Thoughts While Forest Bathing

a path in the forest

By Winthrop

Yes, boys and girls, forest bathing really is a thing. According to an article in the National Geographic (October 2019). The practice of shinrin-yoku (“forest bathing” or “taking in the forest atmosphere”) emerged in Japan in the 1980’s as a physiological and psychological exercise. Having been fortunate enough to walk through the magnificent ancient cedar forests in Nikko in the mountains north of Tokyo, I can understand the Japanese embrace of this readily available therapy. This is not meant to be a treatise on the subject; though at least one book is available. At its essence, forest bathing is taking in the environment with all the senses and does not require hiking, jogging or any activity other than mindfulness.

The benefits are considerable beyond the obvious cardiovascular/musculoskeletal exercise and fresh air. While not recommended for wheelchairs, carriages, strollers and those unsteady on their feet who should stick to the level and consistent surface of the rail trail, walking along most of Holliston’s woodland trails requires an unconscious stimulation of the brain in placing each footfall amid the roots and rocks that are an inevitable part of walks or runs in New England woods.

Changes in season alter the experience dramatically. Autumn brings cooler temperatures, colorful falling leaves, variegated mushrooms and the departure of the ticks and flies. Winter brings bare trees with longer sight lines, animal tracks, crisp frigid air and snowshoeing opportunities, Spring brings that delicate green the Italians call prima verde, spring peepers and birds calling. Summer has the lushest growth and appearance but the bugs can be a nuisance.

We are blessed to live in an area whose natural state is forestation as the first European settlers found it. Any doubters of this need only observe what happens to any field or pasture that is undisturbed by mowing or grazing and how the forest gradually reclaims it. The stone walls that crisscross our woodlands are testimony to this. What we locals take for granted is viewed with wonder by visitors from other parts of the country who are astounded at the proliferation of trees so close to a major urban area.

One might think that this is a timeless tableau that appeared the same to our colonial forebears and the Native Americans before them. But something is amiss. Everywhere I look, I see fallen trees, either horizontal on the ground or tilted crazily and held up by their neighbors. I theorize that when firewood was the main source of heat, a fallen tree would be quite literally a windfall and too valuable a commodity to lie rotting on the forest floor. Sooner rather than later, someone would come with axe or saw in hand to cut it up and bring it home.

Holliston Town Forest Trail

Holliston has done an admirable job in preserving woodlands and providing public access through trail networks, parking, trailheads and maps in many locations, some just steps away from the center. I am especially appreciative of being able to walk 100 yards from my front door into a magical wooded landscape with a surprising range of topography, including escarpments, boulders, outcroppings, streams, ponds, wetlands, dizzying elevation changes, and of course the variety of deciduous and evergreen trees. We are in debt to the benefactors who donated the land, the Town for its acquisitions and the Eagle scouts whose projects have enhanced our enjoyment.