In early October, NeighborSpace had the privilege of hosting a forest bathing event in coordination with Forest Harmony and Howard EcoWorks. Neighbors from the Dunmore community joined us at Levickas Woods in Catonsville to release built up tension and stress by connecting with the forest around us. 

For those who haven’t heard of the concept of forest bathing, worry not! I wasn’t familiar with the term until planning for this event had begun. There’s no actual bathing during the session; rather, it focuses on engaging the senses in a mindful way, utilizing the plant life of the forest. By “bathing” your senses – in this case touch, smell, sight, and hearing – in connection with the forest, we are able to focus our attention on the present moment, rather than letting our minds wander to things that are stressing us out. This allows our overall heart rate to relax, regulating our central nervous system and inducing a state of calm that places us on solid mental and emotional ground.

Our guide for this event was Dhruv Veda, the founder of Forest Harmony. He gave us a brief history of Forest Bathing by talking about its roots in 1980s Japan and its crucial role in alleviating a mental health crisis there. The types of trees and shrubs that occur in Japan are similar, yet different, to those that occur here in the Mid-Atlantic region of the U.S. and Dhruv has constructed his walks with these differences in mind. To start us off, all participants had their heart rate variability (HRV) measured, i.e. the average space of time between heartbeats. The higher the number, the less stressed you were. Most participants were somewhere between 200-350, whereas my HRV clocked in at 37! Eager to change that, I followed Dhruv in the group’s first activity, or “invitation”, which involved selecting a tree or shrub and allowing your senses to experience it. We focused on what the tree felt like, looked like, sounded like, and smelled like. Afterwards, we shared our experiences with the group. The entire invitation brought our small band together through shared experience, while appreciating the differences in details observed by each member.

We continued to follow Dhruv’s lead through two more activities, ending each with a moment to share our experiences with each other. To tie the whole forest bathing activity together, we ended by sharing tea under the shade of a large oak tree and measuring our final heart rate variability. I was pleased to see that my score had risen drastically, from 37 to 328! While chatting with others in the group afterwards, I talked about how being guided through this activity helped me to relax, as I was focused on each successive mindfulness activity and not my day to day stressors and responsibilities. Truly, there’s nothing like starting off your Saturday with a relaxed mind!

For readers who are interested in participating in forest bathing walks with Dhruv in the future, feel free to reach out to him at myforestharmony@gmail.com or take a look at his website at forestharmony.org. As always, check out the upcoming events on our website to stay involved with all things NeighborSpace!