Forest Bathing Retreat: Find Wholeness in the Company of Trees by Hannah Fries

Forest Bathing Retreat: Find Wholeness in the Company of Trees Reviews

• 
  Schizanthus Nerd

  I’d never heard of forest bathing prior to being drawn to the photography on the front cover of this book. In the introduction
  Robin Wall Kimmerer simplifies the ethereal sounding concept, calling it what it really is, “daydreaming in the woods”. Personally I prefer the daydreaming description but the translation from the Japanese term shinrin-yoku is ‘forest bathing’ so my vote doesn’t count.
  
  I assumed (wrongly) that shinrin-yoku would have its origins centuries ago and would be rich in eastern tradition. The term was first used in the 1980’s so it turns out that I’ve been practicing forest bathing since its inception. Growing up there was a fire trail behind our back fence that was kept clear by the locals and then there was the bush. For those of you outside of Australia, please pretend I’m saying either forest or woods whenever I refer to the bush.
  
  I spent a good portion of my childhood going on bush walks with family and friends. I knew all the trails and even though a portion of it is now a concrete path (ew!) I still know it inside and out. My friends and I would go for walks or bike rides and we’d be gone all day; investigating, having a chat by the edge of the stream we found one day, going off-trail to see what new birds or trees we could find, using getting caught in a surprise storm as an excuse to waltz in the middle of a muddy path under a canopy of trees that were dripping a substantial amount of water on us.
  
  I will be the first to admit I’d prefer to actually do forest bathing than read about it. I did wonder about the need for a book like this to encourage people to spend time hanging out in nature, then got sad as I remembered that peoples’ lives are so busy and screen based these days. Maybe it’s no longer a given that being in nature is something you do without a manual.
  
  There are four sections in this book:
  
  Breathe - a meditative noticing of your body and your surroundings, relaxing your muscles and paying attention to your breathing. Composer Oliver Caplan’s quote (abridged here) about krummholz really spoke to me:

  “They remind me of the human spirit and our great capacity for resilience, a new possibility in every breath.”

  Connect - connecting to your surroundings through your senses; basically grounding yourself.
  
  Heal - forest bathing as medicine. You won’t find a big list of scientific studies spouting the health benefits associated with “daydreaming in the woods” but if you Google shinrin-yoku it won’t take you long to find them if you really need to know.
  
  Give Thanks - you can figure this one out yourself. 😊
  
  I’m not quite sure who to say this book is for. There will be the people who are totally into mindfulness that will most likely adore this book, with its mindfulness exercises, poetry and wisdom. I will forever be grateful to the person who, when I looked puzzled at the apparent complexity of the whole mindfulness thing, dumbed it down for me and said, “You do realise mindfulness is essentially just about being in the present, don’t you?”
  
  There will be people like myself who have apparently been forest bathers their whole lives who’ll probably look at this book and think that it’s pretty and has some nice quotes and reminders. However, at the end of the day we’d rather be out doing the forest bathing than reading about it.
  
  Initially I thought this could be a nice book for when you’re bogged down in the office and need a mental wander through the woods to centre yourself. Some sections would be helpful for this but the others where you’re basically given instructions on how to appreciate nature have the potential to fall kind of flat when you’re surrounded by concrete.
  
  For those who need a how-to I can see this working if you read a section before you go for your wander and then apply the principles you’ve read about. However some of it reads like step by step instructions and I got this mental picture of someone taking this book with them, standing on the edge of a forest and paging through the book … noticing the edge of the forest … turning the page then pausing … turning the page and scanning their body and mind … trying to find the beginning of the next sentence on the page so they can find their next instruction. Kind of like how landscape photography can be wonderful but if you’re spending the whole time taking photos you don’t get the chance to appreciate the view.
  
  I hope some people will pick up this book who have never forest bathed before because of factors like location or busyness. If this book gets them interested enough to discover how wonderful forest bathing is, then it doesn’t really matter what anyone else thinks of it as it will have done its job.
  
  Thank you very much to NetGalley and Storey Publishing for the opportunity to read this book.
• 
  Avery Stempel

  beautifully simple book. oscillating between prose and poetry, layered atop moving forest images. lovely read. I am buying this for my friends and family for sure!
• 
  Chelsey

  This is a perfect companion to the other book on forest bathing that I read earlier this year, Shinrin-Yoku: The Art and Science of Forest Bathing by Dr. Qing Li. The previous book was great at explaining the science behind why forest bathing benefits us, while this one provides us with thoughtful quotes about nature from some of our literary and religious greats. Beautifully edited and extremely moving.
• 
  Lisa

  I read this slowly... a passage or two at a time. It's a lovely little book filled with poetry, quotes, photographs and facts about forests/trees. It's one I'll take into the forest with me when summer comes and savour some of the passages again.
• 
  Nicole

  So refreshing. Every time I read a portion of the book a wave of calm settled over me.
• 
  Alice Vent

  I want to give this ten stars and also read it every day of my life. Every page, I kept asking Kara, "Can I read you another line? Can I interrupt you again? You need to hear this quote."
• 
  Beth Bunchman

  A beautiful mix of science and spirituality, poetry and photography, self help and altruism.
  
  A coffee table book or a collection of brief writings for the commode. It may look quick and simple at the outset but it should definitely be savored.
• 
  Juli Anna

  Insubstantial.
• 
  Kathryn

  This book was given to me from a dear friend. She was right in knowing I would love it. The message of the book is soothing and feels like I am at a retreat sitting in the forest. There is stunning photography, beautiful prose and fascinating facts about trees. Hannah Fries loves trees, appreciates trees, and know how important trees and the forest are to our world. This is a wonderful book to gift to yourself or to a dear friend.
• 
  3 Pagans

  In Episode 18 we review Forest Bathing Retreat by Hannah Fries.
  
