What’s forest bathing and why are so many people in Colorado doing it?
I saw this headline in the DP recently and immediately I was hooked. Silly me, hoping for a story about illicit skinny dipping in an abandoned rock quarry. Or at least maybe extreme back country mountaineering in the buff? But no such luck: All “forest bathing” involves is walking mindfully under trees. That’s it. No water involved. Nothing even remotely naked about it. And you don’t have to work up a sweat first. What a ripoff!
Full disclosure: Lord knows, I’m not averse to a little marketing embellishment here and there. I even have a blog category called “Roxhikes” because I live in a place called Roxborough that’s got a lot of cool rocks where it’s fun to hike. OK, so I took the liberty of transforming rocks to Rox. But I didn’t call it “Galloping Through the Back Country in Search of Lady Godiva’s Ghost.” Because, well, that would be misleading. In addition to having a faintly prurient air, wholly unjustified by the facts. You know, kind of like “forest bathing?”
So anyway, as the DP article explains…
Forest bathing, despite how it sounds, isn’t about showering in the rain or taking a dip in a lake after a night of camping. Rather, the term stems from the Japanese concept of shinrin-yoku, which means “to bring in the forest.”
It goes on to explain how the concept got transplanted – like kudzu – to this country. Specifically to tony New Age bastions like San Francisco and Boulder. And then it throws in the obligatory pseudo-scientific tie-ins with the burgeoning therapy-craze-industrial-complex (a term I made up just now). Again, I’m not averse to a little health-conscious PR every once in a while. See, for instance, a recent post I did on 10,000 steps. Hey, exercise is a good thing. And communing with nature is fine if you’ve got the time and the inclination. But frankly, I’m sorry, if you’ve got that kind of time on your hands and the funds at your disposal, why not just go golfing? <And we already know my thoughts about that particular American pastime. Ahem.>
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Back 30 years ago when we lived in Northern California we used to go on these free group walks called “Volksmarch.” I’m guessing it was started by some escaped Nazi who thought he might atone for his sins by getting the Americans out of their Barcaloungers and into some fresh air and sunshine. These were low-key family affairs designed for trail or town walking with other like-minded souls, including kids. There was only a slight Germanic overtone of military precision to the whole affair. I mean, despite the name, nobody actually marched, OK? Though some of the volk did wear funny hats…
There’s a Denver-based group called Walk2Connect that also promotes healthy lifestyles with a flavor of social interaction in free walks all over town. Their byline is #Life@3MPH. The “leaders” are generally people who know something about the route and don’t mind talking to strangers. There are a few specialty sub-groups, like the downtown one for business people on weekdays at lunch time, and another for recently released youthful offenders that’s lead by an off-duty prison guard. But by and large, the participants are just regular folks who like low impact exercise under a wide open sky. That is, people like me.
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The thing that gets my goat about “forest bathing” is that, after you cut through all the supposed “health benefits” and all the trendy borrowed multicultural feng shui, what you’re left with is… well, just a relatively crude marketing ploy. That’s right, starting at only $25 per person, you too can experience what our ancestors did every single time they walked out the front door of their cabin, or cave, or whatever. And furthermore, you’ll live longer and have a brighter, whiter, sexier smile to boot. Oh, and also? It’ll lower your cholesterol, help you sleep better, and cure gum disease. And, to top it all off, it’ll help you make better stock picks… OK, just kidding about the stock picks. But everything else? Gospel.
I guess for me, if you’re gonna charge $25 for a walk, it might as well come with a golf cart and a dress code. Not that there’s anything wrong with that of course. As my grandma used to say, “It takes all kinds to make a world.” One thing though: Please don’t call it “bathing” when there’s no water involved. That kind of linguistic imprecision I really can’t abide – marketing ploy or no marketing ploy. Capische? Good. Now, let’s all go for a leisurely stroll, shall we? Preferably a free one….