forest bathing

Bushwalking has meant many things to Australians at different periods of our history. Initially the bush was regarded as ugly and dangerous. Then we swung around to seeing it as beautiful. We spent time in the bush to be at one with nature and to understand our environment. It also provided a healthy outdoors activity, which in its most energetic form was not for the amateur or the faint-hearted. You needed to adopt the skills of the colonial bushmen. By the end of the 1900s we had given the bush mystical powers, rather like the powers attributed to crystals. Now we have a kind of Japanese fusion bushwalking, Australian style but with a Japanese aesthetic, so that we enter the bush in a mindful way to enhance our health and wellbeing.

The Japanese have led us to view the forest as an important gateway to wellness, providing that soundness of mind and body that helps us to fight off disease and counter depression, anxiety and stress. In a world where most people spend most of their time indoors, it is a form of preventative medicine to step away from all that and spend quiet time in the outdoors. The Japanese name for this concept is shinrin-yoku. In the Australian context it is probably more like a walk in the park than a traditional bushwalk, a quiet stroll rather than a demanding exercise.