Forest Bathing

"Nature heals...sitting, sharing space with nature, admiring beauty, or simply playing amongst it...nature is awesome"

Forest Bathing or Shinrin-yoku is the practice of being in nature; ‘bathing’ in the awesome goodness that trees release into the atmosphere; reaping the benefits from magic little things called ‘phytoncides’ and receiving mental calmness from the fractal patterns, vibrant shades of green and calming blues around us.

The University of Stirling Campus is located on the historic Airthrey estate which has been landscaped and planted with many trees over several centuries. An arboretum was added by the last private owners, the Graham family, with advice from renowned Scottish ‘plant hunter’ George Forrest.

Forest Bathing is a series of ‘invitations’, they literally are just this, there is no right or wrong, just an invitation or suggestion of something to do. During your session you will be invited to perform an activity and focus on specific senses, but you can choose to interpret them however you need to; listen to your instincts.

As you open your senses you should start to feel more grounded and detached from the stresses of everyday life. You may start to feel super relaxed and reach what we call liminality, from the Latin word līmen, meaning "a threshold". This is a glorious timeless space between the 'tamed world' of mobile phones and general busyness and the 'untamed world' of unpressured, unrestrained relaxation. Because there is the opportunity to become super relaxed it is also important to give yourself time at the end of your session to come back to reality, especially if you are driving home! We suggest you bring a snack with you and take time at the end to have a drink and maybe something to eat.

Here we provide some guidance for you to enjoy your own Forest Bathing session around the campus.