A few weeks ago I started a practice of spending long, meditative time in the woods. It is a practice of Shinrin-Yoku, which I believe originated in Japan. The idea is to really commune with the trees, birds, and all of nature. This is outlined in a book I recently purchased entitled your guide to Forest Bathing by M. Amos Clifford.
As it states on the back of this book, “simply being present in the natural world – with all your senses fully alive, can have a remarkably healing effect. It can also awaken in us our latent but profound connection with all living things.” The book describes forest bathing as an experience which is not a brisk walk or a hike, but rather a type of communion, entered into with intention. And it gives guidelines on how to enter into this experience along with suggestions for invitations, or exercises one can do when spending this type of time in nature.
I wish to describe a recent forest bathing experience which simply blew my mind, and proved to me that the forest does indeed exist in relationship with humans. I entered the forest behind our house, which is a fairly recent (about 70 years) bit of woodland in succession recovering from being a corn field on my family’s farm. I first set an intention for my journey. This was right when the COVID-19 pandemic was taking off and the first cases were reported in nearby states. I was troubled in my mind about my response to this clear and present danger. Also I was grappling with the idea that I was now considered one of the elderly, at risk to die from the virus. The elderly were encouraged to stay at home and away from people in order to not contract the virus.
I have always been active especially in my school community, and it really bothered me that I could not be out there volunteering to deliver lunches to children or help in some other way. We were being told that the best way we could help was to shelter in place. Also, as a mother, I was concerned about my children and grandchildren who live far away. So my intention was a question: what is my response to be to this virus, and how can I be of service? I asked this of the trees.
I slowly walked the trail, silently observing the woods coming alive in the spring. I had a backpack with me. In the backpack I had a copy of the forest bathing book, a journal, some art supplies and a snack. I found my sit spot, which was a rock along the trail where I could look down on the oldest tree in the forest, a giant oak which was there long before my family cleared the land. I did a silent meditation, wrote a bit in my journal, ate my snack and after about ninety minutes, prepared to walk back.
I bowed in gratitude for the beauty of the day, and greening of the forest and the singing of the birds. Even though I had emptied my mind and remained open, I had not received any answer to my question I had asked upon entering the forest. I signed and decided that the answer would come in time. If you have ever talked to a tree, you will know that they are very patient. At the end of the trail, where I had entered the forest, I bent down to pick up a stick I had placed across the trail, signifying that I was stepping over a threshold into sacred space. My purpose was to replace the stick by the side of the trail until the next time I would be there. When I picked up the stick my eyes fell on a piece of paper by the side of the trail. It was a brown piece of packing paper with one word stenciled across the paper in large red letters. The word was LOVE.
No kidding. I was simply astonished. I took a photo of the paper with my phone and this is it above. The forest had answered my question. I was to love. Simply that. To me, this is the answer to every question. How shall I proceed? How can I participate in the healing of the world? How do I live with my fears for the future? I am to LOVE. To dwell in LOVE, to live each day in LOVE, to LOVE my neighbor and also the person drumming on Facebook whom I have not met. To LOVE this earth, our garden home. To spend my days sending LOVE into the world. I can think of no better task. The emptying of oneself for the LOVE of the world. Perhaps this is a message for us all.
Under A Hen's Wing 