Sublime

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,

At once slow deep green rolled over him. He took a breath, and another, smelling old rotting leaves and healthy growth and autumn light. He felt almost as though he could have planted his feet and become a tree himself, a strong oak reaching up to the sky, brother of the old oak who ruled the wood. Ah, he thought, and nothing else.