What do you expect from forests? As the sources for H2O, for sure. Amazon Rain Forest is to stop global warming, certainly. Increasing your property value if your mansion happens to be in front of the Central Park, OK, OK. For me, especially now with the aching broken right wrist, visiting forest is to have much needed relaxation … (Today’s X-ray said my bone is recovering. Thank you really for your moral support.) As some of you may know, in parts of the world, people recognize the healing power of forests. A calm walking in a forest is like bathing in a therapeutic spa, thus here comes the naming of “forest bathing.” Oh, by the way, I’ve heard an American journalist went a forest bathing session in swimming suit to interview participants. That was a HUGE misunderstanding. Let me explain a bit what is “forest bathing” this week. My forest instructor seniors told me in South Korea people can claim public health insurance coverage for forest bathing as a part of treatments for diseases. That’s super! (I need it now!) Unfortunately, Japan has not reached the stage yet, but we are inching closer. To attract health tourists, several Japanese local offices combine their beautiful natural resources (forest, spa, beach …) with local produces (veggies, diary, fish, gibier, organic meat, …) and the advanced hospital treatments and health check-ups. The vanguard is Nagano Prefecture 長野県, but in Kanagawa Prefecture 神奈川県 Yamakita Town 山北町, where we’ve visited in last week’s post, offers “Therapy Roads” program as well.
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| Several
Therapy roads are designated near Hohki Sugi (箒杉 Hohki cedar, aka the Treasure Tree) in Yamakita Town. |
Yamakita’s
program goes like this. The town hall chooses Therapy Roads from numerous
hiking courses. Visitors can simply visit a route by ourselves as hikers, i.e.,
a sort of self-medication. We would also join forest therapy events organized
by the town for which the registered forest therapists act as MC. They guides
us a slow and calming walk in a Therapy Road, and give us yoga sessions, and/or
aroma therapy experience from the nature, and/or meditation, and/or … you’ve
got an idea, haven’t you? These events are pre-packaged tours for a particular
theme, like “Yoga in fresh spring forest.” Instead, if you have a specific need
for relaxation, you could call the town office to arrange an order-made forest
bathing session with the therapist. For about 4 hour session, 7500+ yen, RSVP ...
MY WRIST NEEDS IT! … Er, well, no. I
have to continue rehab exercise first before hiking, I know. Though, honestly,
I’m stressed out with my injury and DO need some occasion of forest therapy.
Then, by chance, an opportunity came. For novice forest instructors like us,
Kanagawa Forest Instructor Association organized a one-day introductory course
for forest therapy. It was consisted of lectures and actual
demonstration/experience sessions. Experience! So I and my aching wrist signed
up. That was really GOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOD.
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| Novice Forest Instructors are in lesson for bathing. |
The
effect of forest “therapy” may not yet be in the established thinking of
clinical world. Even though, its scientific
notion has about 90 years of history. In 1928, a Russian biochemist of
Leningrad University, Boris P. Tokin, coined the term “phytoncide” that
describes chemicals plants produce as an antibody to predators like insects,
animals, fungus, etc. Warding-off bad elements to a body = Good for health,
right? It seems to me the notion was combined with local knowledge of Russia
and Ukraine and spread eastwards of the Eurasian Continent. At the terminal point
we Japanese happened to be able to recognize the possibility of the notion, as
we traditionally live with lots of forests and similar ideas. Meanwhile, the
benefit of pink noise is getting acceptance within psychotherapeutic community
of the Western, or main-stream, medicine, and forests naturally offer lots of
1/f wave length for strollers … fluctuation by winds of leaves, twigs, grass …
birds chirping … gargling from mountain stream … dances of sun shine through
tree canopy … Phytoncide and pink noises of a forest enhance all the 5 (or 6)
senses in a very meditative way. It could yield medical benefit endorsed by
scientific data, which is the current thinking in Japan. Actually, the National
Forest Research and Management Organization, 森林総合研究所 has a team of scientists who are studying the issue. From my personal experience, I
do believe there is something beyond quackery, which gives a good reason for
spending tax-payers’ money on their research. Someday, their research would be
the basis for public health policy ...
