Bathing Among the Spanish Moss and the Trees

Yesterday I went on another introvert outing by way of The Nature Bus, a local business that creates nature adventures. You might be wondering what about a bus full of people supports an introvert outing? Here’s the thing about introverts, it’s not that we don’t enjoy people, it’s that we spend energy being with and around people that must be restored in solitude. After a year of lots and lots of solitude, I find I’m craving more time with people. Forest bathing with a small group provided nice people time, because it was mostly quiet, but offered group energy. And there’s just a difference when doing mindfulness practices in a group—you can actually feel the co-regulation of energy.

I find time in nature, whether in my garden, by the sea or walking in the woods to be incredibly healing, and I hunger for it when I haven’t had it. I’ve also found tremendous healing through a multitude of mindfulness practices. So, when I learned about the Japanese tradition of forest bathing in the documentary Call of the Forest: the Forgotten Wisdom of Trees, I didn’t need to be convinced of the benefits. Forest bathing involves intentionally using all of your senses to become fully immersed in the experience of being in the natural setting. Because trees produce oxygen, you’re getting bathed in it. They also put off other beneficial chemicals, some even used in chemotherapy treatments. There is lots of scientific evidence that just being in green space can help ease symptoms of anxiety and depression, as well as some things like ADHD.

So, while none of this was terribly new to me, making the commitment to doing the little trip on my own and giving up my control to come and go as I desire while staying on a bus with a group of people I didn’t know was a stretch for me! The more I do these things, though, the stronger my neural connection for taking these little risks. And there’s a lot of growth and healing in the process. When I saw the Nature Bus outing pop up, I knew it was an achievable risk for me!

The tour bus was set up for Covid with plexiglass dividers between seats and the windows open. There was an explanation of forest bathing and some mindfulness practice on the way to the State Park. Upon arriving at the park and throughout the walk, we stopped for further explanation, guided mindfulness practice and voluntary sharing. The rest of the time we were guided to focus on different aspects of our surroundings using different senses as we participated in slow, somewhat distanced, quiet mindfulness walking. At the end of a nearly 2-mile hike, we had a little tea ceremony with some lovely iced mint-lemongrass-lavender tea and then ate our lunches we brought picnic-style. Then back on the bus. The weather was gorgeous. I did not take a single picture, as my phone was turned off. The pictures here were borrowed from the Nature Bus site.

So, frequent visits to nature of all kinds have been very healing for me, as have a variety of mindfulness practices. Combining these things with trying something new and unknown stretched me to socialize and surrender some control for a bit, making growth inevitable!