Forest bathers find new ways to experience Edmonton’s green spaces

CTV News Edmonton's Connor Hogg looks at a new City of Edmonton program that hopes to reconnect people with nature in an experience called forest bathing.

The first batches of Edmonton forest bathers are finding out just what the practice is about.

• Get the latest Edmonton updates right to your inbox

It was the first week for a new city program aimed at improving health through time spent in nature.

Forest bathing comes from the practice of Shinrin-yoku, developed decades ago to promote Japan’s forests and help urban Japanese workers decompress.

“Lliving in a dense urban environment like Edmonton, it can be easy to forget that we are part of nature as well,” said George Szilagyi, urban forester with the City of Edmonton.

“This is a really good opportunity for folks to reconnect, separate themselves from the noise of the city and maybe some personal noise that’s going on as well.”

While forest bathing includes walking in nature, it’s more than just a nature walk.

The new program offers two-hour guided tours through the local urban forests, with staff trained in Shinrin-yoku helping guide hikers through intentional ways of spending time in nature – such as meditation and personal reflection.

“(Participants) can expect to be given invitations to consider their place in the natural world, their connections to the trees. It’s really an opportunity to invoke their own memories, their own experiences with trees, their sense of metaphor,” Szilagyi said.

“I think a lot of people who come to this practice are just hoping for a bit of relaxation, and are often kind of surprised by the feelings that it can bring up in them,” added guide Allyn Esau. “People have had pretty profound reactions.

“Sometimes people are even brought to tears because they reflect on impermanence or imperfection and relate that to themselves.”

Szilagyi called Edmonton’s green spaces “a treasure,” and said the program encourages residents to take full advantage of them.

“Research shows that the very real and measurable physical health benefits of being in the woods take about two hours to really take hold, and the beneficial effects can last as long as a month,” he added. “This is a way for people who are already enjoying the forest here in the river valley to maximize the effects of their visits.”

Training for the new program was paid for by federal grant funding, Szilagyi said, and no new city staff were hired to support it.

For more information or to register for a tour, visit the City of Edmonton website.

With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Connor Hogg