Shinrin-yoku originated in Japan during the 1980s. It's defined as making contact with and taking in the atmosphere of the forest. Here we call it forest bathing.
Imagine yourself in the ambiance of the forest. You walk slowly and open your senses. You feel the touch of the breeze on your skin. You listen to bird songs and the movement of trees in the wind, and you take a deep breath.
Miku Lenentine is an Association of Nature and Forest Therapy (ANFT)-certified guide on this island who helped lead a walk through the Lyon Arboretum. She's been offering forest walks virtually and in-person primarily through Kapiʻolani Community College.
HPR talked with Phyllis Look of Forest Bathing Hawaiʻi, the state's first certified forest therapy guide. She retired from Hawaiʻi Public Radio as the marketing director to lose herself in forest bathing.
"The real importance of forest bathing in everyday life is about coming back to a relationship with the natural world that many of us don't have the time, or society certainly doesn't encourage that anymore," Look said. "There is incredible intelligence and knowledge and lessons that we have to learn if we would just quiet ourselves and take some time to slow down and look outside."
Look has led over 400 sessions since 2018. She offers three-hour walks to the public at Lyon Arboretum (Mānoa Valley) on most Fridays, and at Camp Pālehua (Makakilo) on select Saturdays.
Look will be on Maui on Nov. 11 and 12 for free forest bathing sessions at the Maui Nui Botanical Gardens.
This interview aired on The Conversation on Nov. 9, 2023. The Conversation airs weekdays at 11 a.m. on HPR-1.
