{"id":57338,"date":"2018-09-27T15:50:36","date_gmt":"2018-09-27T19:50:36","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/?p=57338"},"modified":"2018-09-27T15:51:35","modified_gmt":"2018-09-27T19:51:35","slug":"bathing-among-the-trees","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/2018\/09\/from-the-library\/bathing-among-the-trees\/","title":{"rendered":"Bathing Among the Trees"},"content":{"rendered":"

Esther Jackson<\/a> is the Public Services Librarian at NYBG<\/a>\u2019s LuEsther T. Mertz Library<\/a> where she manages Reference and Circulation services and oversees the Plant Information Office. She spends much of her time assisting researchers, providing instruction related to library resources, and collaborating with NYBG staff on various projects related to Garden initiatives and events.<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\n

\"Shinrin-yoku\"<\/a>Shinrin-yoku<\/em>, \u201cforest bathing\u201d in English, is definitely having a moment. Shinrin-Yoku: The Japanese Art of Forest Bathing<\/a><\/em> is a new book on the discipline written by Yoshifumi Miyazaki for Timber Press. Miyazaki, a university professor, researcher, and the deputy director of Chiba University\u2019s Centre for Environment, Health and Field Sciences, has researched forest bathing since 1990, and has published several books on the effects and benefits of forest therapy.<\/p>\n

The term shinrin-yoku<\/em> was coined in 1982 and refers to the practice of walking through the woods and experiencing nature. Specifically, practitioners enjoy nature at a leisurely pace, \u201cbathing\u201d in the natural environment and benefiting from lowered stress levels and a heightened sense of well-being. Japanese researchers have been measuring the positive effects of shinrin-yoku<\/em> for decades, attempting to quantify both chemicals and perceptions\u2014a difficult task. (For more information about the research surrounding shinrin-yoku<\/em>, see Amitah Kalaichandran\u2019s recent article from The New York Times<\/em><\/a>.)<\/p>\n

For those who are interested in giving shinrin-yoku<\/em> a try, Miyazaki\u2019s book is an excellent introduction. Chapter titles include \u201cThe Concept of Nature Therapy,\u201d \u201cJapan\u2019s Relationship with Nature,\u201d \u201cThe Practice of Shinrin-yoku<\/em>,\u201d \u201cBringing the Forest Closer to Home,\u201d \u201cThe Science Behind Nature Therapy,\u201d and \u201cThe Future of Forest Therapy Research.\u201d NYBG also offers classes<\/a> for those who would prefer a more hands-on instruction.<\/p>\n

See also: <\/em>NYBG volunteer Jeanne Lapsker\u2019s Plant Talk <\/em>blog on shinrin-yoku<\/em><\/a> from 2015 and my Forest Bathing <\/a><\/em>book review<\/a> from earlier this year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Shinrin-yoku, \u201cforest bathing\u201d in English, is definitely having a moment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91575,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[1346],"tags":[184,4789,193,4373],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/ph0lU-eUO","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57338"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/91575"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57338"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57338\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":57342,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57338\/revisions\/57342"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57338"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57338"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.nybg.org\/blogs\/plant-talk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57338"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}