The Atmosphere of Forest Bathing: More-Than-Human Connection in Ecological Crisis

Forest bathing is a contemplative wellness practice whose process connects one's senses to the natural environment. Taken from the term shinrin-yoku, or "taking in of the forest atmosphere", coined by Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries (MAFF) in 1982, the concept has seen a surge in usage by institutions in the U.S. to describe a modality of nature therapy that consists of a sensory-oriented, guided walk (Annerstedt et al. 2011). In literal terms, this walk lasts between one and three hours, and, per some conventions, covers less than one-mile in distance. Both the concept and the practice are in their nascent stages. As it exists today, forest bathing is generally construed as a harmonious communion between nature and human subject which seeks to repair a sense of personal and ecological well-being through trained attention. Intuitively, we may see the purpose of this contemplative practice as serving some kind of practical need. A need that grows out of current conditions of ongoing, multiple, and increasingly entangled psychic, interpersonal, and environmental crises.