What the heck is Forest Bathing we hear you say? Forest Bathing or as it’s known in Japan as shinrin yoku and is the act of being calm and quiet amongst the trees whilst obersving your surroundings whilst breathing deeply.
It’s said that is can help both adults and children de-stress and boosy health and wellbeing in a natural way. Instead of walking through the forest you become more present and take in nature’s offerings.
Hawk and Heath founders Robert Fisher 56 and Ally Foster 31 decided to set up a forest school in Ilkley adding forest bathing to their services, according to the Yorkshire Post.
With Mindfulness being the hop topic at the minute and forest bathing is said to have a range of health benefits such as reducing stress hormones, helping to improve sleep, preventative effect on anxiety and depression, reduce blood pressure and heart rate boost immune function and much, much more.
Read More: The Yorkshire Forest Packed With Winding Paths, Tree-Top Adventures & Enchanted Lakes
The Post reported that Robert,said: “We need to return to woodland. Everyone should live within 15 minutes of a green space but a green space has to be of sufficient quality.
“We want to make sure everyone has access to a green space which is why we made the forest school accessible and now we are hoping to do the same with forest bathing.
“We are hoping to make Ilkley, or maybe even Yorkshire the forest bathing capital of the UK.”
Some UK GPs are prescribing Forest Bathing and it has been used for more than 40 years by the Japanese healthcare system has to improve lives by improving physical and mental wellbeing.
Check out the explaination for Forest Bathing below:
Read More: 12 Of The Best And Most Scenic Forest Walks In Yorkshire
