me well. Spending time near a Koi pond provides me with some “fresh” vibrations.

There are many ways where one can always reconnect to nature on a daily basis. It is a matter of effort and discipline on our part to do that.

Make sure you have a “date” with nature daily! 🙂