  A digital copy of Forest Bathing Retreat was provided to 3PAAC free of charge for an honest review.
  
  Hannah Fries is a lifelong dendrophile and poet, author of the poetry collection Little Terrarium and contributor to Totally Unironic Conversations with The Moon, a collection of essays and poems that might feel tonally familiar to those seeking to "re-enchant". Now she has compiled a stunning collection of beautiful photography, timeless poetry, soothing prose, and cheerful science about trees. At just under 200 pages, Forest Bathing Retreat-- which takes its name from the Japanese term shinrin-yoku, a nature therapy practice that was codified in the 1980s-- is a lovely, vitalizing experience.
  
  Intended to encourage readers to get out into the natural world themselves, Forest Bathing Retreat nevertheless provides a loving substitute for occasions when access to green space is in some way limited.
  
  Although the book is hypothetically broken into four "sections"-- BREATHE, CONNECT, HEAL, and give THANKS-- it can be read a page or two at a time, at irregular intervals, with no loss to the experience. The sections merely imply the underpinning focus and tone of the content within, and are fairly self-explanatory. (Ode might suggest that BREATHE would be useful to browse before meditation; CONNECT before or as part of grounding; HEAL after shadow work or difficult experiences; and give THANKS for what it says on the tin.) Reading the book all in one sitting, however, did strongly present the impression of the textual version of a guided meditation, and we found it extremely heartening and gladdening.
  
  Although Forest Bathing Retreat is not an explicitly spiritual book, and does not discuss any path or tradition, we feel it would gel well with many spiritual systems.
  
  Also, we suspect it would look great on a coffee table.
  
  TL;DR: Read this book, it made us have feelings. Good feelings. Tree feelings.
• 
  Jeffrey Ning

  Learn shinrin-yoku from Hannah Fries’ point of view. It is liberating to know that I am dendrophile since knowing how to draw and paint in kindergarten after reading this book.
  
  It activates your sensory experience through words and imagery that trigger your imagination and perception within you. So, it bolsters the case of why we should be saving Gaia.
• 
  Carol Reich

  So lovely, both in appearance and content, and packs a lot of inspiration and advice into a compact package.
  
  Part of me wishes it were coffee table size to highlight the beautiful imagery, but its petiteness allows it to slip it into a backpack or large pocket and be taken outdoors for further inspiration.
• 
  The Story Girl

  I read this slowly over several days, only while sitting outside and enjoying nature, and that is the best way to enjoy this book! It's full of pictures of natures and beautiful quotes. I'd recommend it to anyone who feels like re-connecting with nature or just pondering over it.
• 
  Laura

  Many familiar poems and quotes here along with photo collages and meditations. Lovely to hold as well. Tuck it in your day pack or in a gift basket.
• 
  Alexandria

  A lovely read. If you love hiking, gardening or just being outdoors near nature. You will really appreciate this book.
• 
  Joy

  I somehow stumbled upon this book while hunting for others and I am so glad I did. At first glance, this book looks like a cutesy gift book you might buy for a friend. I read this book slowly, a few pages at a time and just really appreciated its many offerings to loving and opening oneself to trees. I love this quote near the end by Robin Wall Kimmerer, “Even a wounded world is feeding us. Even a wounded world holds us, giving us moments of wonder and joy.”
• 
  nevrstopsmilin

  take a slow, deep breath. imagine your muscles relaxing with each exhale.
  
  psithurism
  the sound of wind in the trees and rustling of leaves
  
  as you walk through the forest, feel your own body react and respond. invite the forest in through your senses...
  
  komorebi (japanese)
  sunlight filtering through the leaves of trees
  
  petrichor
  the smell of earth after rain
  
  some days, some weeks, maybe even some months, it is easy to feel like a broken tree after an ice storm: full of cracked branches creaking in their cases of ice.
  simple acts of connection — with a landscape, with animals, or with other people — can go a long way in helping us feel whole again, both physically and emotionally.
  
  when you step outdoors and under a canopy of trees, when you give yourself time to breathe, time to get to know the trees and their world, you feel that pressure lift and dissipate.
  
  the gifts we receive from bring in the presence of trees are pure grace. certainly, we have done nothing to deserve them. considering the destruction humankind has wrought on nature, we may not want to think about what we “deserve”. and yet, an embarrassment of riches has been set before us. what can we do but give thanks — to nature, to God, to whatever you call the larger force you feel moving on the world.
  
  what, if only the tiniest thing, astonished you today?
  
  you are hardwired for wonder: let your souls leap.
  
  and as i looked a quickening gust
  of wind blew up to me and thrust
  into my face a miracle
  of orchard-breath, and with the smell, —
  i know not how such things can be! —
  i breathes my soul back into me.
  — edna st. vincent millay
  
  yūgen (japanese)
  a profound awareness, beyond words, of the universe’s beauty and mystery
• 
  Laura

  Beautiful imagery and filled from beginning to end with meditative methods, and poetry. The topic of forest bathing brings back childhood memories of taking regualr excursions though the wilderness. Lots of big name american theorists, and the use of japanese terminology make for a unique combination.
• 
  M.Marie.S.

  Recommended in small but regular doses for savoring and grounding.
  I got this as an e-book from the library and am now going out to buy the hard copy. Even with e-format limitations, it is a beautiful meditation on the wonder of forests and trees. I can't wait to see the pictures in print.
• 
  Daneil Newcomb

  A quick read, filled with quotes and poems about nature.
• 
  Sare

  3.5