Full of achingly gorgeous photos, Forest Bathing Retreat by Hannah Fries is a beautiful introduction to the concept of shinrin-ryoku, or forest bathing. Scattered throughout are quotes and poems by nature-oriented people, and each section contains meditative suggestions to help you with your own exploration of the rejuvenating effects of forest bathing. There's plenty for the linguistic and science minded as well. Words and phrases to help you better appreciate the experience of nature are also scattered throughout. Words such as 'petrichor'- the smell of earth after rain, or 'psithurism’- sound of wind through trees. Many, like shinrin-ryoku itself, are from other languages, English have no comparable word for the concept. It was fascinating to learn how trees communicate with one another. I already knew plants were cognizant of sounds, and of emotional energy. I found it rather synchronistic that mention was made of fungi mycelia as conduits of communication. I'm currently reading Mycelium Running by Paul Stamets, pretty much a primer on that subject alone! Highly recommended for dendrophiles, and nature lovers, as well as those wishing to learn more about this unique form of stress relief.

***Many thanks to Netgalley and Storey Publications for providing an egalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

FOREST BATHING RETREAT by Hannah Fries is a beautiful book that uses prose, poetry and images to provide a deeper connection to the natural world. The book has been divided into four sections: Breathe, Connect, Heal and Give Thanks. Some of my favorite passages: "sensory immersion in green light and birdsong that leaves the bather renewed;" "the forest is crackling with secret conversation;" and "the gifts we receive from being in the presence of trees and pure grace." In this way, the book reinforces other messages about mindfulness and spending time outside away from screens. It is also rather unique in its references to Native American traditions, Japanese haiku, and quotes from Transcendentalists, all of which support the author’s goal of providing "an invitation to become more permeable to the natural world around you."

Forest Bathing is based on the idea walking among trees is good for our health and soul. This book is full of stunning photographs, quotes, poems and facts relating to trees . I love the new words I have learnt by reading this book. Do you know what psithurism means? This book will tell you. It guides you through the woodland encouraging you to relax, meditate and notice surrounding nature using all senses so you can learn from trees.
As many of you know I have struggled with poetry but books like these open my mind to them and show me, they can be a wonderful way to express ideas and feelings.
I would love a physical copy for future reference dip to into when woodlands are too far away and inaccessible. As someone who relies on wheels to explore finding accessible woods is difficult and this book places a little piece of their magic in your hands and home.

It is perfect for fellow dendrophile as a gift and I would recommend it for photos and quotes alone.

I could not open the protected PDF, so I cannot give a review. Disappointing, since the cover and blurb rather intrigued me.
Sorry!

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.

The perfect gift for any dendrophile. More gifty with beautiful photography than an expose or how to on forest bathing.

Thank you NetGalley, Hannah Fries and Storey Publishing for an ARC of the beautiful book on Forest Bathing.

I had never previously heard of Forest Bathing and after reading this book, I look forward to reading deeper about this Japanese concept.
For someone looking for an in-depth understanding of Forest Bathing perhaps this book would not be fulfilling, however if you appreciate beautiful words and photography, this book provides those plus more.

A beautiful coffee table book which would be the perfect gift for dendrophiles and lovers of beautiful words.

I really liked this book. Nice imagery and wording. Very nice, pretty calming just by looking at it. Nice adding in the different nature words and their meaning.

A beautiful book filled with stunning photos, poetry, quotes, and meditation strategies to follow when you're surrounded by nature. Personally, I feel like I would connect best with this if it were an audiobook, so I hope the publisher considers that. I can see my self going for a hike, or sitting in by the lake out at camp with my headphones in and my mind clear and just zoning out to this book. If you're in need of more nature TLC then definitely check this book out.

A huge thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for sending me a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. I truly appreciate it!

Lovely photography accompanies poetry, exercises and ideas for meditation while surrounded by trees and nature. A gentle reminder that we all need to reconnect with nature to thrive