What are you noticing? That’s the question I ask most of my forest bathing participants. The thing is, I have to answer the question as well. And, you would think it would get old, or stale, or I would have the same answer over and over. But, it doesn’t; I am constantly surprised that in the same forest, at the same time of day, on the same route, I am always noticing something different.
Sometimes, what I notice is large – the view looking up, the sound of the river, the rain falling. Sometimes, it is a moment, like how the forest seemed to come alive with movement as a breeze comes through. Sometimes, it is an emotion – surprise, joy, peacefulness. And at other times, it is noticing something about myself as a guide, like how the voice softens and speech slows as I progress through Pleasures of Presence.
I love this question, What are you noticing? I enjoy experiencing how my participants’ answers change over the course of a walk. They may start out sounding like they are being field observers and progress to noticing things about how they feel.
Or they may notice their emotions from the start and progress through a range of emotions.
I never know what I will notice, or what the people I am with will notice. I guess that is the beauty of nature and the gift of forest bathing…
There is always something to notice.
Red Cedar Forest Therapy 