Mindfulness Walks Part 2: Trees
Mindfulness & Walking.
As I wrote about in Part 1 (https://www.artofhealingpsychotherapy.com/blog) we can tap into the wonder of our surroundings when our senses are heightened in the present moment. This is the second of a multi part series into the benefits of mindful walking. Each part will encourage you to focus on something different. Today we’re going to focus on the wonder of trees, and make this walk a multi sensory experience!
Benefits of walking and nature.
Walking has many physical health benefits and can also have an impact on our mental health including elevated energy levels and reducing anxiety and depression. When we walk mindfully, we can further reduce stress and tension further by being truly present, getting in a flow state and leave our stressors behind. Most of us know that taking a walk in a forest is good for us and we associate the natural setting with a sense of peace. Research is confirming that visiting a forest has real, quantifiable mental and physical health benefits including: it boosts the immune system, lowers blood pressure, reduces stress, improves mood, increases ability to focus, accelerates recovery from surgery or illness, inreases energy level and improves sleep. Even five minutes around trees or in green spaces may improve health.
The Wonder of Trees!
The Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries even coined a term for these benefits: shinrin-yoku. It means taking in the forest atmosphere or "forest bathing," and the ministry encourages people to visit forests to relieve stress and improve health. Simply sitting looking at trees reduces blood pressure as well as the stress-related hormones cortisol and adrenaline (Looking at pictures of trees has a similar, but less dramatic, effect!) Gardens, parks and street trees in urban areas are just as important as rural forests. Spending time in nature, looking at plants, water, birds and other aspects of nature gives the cognitive portion of our brain a break, allowing us to focus better and renew our ability to be patient.
Research has even found that patients recover from surgery faster and better when they have a "green" view; they had shorter postoperative stays, took fewer painkillers, and had slightly fewer post-surgical complications compared to those who had no view or a view of a cement wall.
During a mindful walk we can use our senses to focus on trees. Our eyes can notice the patterns and colors in the tree bark on the trunk. We can touch the trunk and if we’re feeling brave we might even give that tree a hug! You might hold a leaf or two between your fingers. Using our phones (or camera!) to take photographs of things we notice sparks creativity and encourages us to find the beauty around us. Sometimes this means discovering places right in front of our eyes that we never noticed were beautiful before, like happened for me with tree trunks. My relationship with trees changed once I started really looking at the trunks of trees; they are truly spectacular and really tell a story. I look for “eyes”, the impact of insects, humans carving words, limb removal and more.
I have read many articles and books about trees and they continue to inspire me. Six ginkgo trees were the only survivors in the immediate blast area in Hiroshima in 1945. Due to their deep roots, the trees survived a catastrophe that destroyed 90 per cent of the Japanese city and killed about 100,000 people. With time, new buds appeared on the burned trunks and the trees became a symbol of hope and resilience in Japan.
I can get lost on a walk as I think about how trees start to change their leaves based on the amount of daylight, how fungal threads link nearly every tree in a forest, even trees of a different species! Carbon, water, nutrients, alarm signals and hormones can pass from tree to tree through these subterranean circuits. There is conflict in a forest, but there is also negotiation, reciprocity and perhaps selflessness. Another example of a way in which humans can learn from nature.
Questions to ask yourself on a walk.
How does your body feel at the beginning of your walk? What did you think about on your walk? How does your body feel at the end of your walk? Where do you hold your tension? Do you notice less tension? What do you notice about your breathing? How does it feel to start walking without the intention to go anywhere; not doing, just being and noticing? What was it like to take photos of details of things you saw? Did it affect your ability to “see” more? What is at the base of the trunk? How many different shapes of leaves did you see and what were the differences and what were the similarities? What were the shapes of the branches? How would you draw or paint the tree that held your attention the most? Why did it hold your attention? Do you smell the tree, some trees, like eucalyptus are so fragrant. What time of year is it and have you noticed how these trees have changed? Did you notice the sound of your feet as they walked? The wind? Did you notice your senses being heightened as you focused on them?
Did you see any eyes? Did you see any faces? Did you notice where the tree has been cut or scraped and how that affected it’s growth? Did you notice any trees that are not growing vertically? Did you see any trees that had died? What did the trees around it look like? How long do you think they have been there? What did you notice about the barks of the trees? What have they seen? What did it feel like to touch the tree? Did you feel vibrations? Do you see any seeds or pods?
The physiological effects of walking, combined with mindfulness (because we are completely focused on something and our senses) results in feeling revitalized, refreshed, grounded and calm. After the walk the grounded and creative feeling continues as you review and edit photographs and think about reflections. Walking may help clear your head and help you think creatively! Next tiime I’ll be suggesting something else specific to look for on your walk!
I’d love to hear from you! How was that? What other things did you notice? Were you surprised by anything on your walk? Did you make any discoveries? Did you take photos and if so, how did it feel? Did it add or take away from the experience for you? Any other questions you think would be good for someone to ask themselves before setting out?
