Category: Nature

Forest bathing

Forest bathing is the practice of taking a short, leisurely visit to a forest for health benefits. The practice originated in Japan where it is called shinrin-yoku (森林浴) in Japanese (it is also called sēnlínyù (森林浴) in Mandarin and sanlimyok (산림욕) in Korean). Shinrin Yoku Samurai Spain 侍

Studies in Japan have measured changes in immune markers and stress hormones in people who regularly walked in specific forests in Japan. In addition, people with diabetes but not taking insulin found substantial benefits by lowering blood glucose levels. Source: Forest bathing – Wikipedia

Forest Therapy: A Walk In The Wood Is The Perfect Prescription

This modern take on an ancient practice got its start in Japan in 1982, when the Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries began promoting walks in the woods as a tonic for mind and body. About a decade ago, they also began funding research into the health effects of “forest therapy,” and the practice has been catching on all over Asia, as well as North America and Europe. Source: Forest Therapy: A Walk In The Wood Is The Perfect Prescription

Forest bathing: why the healing power of a walk in the woods will change your life

Getting outdoors is the healthiest thing you can do this weekend. Source: Forest bathing: why the healing power of a walk in the woods will change your life – Vogue Australia

Prescribing a Walk in the Woods: A Doctor’s Journey Into the Forest of Healing

Source: Prescribing a Walk in the Woods- A Doctor’s Journey Into the Forest of Healing – Association of Nature and Forest Therapy Guides and Programs

Shinrin-yoku: the Medicine of Being in the Forest

Shinrin Yoku, also called Forest Bathing, is a form of healing that involves simply wandering along forest trails and spending time in other natural places. Source: Shinrin-Yoku Forest Medicine – Shinrin-yoku: the Medicine of Being in the Forest

Sometimes by David Whyte

Sometimes
if you move carefully
through the forest,

breathing
like the ones
in the old stories,

who could cross
a shimmering bed of leaves
without a sound,

you come to a place
whose only task

is to trouble you
with tiny
but frightening requests,

conceived out of nowhere
but in this place
beginning to lead everywhere.

Requests to stop what
you are doing right now,
and

to stop what you
are becoming
while you do it,

questions
that can make
or unmake
a life,

questions
that have patiently
waited for you,

questions
that have no right
to go away.

Source: Poetry — David Whyte & Many Rivers

Quit Trying to Be Perfect (You Already Are)

Stop trying for perfection and you’ll quickly connect back to who you really are. Someone who is already perfect at being you.

Source: Quit Trying to Be Perfect (You Already Are) – Tiny Buddha

If a tree falls in the forest…

If a tree falls in the forest… | Bright, shiny objects!

Source: (31) If a tree falls in the forest… | Bright, shiny objects! | #brightshinyobjects | Pinterest

Come to the woods, for here is rest.

The Japanese call it ‘Shinrin-Yoku Forest Therapy’…

Live & Learn

tree-cold-winter

To Fight the Winter Blues, Try a Dose of Nature by Florence Williams (excerpts):

Wintertime is rough on those whom the 19th-century hiker-philosopher John Muir called “tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people.” But we have an obvious cure for our doldrums: go outside. Though we are months away from the flowers and leafy foliage of spring, a dose of nature can still calm the mind and solidify human bonds. The real question is why we don’t partake more often of this easy balm…

After crunching the data, Dr. MacKerron and Susana Mourato…found people were significantly happier outdoors, especially in natural settings, than they were indoors…But there was a catch: Most of the participants didn’t behave as if they knew this, because they were rarely outside. They were indoors or in vehicles for 93% of their waking hours.

The study reveals our epidemic dislocation from the outdoors—an indictment not just of the structures and…

View original post 481 more words

How? via Live & Learn

 

True…

This morning it rained. This afternoon it is sunny. How is that not like the mind? ~ Michael Kewley, May all beings be happy Sources: Quote – Some of my best friends are birds. Photo: Your Eyes Blaze Out

via How? — Live & Learn

If a tree falls in the forest

If a tree falls in the forest…

Today’s Thoughts Are Tomorrow’s History

Ed and Deb Shapiro write:

Quite often we put too much importance on our thoughts and take them so seriously that they can lead us into all kinds of emotional turmoil. Some thoughts are inspiring, while others can be misleading. One time we were teaching meditation. and Ed said to Mary, a participant, that when we meditate all sorts of outrageous thoughts may arise. In response, Mary blurted out, “Wow, how’d you know?” Because of her negative thoughts, Mary felt she was a terrible person. Yet thoughts are simply words in our mind. Those we thought yesterday are gone and new thoughts arise only to disappear into the next moment.

