Shinrin-yoku for kids
I’ve been reading more about the research out of Japan and Korea related to shinrin-yoku, and it had me wondering.. what about shinrin-yoku (or forest bathing) for kids?
The big picture explanation of forest bathing is going into a forest to immerse yourself in all of it’s benefits using all 5 of the senses. It has been studied for over four decades, and benefits us by relieving stress, lowering blood pressure, improving moods, boosting our immune systems, improving attention, improving sleep, and can even help with trauma and PTSD recovery.
Not to mention the huge benefit of improving and cultivating our ancient, primal bond with nature. From where I sit, this benefit could be the most important of all for kids as they become more and more addicted to screens, and spend more and more time indoors.
In just the last 3 weeks, I have experienced my first ever dust storm, which brought the most massive cloud of dust, dirt, extreme wind, rain, and hail over my home and my kids. We’ve seen multiple hurricanes back to back in the South East U.S causing major damage and taking lives. Researchers have been warning us of this for a while now, the impacts of climate change. All the more reason to help our younger generations get into nature, learn about the earth, bathe in all of the benefits it gives mentioned above, so they will care about protecting our natural environments. We can no longer sit in cinder block classrooms, show kids pictures of melting glaciers hundreds to thousands of miles away and expect them to truly care and understand what is happening to our planet.
Regardless of education, job title, or experience most of us know or remember from our own education that hands on learning is always better, always more memorable, and always more impactful. If this is the case, why are we not giving kids more opportunities for place based learning, or outdoor learning?
Why are we not giving kids more opportunities to heal from mental health issues, and trauma which makes being in school and doing school work impossible?
Why are we taking kids on field trips to places indoors so much of the time?
This brings me to question:
How could we make the practice of shinrin-yoku accessible (and fun of course) for kids?
How can we make nature accessible for all kids? How can we make nature field trips a priority and affordable for schools and students?
How can we help educators and school leaders understand the research behind shinrin-yoku?
How can we help parents understand the research and importance of practicing shinrin-yoku?
