May Is Mental Health Awareness Month. Let's Talk About the Simplest Thing You Can Do Outside.
Most of what we talk about involves movement. Fuel for the hike. Energy for the trail. Bars that keep up with your pace.
Today we want to talk about the opposite.
What Is Forest Bathing?
In the 1980s, Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, and Fisheries introduced a practice called shinrin-yoku — which translates to "forest bathing." It's not exercise. It's not hiking. There's no destination, no pace, no distance goal.
It's the practice of being in a forest, slowly and deliberately, with no purpose other than being there.
You walk in. You slow down. You notice. The light through the canopy. The sound of your own breathing. The smell of soil and bark and whatever's growing. You stop when something catches your attention. You sit if you want to. You don't check your phone.
That's it. That's the whole practice.
It sounds almost too simple to matter. But the research says otherwise.
What the Science Actually Shows
Forest bathing has been studied more than most people realize, and the findings are consistent across dozens of studies:
Cortisol drops. Time in forest environments significantly reduces cortisol — the hormone your body produces under stress. Not over weeks of practice. After a single session.
Blood pressure lowers. Multiple studies have found that forest environments reduce both systolic and diastolic blood pressure compared to urban environments. Your cardiovascular system physically responds to being among trees.
Your nervous system shifts. Forest bathing activates the parasympathetic nervous system — the "rest and digest" mode that most of us spend far too little time in. Your heart rate slows. Your body stops running on alert.
Mood improves and anxiety decreases. Participants in forest bathing studies consistently report reduced anxiety, reduced depression symptoms, and improved overall mood. The effects last beyond the session itself.
Immune function gets a boost. Trees release compounds called phytoncides — organic compounds that protect them from bacteria and insects. When you breathe forest air, these phytoncides have been shown to increase your natural killer cell activity, which is part of your immune defense system. Your body literally benefits from the air in a forest.
None of this requires a long hike, special gear, or athletic ability. Thirty minutes in a park with trees can produce measurable effects.
This Is Extra Relevant Right Now
We live in a world that rewards pushing harder, going faster, and optimizing everything. Even the outdoors has become a performance space — longer trails, bigger summits, faster times.
There's nothing wrong with that. We make bars for people who push.
But Mental Health Awareness Month is a good time to remember that the outdoors isn't just a gym without walls. It's a place that can help you feel like yourself again — if you let it.
You don't need to earn the outdoors with mileage. You don't need a plan. You just need trees and a little bit of time.
How to Try It
You don't need a forest. A park, a tree-lined trail, a wooded path — anywhere with a canopy works.
Leave your earbuds out. The sounds are part of it.
Walk slowly or don't walk at all. Sit against a tree. Stand still. There's no wrong way to do this.
Put your phone away. Not on silent. Away. The goal is to let your senses do what they're designed to do without competing with a screen.
Give it 20-30 minutes. That's enough time for your nervous system to start shifting. You'll feel it — a settling, a quiet that wasn't there when you walked in.
Bring something real to eat. Not because you'll burn calories, but because eating slowly in a forest is one of the most grounding things you can do. Something simple. Something that came from the same earth you're sitting on.
One More Thing
If you're going through something hard right now, a walk in the trees isn't a replacement for professional support. It's one tool among many. But it's an accessible one — free, available, and backed by more research than most people realize.
If you or someone you know is struggling, the 988 Suicide & Crisis Lifeline is available 24/7 by calling or texting 988. NAMI (National Alliance on Mental Illness) has resources at nami.org.
You don't have to handle it alone.
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. This is the first in a series of blog posts exploring the connection between nature, nourishment, and how we feel.
- Mental Health Awareness Month: The Japanese Practice That Changes How You Experience The Outdoors
- Mental health Awareness Month: The gut-brain axis is real — and what you feed it matters. Every Kate's Bar Is Prebiotic.
- What Screens Do To Your Brain Vs. What Nature Does - MentalHealth Awareness Month
- You weren't meant to do this alone & Science Proves It! Mental Health Awareness Month
1 comment
Take a small sketchbook with you, and draw what you see. Absorb the details. Don’t worry about being Rembrandt or Picasso. Just be you. Take a small notebook or journal with you, and put your observations in writing. You might even develop a love for writing (and reading) poetry. (Your local library has lots of it. It might not be the shelves, so look online. They sometimes have books that aren’t checked out a lot at other locations, and they can pull it for you.) Yes – paper and pen, not on your phone. Take off those boots for a few minutes and put your bare feet on the ground. Touch a tree, but be mindful of things like poison ivy and the creatures of the forest. Soak up all the sights, sounds, and smells. Use all of your 5 senses. Be still, and maybe – just maybe – you’ll feel your 6th sense kick in.😊