Slow down - that’s the key. For the first ten minutes our group stood in a wooded glade of Soames Park, listening to Haida Bolton talk about how she found solace and joy by walking in the forest. It was only after ten minutes had passed that I noticed the arrangement of fungi on the tree opposite me – it was textural and aesthetically pleasing. I must have passed this tree a dozen times previously, without noticing.
Bolton is BC’s first certified forest therapy guide; she studied in California at the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programs. The course builds on Shinrin-Yoku, the Japanese practise of “forest bathing” that has become part of a public health program in Japan where there are designated therapy trails among the trees. The Japanese have done extensive research to determine that forest therapy lowers heart rate and blood pressure, reduces stress hormone production, boosts the immune system and improves overall feelings of well-being.
Bolton was happy to find that walks in the forest could be considered therapeutic. “I’ve been doing it all my life,” she said. She is clear about one thing: the forest – not the guide – is the therapist.
While slowly leading a small group along the trail, Bolton invited us to smell, see and feel as we wished. I noticed that the wind in my face was making the forest scents stronger, and how the many ferns moved in the breeze. I examined the dead branches on the ground that had already merged with the earth, slowly becoming part of it. I felt the spongy stumps, how they sopped up water and nursed small plants.
When we reached the creek that splashed under a log bridge, we were asked to look upstream to a pleasant view of rushing water. Then we looked downstream. Uh-oh, a log jam! My human impulse was to scramble down the bank and clear the stream – until I saw that the water was able to find a way through without my help.
At the end of our walk, Bolton spread six pottery cups on a blanket and boiled water in a camper’s kettle to make tea. The ingredients were western hemlock and huckleberries picked along the trail that day.
Nature with Haida is holding two forest therapy retreats at Ruby Lake Resort near Pender Harbour May 12 to 15 and again Sept. 22 to 25. The package includes three, three-hour sessions with guided walks plus accommodation and meals. See www.rubylakeresort.com/forest-therapy-retreat for information. See more about forest therapy at www.naturewithhaida.ca.
