My personal experience of forest bathing in Alice holt, a forest in Surrey, England, looked after by Forestry England. If you enjoy reading this, you might enjoy some of my other personal experience articles which can be found here.
Deeper and deeper into the deep dark woods I venture, armed with little more than a coffee and nut bar safely packed in my waterproof coat pocket. The further inwards I venture, the further away from the World I feel. The sound of traffic disappears and I am left with the simple swaying of the trees in the breeze, birds squawking in their nests and the crunch of my wellies on the ground. It’s a weekday, and so I find myself alone in the woods. I push away intrusive thoughts of every recent horror film I’ve ever watched from my mind and try to find peace in the idea of being the only one walking through these woods today.
I’m forest bathing. It’s the Japanese art of completely emerging yourself in the woods, leaving distracting devices behind and becoming fully emerged in nature. So far, it’s going pretty great. I’m enjoying the enormous sense of freedom of simply walking for the sake of walking and the slightly rebellious feeling that came with purposely leaving my phone in my car. I’m uncontactable. The thought is thrilling. I’ve officially gone off grid.
I’m following a trail marked with coloured arrows on posts by Forestry England. This is the medium walk, perfect for people who want to feel lost in the woods for a couple of hours, without actually becoming lost in the woods. The path is taking me up and down hilly terrain and through some pretty thick parts of the woods. I turn and peer down a path dominated by giant conifer trees. It looks a little like a scene out of Jurassic park. I imagine a rapture poking his head up out of the ferns and quickly scurry along the path again. I must try harder to stop thinking.
There’s a crossroads up ahead with different coloured arrows pointing in every direction. Mine are purple, but there are two of them pointing in opposing directions. I’m confused. The trail I’m on must run back on itself at some point. I take a guess and turn right.
Forest bathing is all about emerging yourself into nature. The idea is to close your mind off to external thoughts and just be present in the here and now. I stop walking for a moment and try it. I close my eyes and listen. I can hear trees swaying in the breeze, as though whispering to each other. Birds are chirping up in the trees. A crow cackles loudly and my eyes spring open at once. Crow noises are a little ominous I realise. I’m not sure they are the birds people refer to when they say how much they love the sound of bird song in the morning.
I find a log covered in the most beautiful array of mushrooms. Small, squat button looking ones and great vast oyster looking creatures, all draped elegantly around the log. It’s so fascinating and I’m desperate to find out more about them, to take a photo and post it on my instagram. But then I remember I’ve left my phone in the car. So instead, I walk on, leaving the picture only in my memory. It’s kind of liberating.
I really need the toilet now and regret my decision to buy a coffee before setting off. I’m pretty deep into the woods now and there’s no one around. I do that thing that every main character does in every horror film, and stray off the marked path in search of a safe area to pee. The woodland floor is awash with beautiful ferns. They look so prehistoric, so magical. The perfect place to have a quick squat.
I’m mid flow, squatting comfortably between a couple of unsuspecting ferns and under one of the biggest conifer trees I’ve ever seen. Then suddenly, I feel it. The feeling that forest bathing is supposed to give you. Peace. Maybe it’s because, for the first time since I set off on my woodland walk, I’m physically forced to remain still. Maybe it’s because I’m squatting down amongst the ferns on the floor and the trees loom over me, making me feel so incredibly small. Or maybe, it’s just because I’m peeing outdoors. Whatever the reason, the feeling is unquestionable. It’s humbling.
I hear crunching on the forest path up ahead and realise there are people coming. In my hurry to cover myself up, I accidentally pee on my boots a little. I dart out of the bushes and back onto the path making the couple jump a little in surprise. They must think I’m crazy, or perhaps they’re wondering how long I’ve been lost in the wilderness without human interaction. In a desperate attempt to redeem myself, I give them a warm smile. They turn down another path, glaring back at me, whispering among themselves in slight terror. I didn’t realise it would be possible to embarrass myself in the middle of the woods, but I guess anything is possible.
The walk to the next arrow is a little further and I begin to worry I’ve actually gotten lost. Thoughts of survival fill my head. Will I be able to make a shelter from logs and fern leaves? How long will this nut bar in my pocket last if I ration it? Will I eventually adapt to my new surroundings and become a woman of the wild, living off grid and freely peeing in the shrubs?
An arrow catches my eye and I’m back on track. As I emerge from the woodlands and into the bleak and slightly depressing looking carpark, I’m slightly shocked my walk is so suddenly over. The two hours I have been venturing through unknown terrain have flown by in a blur and suddenly, I want to go back in. I feel a longing for the trees, the bird squarks and the lack of man made materials.
Being essentially lost in the woods for a good two hours has forced me to discover nature, whether I wanted to or not. Leaving my phone behind in the car has forced my mind to pay attention to everything around me. The trees, the pathway, the birds and the plants. I feel like I’ve been gone for days. My mind has managed to escape the realities of busy every day life and I feel like I actually managed to breathe for a little while without constraints, deadlines and stress.
The first thing I do when I get back in my car is check my instagram, so perhaps the lesson wasn’t lasting. But I think it’s something I will definitely try again. Maybe it’s something I need to force upon myself a little more often. Just leave the phone behind and embark on a long walk through the woods.
I suppose sometimes you have to lose yourself, to find yourself.
*Pictures taken from a different forest walk! Yep, I’ve been back again since!
