Green Roofs - Living Architecture Monitor - Summer 2019 - 14

Photo courtesy S. Peck

JAMIE TROST (FAR LEFT),
LEADS A GROUP THROUGH
THE FOREST BATHING EXPERIENCE
TO IMPROVE HEALTH

LIVING ARCHITECTURE MONITOR / SUMMER 2019 / 14

therapy. Beginning in 1990 he's focused on the impact of nature
on health. "People have less contact with nature than before,"
he says, "and it seems that they are more stressed than ever."
Highlighting the fact that getting to nature is not always easy,
Miyazaki adds, "It's great to go to the forest, but you might only
be able to do that once a month or once a year. The next option
is to go to the park or use your garden."
This sentiment is echoed by Amos Clifford, Founder of and
Executive Director for the Association of Nature and Forest
Therapy (ANFT) in Santa Rosa, California, who ties Japanese
culture into the ANFT's practice by saying the ideal place
for it is in the satoyama zone. Represented in Japanese by the
character of a person standing in a field (sato) and the iconic,
three-pronged character for mountain (yama), satoyama is
the area just beyond the edge of the village, a traditional place
for Shinto shrines. A thin band where the human and natural
worlds merge before the deeper wilderness begins, Clifford
describes it as "territory that is almost familiar but beyond the
boundaries of ordinary experience."
When it comes to forest therapy, this territory doesn't necessarily have to be at the fringes of the built world: essentially, any
nature that's close at hand will work. And that's good news, since
few of us have the time to get break away on a deep wilderness
trek on a regular basis. Simply slowing down to appreciate a
well-known trail, park, or even an individual tree in a new way
can reduce stress and boost positive brain activity. The key is to
take notice, and, as T. S. Eliot once wrote, "know the place for
the first time."
As might be expected, forest bathing primarily involves a
person's specific and individual connection to nature. But that
doesn't mean you have to go it alone. ANFT has world-wide
network of guides listed on their website, all of whom have been
certified through their practicum, the only American-based
training program in existence. Guides help unlock new perspectives and going in a group can allow people to share how the
different experiences felt to them.
Whether you choose to get out into nature in a group or
alone, though, isn't nearly as important as it is to simply get
there. And what matters most is that you make a point of
unplugging from technology and tapping into nature at least
twice a week for twenty minutes or more.
Jamie Trost was a tall ship sailor for nearly two decades and taught
English in the rural farming town of Bisei-Cho for two years. In
2017, he served as interpreter and guide for the leadership of ANFT
on an 18-day exploration of Japan's Health and Therapy Forests. He is
currently pursuing a Masters of Urban and Environmental Planning
at the University of Virginia.
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Green Roofs - Living Architecture Monitor - Summer 2019

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