Walking in the Woods: Go back to nature with the Japanese way of shinrin-yoku

The Japanese are masters of shinrin-yoku. Shinrin means “forest” in Japanese and yoku means “bath.” Forest bathing via a walk or mountain bike ride in the woods has many advantages, including the reduction of the stress hormone cortisol,

1. Shinrin yoku

Eco-therapy. Green time. Wilderness cure. Whatever name you hang on it, spending time in nature is a wonderful way to slow down.

It makes you calmer, happier and less stressed. It boosts memory, creativity and concentration. It can also deepen friendships.

In Japan, spending time in nature is called shinrin yoku (“forest bathing”) —

Cuando la gente empezó a practicar el shinrin-yoku, a principios de de la década de 1980, se basaban únicamente en el sentido común y en la idea intuitiva de que rodearse de la belleza de los verdes bosques de Japón nos haría bien. El término lo inventó en 1982 el entonces ministro de Agricultura, Bosques y Pesca, Tomohide Akiyama, que declaró que

We’ve built entire industries and massive layers of infrastructure specifically for the purpose of easing the burdens of survival, exposure, and physical movement. But now our success is beginning to look like a Pyrrhic victory; we’ve beaten back the forces of nature, but in the process, we’ve very nearly defeated our own health. This brings us to