Of course,
to claim therapeutic result from a procedure, we need medical license. The
majority of Kanagawa Forest Instructors are not from medical profession so that
the training was for us forest instructors to educate ourselves in order to
communicate possible health benefits to the visitors of forests. The Kanagawa
Forest Instructor Association calls a program focusing on relaxation in a
forest “Forest Soothing 森林癒し.” The most basic menu goes
like this:
1.
First, taking a deep breath in a forest, with a small stretching session
especially for limbs and shoulders. It also acts as a warm-up for a walk.
2.
Changing a scenery, sit at a good view point to observe the nature, like large
shape of mountain, numerous hues of green of a forest, rapid mountain stream,
floating clouds … In the process, the participant try to concentrate on our own
deep breaths in ways of yoga or chi kung.
3. Enter
into a forest of large trees where forest instructors provide a large picnic
blanket for the participant to lie down on the forest floor. The participants
stay there for at least 10 minutes in silence and watch the canopy of the
forest drifting about with winds and flowing clouds in the sky. No problem if
you end up sleeping on the blanket ...
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| Preparation for bathing |
 |
| Over
there seen from me lying on the forest floor … lots of 1/f … zzzzzzzzz |
4.
Moving to another part of forest preferably near a mountain stream. There,
forest instructors prepare hammocks and the participants can lie down in it. We
will stay there for at least 10 minutes again in silence to enjoy gentle sway
of the hammock and burbling of the stream in sync. Sleeping is encouraged.
 |
| We exercised too to learn how to secure the hammocks. |
5. We
move near to the stream and listen the flow of water. If you have a walking
stick, or there is driftwood in good size nearby, you can dip a tip of the pole
in rapids and listen the sound of the stream by attaching your ear to another
end. Very interestingly, we can certainly hear comforting sound of stream …
 |
| Listening water |
During
the entire session, an MC takes a lead of slow and very quiet walk in the forest,
which becomes naturally meditative. The chat is deliberately controlled to be
minimum for the participants to immerse ourselves fully in phytoncide and pink
noise, using our own 5 (or 6) senses. When an MC finds a plant of fragrance,
like trees of Lauraceae family, s/he
can invite the participant to smell it to stimulate our sense of smell. Before
the conclusion, or at the beginning, of the session, a cup of herb tea, like chamomile
or peppermint, is offered for soothing the sense of taste.
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| Edgeworthia chrysantha. They smell sweet … |
Although
it was an educational session for us forest instructors to know the standard
process of forest bathing, I found it soooooooooooooooo relaxing. It was a fine
early spring weekend, still a bit cold in Tanzawa mountains. Between the canopies
of large cedar trees, I could see a very blue sky with cotton-candy clouds. Fresh
green twigs and clouds all wafting quietly 30m (or beyond) above us. From
somewhere near, we heard warbling of Japanese tits, wrens, Japanese robins … A
part of the forest was populated by flowering Edgeworthia chrysantha. Sweet and lemony scent wafted from their
pale yellow flowers … Sound of torrents from melted snow was warm … maybe it
was a memory from the womb of our mom ... One of my friends who is a
professional MC for forest therapy told me, the skill of a MC is measured by
his/her ability to provide relaxing time in silence. I asked her if it is like
zen meditation at temples in Kamakura 鎌倉 (for example, here or here). “Er,
no. You know, unless we are really skilled in zen meditation, the practitioners
are always afraid of being beaten by a zen stick. Granted, there is a good objective
for a zen stick to achieve an effective zen. But it’s different from forest
bathing …” Hmmmmmmmmmm … I’m a still a baby forest instructor. Let me think and
feel about forest soothing more with my aching wrist …
If you find environmental problems in
Tanzawa mountains please make a contact to
Kanagawa Nature Conservation Center 神奈川県自然環境保全センター
657 Nanasawa, Atsugi City, 243-0121 〒243－0121 厚木市七沢657
Phone: 046-248-0323
You can send an
enquiry to them by clicking the bottom line of their homepage at http://www.pref.kanagawa.jp/div/1644/
For more general enquiry
about tourism in the area, the contact address is
Office of Policy Planning,
Yamakita Town 山北町役場企画政策課 企画班
Phone: 0465-75-1122, FAX: 0465-75-3660
You can send an
enquiry to them from here.
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