Tree hugging, forest bathing, and other curious things…

A screenshot I saved from the twitter feed of author Robert Macfarlane knowing that this was validation of my own affinity for trees and one day I would write about it.

For the love of trees…

For the past several days I have been surrounded by trees; massive cedars and firs that tower above in ancient forests.

My Sweet and I are on our annual trip to the coast. Tomorrow we will head to the camp where we will spend the remainder of our time on the Island (Vancouver Island) fishing for salmon.

But for now, we are staying with a friend and settling into a slower, more relaxed pace that seems to be part of the mindset of islanders. We’ve walked along beaches, watching the tide go in and out, changing the shape of the sandy shore with each wave that washes in and then recedes. We’ve strolled through a nearby park to watch a small river plunge through a canyon creating stunning waterfalls. And, my favourite activity of all, we have walked among the trees.

I love trees!

I often tell you how I love to walk through the forest on our acreage. It soothes me, renews me. Being surrounded by those tall aspens and spruce clears my mind in a way not many other things can.

I’ll tell you a secret…I’m a tree hugger.

Literally.

Tree hugging

It’s not something I do in front of other people, but I do.

There is something about laying my hands on the bark, feeling the texture of it; listening to the sound of the breeze moving through the leaves or making the boughs of a tall spruce swish against each other.

At home as I walk, I reach out my hands and let them slide across the cool, white bark of the aspens. I brush my hands against the needles of the spruce and pine trees as I pass by. I touch the frilled edges of peeling birch bark as soft as feathers against my skin.

But here on the coast where the Douglas firs and cedars tower above me, where the trunks of these ancient and majestic trees are so thick that my arms barely reach a quarter of the way around their circumference…here I quietly walk to the hidden side of a tree, out of sight, and I lay my cheek against the rough bark and place my hands gently on either side of the trunk. Here I am a tree hugger.

Connecting with the divine…

I close my eyes as I lean against the tree, quieting my mind in silent meditation. I breathe deeply, inhaling the soft, earthy fragrance of the forest. And I listen.

I offer a thank you, although I don’t often know what I’m thanking the tree for, but I’m grateful it is there and that is enough to be thankful for. I can’t imagine a world without trees.

I remember my Nepalese friends who offer ‘Namaste’ in greeting of recognition and respect – a word which means ‘the divine in me bows to the divine in you’. I think that anything created by God must by virtue of its place in creation, have something of the divine in it.

And sometimes, when my heart and mind are in sync, and perhaps when my hands are on the right tree, I can feel the space between my heart and my throat begin to swell with unspoken words and feelings.

It’s okay if you think that’s a little kooky. I kind of do too, but I’m probably not going to stop doing it either because it feels good and I like it.

Just so you know, I’m not the only one out in the forest hugging trees.

Forest bathing…

When I was looking for some activities and new places to visit while we’re here, I found a tour company that offers ‘forest bathing’. Have you heard of it? Here’s an article from Time magazine that talks about the amazing benefits of forest bathing:

http://time.com/5259602/japanese-forest-bathing

And here’s a link to the scientific study notes that talks about the amazing physical health benefits from practicing forest bathing:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/27493670

Read it if you have time, but in truth, everything I described above is exactly what forest bathing is. It is, in fact, a Japanese practice known as shinrin-yoku. The author of the Time article, Dr. Qing Li, calls forest bathing a bridge that allows us to close the gap between ourselves and the natural world.

We are spending more and more of our time indoors and we have become so – dare I say it – addicted to technology that we are forgetting how to disconnect from the busy-ness of our lives. We are losing (or have we given up?) the ability to connect with nature and appreciate the peacefulness that it brings to us. We spend more time clicking ‘like’ on photos of nature on Instagram or Facebook than we do walking through a garden and admiring the sights with our own eyes. Cities are growing larger and spaces are being maximized for housing developments. Green spaces, parks, and community gardens are shrinking along with our understanding that time spent in nature is critical to the quality of our mental, emotional, physical, and spiritual health.

As we struggle to find balance between work and family and all of our other commitments, perhaps we would be wise to find some time to focus our attention on a tree. Maybe we would be more engaged and connected to our lives and our relationships if we cultivated our connection to the natural world. It might just be that we would be better people, healthier people, if we spent a little more time hugging trees.