Regular guided forest bathing walks, natural mindfulness and private sessions with Tommy Carr, Hannah Carter and Andrea Hunt.

Nothing to do with swimming, forest bathing is the English translation of the Japanese term 'Shinrin-yoku'. It is the practice of wandering amongst trees and woodland while bringing attention to your senses and noticing the overlooked obvious. There are elements of slowing down and letting go of driven doing, allowing a playfulness and intuitiveness to come to our experience.

Forest bathing also has roots in mindfulness, especially mindful walking. It is also watered by many sources such as the Romantic poets, science and art. Both the ancient and contemporary nature based paths of Druidism, mythology and the sense of being connected to places feed into it at times.

Finding our inner natures

Over the last year, the COVID-19 pandemic and the restrictions of successive lockdowns have underlined just how important getting out in nature is for our physical and mental health. People now value such a simple thing as walking more than ever before and have begun exploring their local woodlands and natural environments. Given the amount of stress we have all faced it is no wonder that people are turning to methods of improving themselves such as mindfulness and compassion, with self care now just as important as health care.

Data from the ONS in England published in February 2021 showed that 41% of adults found visiting local green and natural spaces even more important since coronavirus restrictions were introduced.