The Japanese Art of Forest Bathing: Nature is good for you

Anyone who has spent significant time in nature knows its beneficial, relaxing effects. In Japan, they’ve elevated the experience to an art form with the practice of shinrin-yoku—forest bathing or forest therapy.

The process is simple: get outside, focus on your environment using all of your senses, and relax.

If you want to read more about the practice, here are some links to get you started:
Your Brain on Nature: Forest Bathing and Reduced Stress. Mother Earth NewsTake Two Hours of Pine Forest and Call Me in the Morning, Outside MagazineJapan's Forest Therapy tracks healing powers of forests, Treehugger

And until you can get outside, here's a video created by TEDxAlgonquinPark 2012 speaker Adam Ruzzo that will get you in the spirit, Western Upland Sketches: An Original Music and Video Tribute to Algonquin Park.

TEDxAlgonquin Park 2013 is Thursday, September 5. Be sure to sign up for our newsletter so you don't miss announcements about our speaker line-up and attendee applications!