Reflecting on 2019 - Happy New Year!

It’s a new decade, my dear forest wanderers. Happy New Year! I took some time today to reflect on the past year of forest bathing and here are the highlights:

• 18 forest bathing sessions led from April-November 2019.
  
• One workshop/presentation at the Welland library in the Seaway Mall
  
• Sessions are now opened up to other Niagara Family Health Teams (in process)
  
• First time working with my wonderful volunteers Jon, Sue and Yuka!
  
• First Volunteer Appreciation Lunch
  
• First time leading a retreat
  
• First full-on heavy RAIN – a quintessential forest bathing experience.
  
• First snowy winter session (by accident as snow came so early this year!) with medical residents. I gave them each a prescription pad for their patients to prescribe time in nature.
  

 
It has been a full year and I am continuously moved by the time shared in the forest. Every walk is different. Every session has new experiences. This year my edges were pushed when I finally had what I used to dread: pouring rain for most of the walk. In my training we had a walk in the rain and it was wonderful. And I often have been in the forest in the rain; and found it indescribably beautiful and just what I needed. And yet I fretted over taking a group out for a forest bathing session when the weather was going to be pouring rain. Who was it that said (Bob Dylan, Bob Marley or Roger Miller!) ‘Some people feel the rain. Others just get wet’? We felt the rain! People on that walk afterwards said how happy they were that we didn’t miss the rain. It was the rain itself that awakened the senses, set the forest to its heavy drinking and allowed us people to remember how much fun rain is… what can happen when we give ourselves permission to get wet, to drink raindrops, to watch water trickle and flow… to stomp in a puddle. When we stop seeking shelter and dryness and lean in to what is – and it was pouring.
Another edge for me has been winter walks. I’m asked pretty often if I lead winter walks. The winter is my off-season for group walks, but I am in the forest either by myself or with my dogs or my guys all year. And winter is a favourite season for me in the forest.

• Less people
  
• Less mosquitoes, ticks, etc.
  
• More quiet as the snow acts as a blanket and absorbs so much noise
  
• A chance to see the forest in repose; dormancy. Giving me a guide for the dormant seasons in my own life.
  

But once again I worried too much about taking a group out when it is that cold and when the snow is that high. Too often I’ll have someone not dressed warm enough – even on my spring and fall walks. Can I do a very gentle call out about the Blundstones? I see a lot of these on my walks. Looks cool, yes, but not warm enough. This past November I had my last walk of the season scheduled and this time with a group of medical residents. I wanted it to go well as this is the very in-road we want to make in the forest therapy world – we want forest bathing to make its way into our mainstream medical system. We want our doctors to think of it when meeting with their patients. So I started to get all clenchy about the walk and not wanting the weather to mess this up for us. There was sighing and fretting as I prepared for the session. The day before I went to the trail after work and the snowy forest was being an absolute show-off. I almost cried from the stark beauty alone. I stopped worrying, and I felt the forest’s support. The walk was magical. I hate to sound so hyperbolic about it but I can’t think of any other words. It was a joy to be with these young medical residents who were so open and into the experience. The forest’s presence in winter is not to be missed. I know the festivities of the holidays are over and that sometimes winter can give us the blahs, but I do encourage you to get yourself bundled up (don’t forget tights or long underwear under your pants, people!! – and leave those Blundstones behind) and get to a forest or park. Be quiet, unplug and take a deep breath in and then let it out. If you can, sit quietly for 20 minutes in one spot and notice how the beings in nature eventually resume their normal ways around you.
“Let silence take you to the core of life.” – Rumi
I look forward to seeing you on the trail.
Melissa