Category Archives: therapy

Forest Bathing, Health, mental health, therapy, therapy, Uncategorized

FROM: Global Wellness Summit – Global Wellness Trends Report: The Future of Wellness 2020

Leave a comment
komorebi
Komorebi

FROM: Global Wellness Summit – Global Wellness Trends Report: The Future of Wellness 2020

CONNECTING TO NATURE Shinrin-Yoku (Forest Bathing), Therapeutic Onsens and Yummy Shojin Ryori Vegan Temple Food

Japan’s deep reverence for nature also acts as preventative healthcare. For example, forest bathing began in 1982 with a Japanese national health program. Coordinated by the Forest Therapy Society, there are now 62 ofcial healing forests and 1,200 certified guides, with over 2.5 million people walking the healing forest trails in 2018.14 Studies support the breadth of health benefits of connecting all five senses to nature, from reduced blood pressure, lower stress and improved cardiovascular and metabolic health to lower blood-sugar levels and improved concentration, memory and energy.15, 16, 17 The phytoncide in cedar and cypress has been shown to have calming effects on people, as well as providing a boost to the immune system, with one study having shown a 53 percent increase in the count of the body’s natural killer cells after two days in these forests.

PETER EADON-CLARKE Advisor, Conceptasia Inc.

Dr. Qing Li of the Nippon Medical School in Tokyo and president of the Forest Therapy Society, who also spoke at the 2019 GWS, notes that we spend 93 percent of our time indoors, leading to a nature-deficit disorder. As the inbound tourism boom is discovering, Japan has an incredible wealth of natural assets to facilitate recovery: in addition to the 62 healing forests, there are 20,972 onsens (hot springs), two-thirds of the global total, providing a rustic, authentic, and hyper-specific wellness experience. In addition to the medicinal benefits of the various minerals in the water, deep-soaking bathing has thermotherapeutic effects (a higher body temperature stretches capillaries improving circulation, increasing metabolism and reducing fatigue), water pressure effects (improving the flow of your blood and lymph fluid) and buoyancy effects. The latter, by reducing the body’s weight to one-tenth of what it normally is,

PETER EADON-CLARKE Advisor, Conceptasia Inc.

The Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programs ANFT, has certified 800 guides in 44 countries to date.

natureandforesttherapy.org

culture, education, Forest Bathing, Health, mental health, therapy, opinion, therapy, Uncategorized

The ANFT Way of Forest Therapy

Video Leave a comment

Important information about why forest therapy with a guide has far reaching potential for everyone.

Contents include an overview of Forest Therapy, a description of some of the emerging issues in the forest therapy field, a transparent discussion of the business aims of ANFT, and the Scope of Practice and Professional Standards upon which the ANFT Guide Training and Certification Program is built.
— Read on view.joomag.com/the-anft-way-of-forest-therapy-the-anft-way-of-forest-therapy/0822982001561584510

Forest Bathing, Health, Health, mental health, therapy, therapy, Uncategorized

Forest Bathing

Video Leave a comment

 

Forest Therapy, also known as
“Shinrin-Yoku,”

refers to the practice of spending time in forested areas for the purpose of enhancing health, wellness, and happiness. The practice follows the general principle that it is beneficial to spend time bathing in the atmosphere of the forest. The Japanese words translate into English as “Forest Bathing.”

How do might you do it?

Enter the forest with an intent to have a direct, uninterrupted, immersive engagement.

arboretum lawn

Cross the threshold into the forest and acknowledge the ceremonial honor of entering the home of gracious beings.

baldwin lake shoreline

Take time to become aware of yourself, your body, and what your senses are perceiving

Begin to take notice of each impression you have as it occurs

baldwin lake side cottage

Move slowly through the forest as you observe everything else that is moving around you

lakeside palm

Explore aspects of the forest that enable you to have an intimate appreciation for what you find by connecting with your senses

water feature

Sit and discover what has been revealed to you

phoenix

close your visit with a ceremony before crossing the threshold as you depart

 

“The problem with our busy city lives, however, is that the stressful events keep piling up.  There will be emails to answer, co-workers demanding attention, a deadline looming, the shopping to get done, the bills to be paid.  And our cortisol levels remain always slightly raised.

When cortisol is released constantly, it can disrupt all our body’s processes. And people who produce chronically high levels of cortisol are at increased risk of numerous health problems.”

Dr. Qing Li

Forest Bathing, pgs. 66-67

autumn autumn mood colorful edge of the woods
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

culture, family, genealogy, hope, Musings, service, therapy, Uncategorized

How We Honor Our Heritage

Leave a comment

Have you thought about lately what you do with the treasures that others have buried inside you?

Quoting an often remembered parable “The kingdom of heaven is like treasure hidden in a field, which a man found and covered up. Then in his joy he goes and sells all that he has and buys that field.”

My mother’s love language was acts of service. Without any conscious purpose I have spent the majority of my life pursuing the following professions, military, police, and education. All of which gave me opportunities to help, protect, and cultivate. Now I’m taking the time to consider what it means to be my mother’s son.

One of her defining traits was fostering. Her grandmother showed her what that meant while raising her from infancy. As a child my mother practiced it with her cousins. As an adult she continued it with coworkers, friends and acquaintances throughout her life.

I am humbled by the daily experience where I engage in the same fostering my mother once did. This manifests as a cherished memory now. One I welcome with warm embrace. Thankfully, I have powerfully available visual cues to remind me of how my mother’s spirit remains present in her absence.

A4B9E78F-A379-4747-BB0D-BC36B50721F9.jpeg

It occurs to me that similar expressions will be born out in her other children, grandchildren, and those others whom she endowed with her loving legacy. There is a good sized list. My hope is that in the days ahead that we live without her, each of us still recognize how we operate as an extension of the seeds she planted within us.

What about you? Who do you think about? What do you remember? What do you see in your life that must have come from them? Will the idea of honoring the heritage they passed on to you bring you peace, comfort, or assurance? Will it bring healing and restoration? Will it help you bury your treasures in the right fields?

Continue reading How We Honor Our Heritage →

BLOGGING, Health, mental health, therapy, therapy, Uncategorized, Writers and the like

Writing Meditation

Leave a comment

5 Things You See

For my practice of mindfulness I completed the exercise of describing five things I observed when I went outside today.

Water

The shimmering surface of a pool of water.  The clear blue hue.  Stained surfaces beneath the water, bleached, rough, and uneven.

abstract aqua blue clean
Photo by Pixabay on Pexels.com

Shadows

Gray Oak leaves blowing in the wind.  Bouncing off the ground.  Waving along a wooden fence.

Hammock

An empty hammock rocking slowly back and forth.  Dozens of pine needles trapped in the white cloth webbing , dotted with dried leaves.

hammock palm trees bungalows bora bora
Photo by Chris McClave on Pexels.com

Lamp

A black oil lamp hanging from a pole.  Rust spots below an empty wick slot, on one side of the base a capless reservoir.  Soiled surfaces along the frame and a dusty glass enclosure.

Wind Chimes

Six silver flutes strung with black string hanging from a stone stamped with “Welcome” in a bed of flowers.  Alongside, two faded tear drop clappers twisted into a line of miniature Christmas lights.

decoration design hanging love
Photo by Manesh Xavier on Pexels.com

Do you practice writing meditations?  Does it help you with mindfulness?  Does it benefit your writing?