In Japan, forest bathing has long been considered beneficial to health. In Germany, too, it is on the rise as an experience. Under guidance, senses and mindfulness are sharpened. And ideally, you take some of it home with you.
The rucksack is packed: seat cushion, mirror, pens, paper, passe-partouts, mug, thermos flask. Before setting off, forest experience trainer Peter Heck goes through his checklist. He later meets up with a group of vacationers in a parking lot on the outskirts of Pfronten. Together you march up into the green of the Allgäu. “Forest calms, reduces stress,” says the 59-year-old. He has stopped at a tree stump which he calls “forest wardrobe”. There he encourages the participants to symbolically cast off fears and worries and enter a piece of forest that appears completely random – but it isn’t.
Julia Fricke from the local tourism company can explain why: “When looking for a suitable forest, particular attention was paid to ensuring that it was as untouched as possible and had the right atmosphere.” The coordination with foresters, forest owners and hunters was “quite time-consuming”.
At Pfronten Tourismus, forest bathing has recently been offered as an accompanied outdoor experience, with which the town on the edge of the Alps is not alone. Other tourist regions in Germany are also picking up on the forest bathing trend that has spilled over from Japan.
“You don’t need swimming trunks or a towel to go swimming in the forest,” says Andrea Schlenkermann to prevent misunderstandings. In Pfronten, the 62-year-old is part of the team of certified forest experience trainers and opposes voices that ridicule forest bathing: “We don’t let out any primal screams. And we don’t hug trees, but we touch them and feel the calm.”
Just lean your back against a trunk. Consciously breathe in the fresh air. Absorb the healing power of nature with all your senses. This and much more is forest bathing, where, according to Schlenkermann, you should “not judge anything”. “Ground yourself, center yourself, perceive” is her instruction manual. What she observes: “Some participants lose themselves in space and time.”
If you go on a guided tour, the bath in the forest consists of a series of exercises that promise relaxation and increase mindfulness. At first glance, the environment appears banal, well-known. Skeptics may ask what’s new to discover in the forest they’ve been to many times. But forest bathing under supervision transforms the seemingly ordinary into the unusual and provides for different approaches and perspectives. In addition, you take some time in the Kosmos Wald that you often don’t think you have.
At the beginning, Peter Heck distributes seat cushions and encourages people to feel their surroundings from any seat. How does the ground feel, the moss, a piece of fallen bark, a pine cone? Closed eyes enhance the experience. Birds chirp in the background. The wind rustles through beech and maple leaves. You have to swallow the fact that the noise of a distant tractor suddenly mixes in with what we call civilization.
Another exercise is to explore the forest with a mirror in front of your eyes: walking very slowly, supported by a fellow participant if necessary, looking skyward at branches and treetops. “Having the world upside down,” says Peter Heck. The change in perspective puts you in a flow when you stride across the soft ground like a wading bird. Anyone who spreads their arms like wings puts their concentration and sense of balance to the test.
And more of Heck’s utensils are used: creating art in the forest and sharpening one’s eye for the details is possible with the passed passe-partouts. You frame a root, a branch, dead wood, grass, bark. He calls it “anchor pictures”. The participants are fascinated by the structures, colours, symmetries, asymmetries and the interplay of light and shadow.
Those who trace the contours of a piece of bark on paper with wax crayons are more active. Heck later hangs the works on a line with clips – the forest as a temporary art gallery. Finally, he gives his guests time to process their impressions and invites them to a “tea ceremony” with mugs and thermos flasks. The homemade spruce tip tea tastes delicious. This is a forest bath for the palate, if you will.
“Forest bathing has not yet been a sure-fire success when it comes to guest bookings, such as yoga or guided hikes,” says Julia Fricke from Pfronten Tourismus. Sometimes there are only a few registrations, but forest bathing is becoming better known. “And we consistently receive great feedback from the guests who took part.”
Forest experience trainer Peter Heck enjoys every appointment: “Although I’m the actor myself, I have the opportunity to relax, which I can never do at home. When I’m in the forest, my thoughts don’t circulate anywhere.” For his colleague Andrea Schlenkermann, it is important that the experiences are ideally carried over into everyday life. The anchor images, for example, can be recalled in stressful situations: “You feel calm and serene.” Accompanied forest bathing on vacation can be the beginning of a new, intensive connection and at the same time serves as a guide to do it yourself – in the forest of your own choice and for free.
