Sinrin-joku - Forest therapy

What does forest wellness, forest therapy, Sinrin-joku mean?

Forest bathing in the new El Camino, or walk among the trees to live better!

It all started in 1982 when the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries coined the term Sinrin-joku, which means forest bath, but perhaps it is clearer when translated as experiencing the atmosphere of a forest. The Association for the Therapeutic Effects of Forests was formed in 2004 and was immediately embarked on a large-scale experiment: over two years, two hundred and eighty individuals studied the effects of forest and urban environments on twenty-four Japanese forests. Not surprisingly, the university group leading the experiment showed that a walk in the woods has a stress-reducing effect on humans and has other positive consequences.

The result cannot be called shocking, but researchers at Chiba University also supported their discoveries with numbers, and because part of the DNA of the Japanese people’s soul is a love of order, transparency, and purity, Sinrin-joku has become more popular year after year, and flanging and excursion were enriched with a therapeutic plus meaning.

From a physiological-anthropological point of view, humanity has lived in most of the last five million years in a natural environment. Accordingly, their physiological functions are best suited to the natural environment.

Please, this is not hiking

Forest therapy evangelists say their movement should not be confused with hiking. The goal of hiking is to get one from point A to point B, while Sinrin-joku is a meditation between trees in which one tries to use all five senses.

The secret lies in the deep breaths, and occasionally it is worth sitting, stopping, and immersing yourself in the sight of the landscape, touching trees, moss.

As we move, we are more natural, our mood dissolves more easily, it is easier to share our feelings and thoughts ”.

Offline is the new luxury

The aforementioned Japanese research found that people who walked in the forest had 16 percent lower cortisol levels in two hours than those who traveled in the city, and such numbers help us see forest therapy as more than just a trendy buzzword. And before we hesitate, it should not be forgotten that, as a result of urbanization, man becomes more and more a cave-dwelling creature, who only moves out of his dwelling if he has to and has some kind of duty to do so. (For an average urban person, the proportion of time spent indoors is 87 percent). It’s not hard to notice that there’s a very definite desire behind similar trends, and that’s to disconnect from the system. Thanks to the information revolution, we exist in its constant online state, the smartphone is the heroin of the brain and psyche, and humanity is still lost in the war against a new kind of addiction.

Yoga, the mindfulness movement, long-distance running, softer hygge, lagom, and forest therapy are all different battles of the same desperate crusade: we want to regain ourselves, our souls, a kind of healthy balance to be more than our Facebook feed. mindless scrolling zombies.

If we are lucky, we will be able to break out of the matrix a bit, and why shouldn’t this happen here in the forests of Mátra?

Forest therapy is an individual conversation that takes place while walking in a forest to help you relax. As we move, we are more natural, our mood dissolves more easily, it is easier to share our feelings and thoughts.

Short-term effects of forest therapy:

1. improves self-confidence and self-esteem
2. enhances vitality and joy
3. dissolves stress and uncertainty caused by internal turmoil

Long-term effects of forest therapy:

1. perception and outlook on life are transformed
2. Increase confidence in your spiritual fortress
3. a credible relationship is established with the internal value system and others
4. Improves life satisfaction

It provides 3 benefits at once:

1. For increased energy
2. For new aspects
3. Exercise in fresh air

More about the topic, exercises in the wood: www.erdofurdo.hu