You Can’t Forest Bathe by Zoom… Can You?

Forest bathing is traditionally thought of as an in-person activity on the landscape. Before 2020, guides were trained beginning with an in-person immersion with experienced mentors and other participants. However, when the pandemic descended in March 2020, the Association for Nature and Forest Therapy radically re-evaluated their training model.

You can’t forest bathe online… can you?

ANFT’s perspective is that the forest is the therapist. The guide opens the doors, supporting participants in slowing down and opening to sensory experience. Must the guide be present in person for the participant to benefit?

During my guide training from January through July 2021, I learned from two trainers with deep experience in this practice. They applied the same skills of supporting sensory awareness through invitations, delivered through an online framework to meet participants wherever we were, spread across two continents and seven time zones. And it worked.

Kirsten after receiving her first remotely-guided, backyard forest bathing session in January 2021

During these remotely-guided forest bathing sessions, I noticed more about my backyard and neighborhood parks than I had in the previous 10 years I’d lived here. With each session, I slowed down, and took the time to feel the changes from deep winter into early summer. I became familiar with the texture and colors of the shaggy ribbons of silver maple bark, and sniffed the fresh gray squirrel incisor and scent marks on the bark. I followed the tiny bounding trails in the snow, and looked more closely at the trails leading to my raspberry canes, finding scat, lays, and fresh feeding sign of cottontails.

Walking around my neighborhood with an earbud in one ear, I noticed the fuzzy grey buds appearing on the dogwood in spring, and the parallel lines of sapsucker holes on a neighbor’s tree. I followed a honeyed fragrance, and found basswood and catalpa blossoms on the Summit Avenue median. After each sensory invitation, the trainers gathered us back together for a brief sharing invitation, giving space for us to share what we were noticing.

The process of being present to what I was experiencing, and having those stories witnessed in an open, accepting environment, was exceptionally powerful, positive, and therapeutic.

Remotely guided forest bathing sessions allow you to explore a place you choose, in an accessible way.

This approach can be beneficial for several groups of participants:

1. Folks with disabilities or physical limitations: There’s no concern about getting too cold, getting tired, or falling on uneven or slippery terrain. You’ll always have a toilet available nearby. You get to choose how to interact from the comfort of your home or backyard, with your video off if you wish.
2. People currently under hospital or nursing care: Whether you’re in a hospital bed or a rehabilitation facility, this mind-body exploration is available to you. Sensory invitations can incorporate a picture, painting, or window. Whatever is present can become a support for relaxation and rest.
3. Office workers: When I worked in health care administration, I often did not have two hours during the day to relax in a local forest, much less the time to commute there and back. Depending on the day, I might have had 30-60 minutes for lunch, and access to a park or green space near my office building. Remotely-guided sessions allow an office worker to easily participate during a morning or lunchtime break, and their coffee or meal becomes a support for sensory invitations.

You have a chance to experience this with upcoming Forest Bathing Breaks.

Here’s what you can expect:

• Each Forest Bathing Break will be 30-60 minutes long. (I’ll keep the time so you don’t have to.)
• You’ll sign into Zoom through your phone or computer. If you want to wander, I suggest calling in with your cell phone & keeping an earbud in one ear.
• You’ll receive invitations for you to engage with your senses, wherever you are.
• You get to adapt those invitations as you wish, and enjoy those experiences.
• After the sense invitations, you’ll have a chance to share whatever you wish to share.
• We’ll close with invitations for taste and smell — a great way to savor your lunch during midday breaks, or coffee during morning breaks.
• We’ll close with 5 minutes to spare, so you can be at ease and make your next commitment on the hour.

I’ll offer these Forest Bathing Breaks at least twice per month. You can find the schedule here. You may participate in as many breaks as you wish each month, for a low monthly cost.

Sign up here to try a Forest Bathing Break, and experience the benefits for yourself.