We lived in Dartmouth, on the south coast of England, and each day we would take walks along the wide river Dart to the estuary. One day we were standing and gazing at the flowing water when it struck us that though the river always looked the same, day after day, it was no more the same than it was even a second ago. It was constantly changing, always moving, always different.

Which is just like our thoughts and feelings. Can you remember what you were thinking yesterday that seemed so important? Who we are now is not who we were last week, an hour ago, even a few minutes ago. Like the river, we are always changing. Continue reading “Today’s Thoughts Are Tomorrow’s History” →

6 Ways To Reconnect With Your Most Powerful Self

@AmandaLeCe had a post on @mindbodygreen this morning that was so good, I decided you needed to see the whole thing right here:

Between all the tasks, people and activities competing for our attention every day, it’s so easy to get lost in the routine and lose touch of our most powerful, loving selves. Before we know it, we’re acting out of habit or are glued to the computer. The following are some ways I get real, and come back to myself:
Continue reading “6 Ways To Reconnect With Your Most Powerful Self” →

Clearing…

forest-clearing-33-1366x768

Do not try to save

the whole world

or do anything grandiose.

Instead, create

a clearing

in the dense forest

of your life

and wait there

patiently,

until the song

that is your life

falls into your own cupped hands

and you recognize and greet it.

Only then will you know

how to give yourself

to this world

so worthy of rescue.

via Martha Postlewaite | Oasis.

Boarded cabin within the Wyre Forest, En

Boarded cabin within the Wyre Forest, England.

http://bit.ly/13iOKiK

Spirituality and Stilettos

Jackie-portraitOne of my favorite bloggers, Jackie Dumaine, has a beautiful post on her blog on the topic of spirituality:

“Being “Spiritual” does not mean giving up who you are.  In fact, it’s quite the opposite.

It’s about embracing who you are.

Being “Spiritual” does not mean giving up wine night with the girls or refraining from buying a new pair of stilettos (or two).  It means embracing varying levels of friendships and the little pleasures that life has to offer, without being attached to them for your happiness. Continue reading “Spirituality and Stilettos” →

Clearing

Clearing
by Martha Postlewaite

Do not try to save
the whole world
or do anything grandiose.
Instead, create
a clearing
in the dense forest
of your life
and wait there
patiently,
until the song
that is your life
falls into your own cupped hands
and you recognize and greet it.
Only then will you know
how to give yourself
to this world
so worthy of rescue.

American Minute for December 22nd; Battle of the Bulge

600px-Patton-m2b

The Nazis amassed three armies for an enormous attack against the Allies in the Ardennes Forest and soon surrounded the 101 Airborne Division in southern Belgium, demanding their surrender.

U.S. General Anthony McAuliffe answered in one word: “Nuts.”

This response confused the Nazi commander, causing him to hesitate.

Marching to the rescue was the U.S. Third Army, but it was hindered due to bad weather.

General Patton directed Chaplain O’Neill to compose a prayer for his 250,000 troops to pray:

“Almighty and most merciful Father, we humbly beseech Thee, of Thy great goodness, to restrain these immoderate rains…Hearken to us as soldiers who call upon Thee…Establish Thy justice among men and nations.”

The weather cleared and the Allies counterattacked.

In his order, DECEMBER 22, 1944, General Eisenhower stated:

“By rushing out from his fixed defenses the enemy may give us the chance to turn his great gamble into his worst defeat.

So I call upon every man, of all the Allies, to rise now to new heights of courage…with unshakable faith in the cause for which we fight, we will, with God’s help, go forward to our greatest victory.”

Two days later President Franklin Roosevelt stated:

“It is not easy to say ‘Merry Christmas’ to you, my fellow Americans, in this time of destructive war…

We will celebrate this Christmas Day in our traditional American way…because the teachings of Christ are fundamental in our lives…the story of the coming of the immortal Prince of Peace.”

via American Minute for December 22nd.

Little Bear Cabin in the Gallatin National Forest, Montana.

Cabin Porn

via Little Bear Cabin in the Gallatin National Forest, Montana..

How to Lead a More Balanced Life

Found this on Michael Hyatt’s blog:

When I’m riding, I have a habit of looking over my shoulder to see if anyone else is coming and also to take a second look at something I just passed. At one point yesterday, traveling twenty mph, I executed my habitual over-the-shoulder look to re-see a beautiful lilac bush.

Turning my gaze forward, I realized I was off balance, heading from the paved path and into the forest where certain death awaited! (Cue dramatic music). A quick correction and I was back on track and not in the hospital.” Full story at: How to Lead a More Balanced Life | Michael Hyatt.

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