24.4.18

Shinrin-yoku therapy

I value my daily forest baths along the lake -- abundantly. They save me from daily life's anxieties. The less people on the path, the better. Every morning, I bump into an Asian man who sits on a bench massaging his earlobes and tapping his stress away. He simply perches himself on a bench lakeside, his own personal shinrin-yoku nook. 

As I continue on the path, I consciously take deep breaths . . . in . . . and . . . out. I hike at a reasonable pace as I make my way around the lake. Every so often, I run into patches of fallen pine, and the smell of trees' oil soothes my soul as I gratefully wake up to another day of improving myself and trying to make the world a better place. 


That's all we can do . . . keep trying. As I take notice of how the lake shimmers in the sun or get a glimpse of a bluejay flitting through the branches, for a while I can forget the ugliness in the world and pray that as I heal a little in nature's energy, the world heals a little too. My abundant value of shinrin-yoku supports my hope to contribute eagerly to my community, to keep going.

May you explore your own nature therapy and carve out a time and space for yourself to realize your abundant value in the world.