Forest Bathing & Nature Connection, Cumbria

There is a part of you that already belongs to the forest.
When you slow down and reconnect with the natural world, something inside begins to settle.
This is the power of Forest Bathing - a space where your true nature can re-emerge with ease.
No words are needed.
The forest holds you just as you are.

What is Forest Bathing?

Shinrin-Yoku, known in English as Forest Bathing, is a Japanese wellness practice that involves slowing down, opening your senses, and immersing yourself in the atmosphere of the forest. Developed in Japan in the 1980s as a public health initiative, Shinrin-Yoku is now widely researched for its evidence-based benefits on physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing.

Scientific studies show that when we spend unhurried, sensory-based time in woodland environments:

• Stress hormones (cortisol and adrenaline) decrease
• Heart rate and blood pressure lower naturally
• The parasympathetic nervous system activates, supporting calm and restoration
• Immune function increases, particularly through elevated NK (natural killer) cell activity
• Exposure to phytoncides (tree-released compounds) enhances immune health and reduces inflammation
• Anxiety and rumination decrease, while mood, clarity, and emotional balance improve

Shinrin-Yoku is not hiking, exercising, or learning about nature.
It is a sensory, therapeutic practice of being with nature: noticing, receiving, and allowing the forest to support your body and mind in returning to balance.

What You May Experience

• More grounded, calm, and present

• A release of emotional tension and stress

• Reduced anxiety and overthinking

• A shift from “doing” into simply “being”

• Connection with yourself and with others

• A deeper sense of belonging

Physical Health Benefits

• Reduces stress hormones: Within minutes of entering a woodland, cortisol, adrenaline, and heart rate begin to lower as the body shifts from the stress-response (sympathetic) into the rest-and-repair state (parasympathetic).

• Supports heart health: Forest exposure gently reduces blood pressure and improves heart-rate variability — key markers of cardiovascular wellbeing.

• Boosts immune function: Trees emit natural essential oils called phytoncides which, when inhaled, increase the number and activity of natural killer (NK) cells that fight viruses and support immune resilience for up to a week after exposure.

• Improves sleep and energy: Morning light filtering through trees helps regulate circadian rhythm and melatonin, improving sleep quality and natural energy cycles.

• Enhances respiratory health: Breathing in clean, humidified air filled with organic compounds from trees nourishes the lungs and supports healthy breathing patterns.

• Reduces inflammation: Regular contact with nature: walking, touching the earth, breathing forest air has been linked to lower systemic inflammation and healthier immune regulation.

• Improves mobility and balance: Gentle walking on uneven forest ground engages stabilising muscles and supports physical coordination without strain.
  
  

Mental & Emotional Health Benefits

• Calms the mind: The soft, rhythmic stimuli of nature — birdsong, rustling leaves, flowing water — gently reduce activity in the brain’s fear and worry centres (amygdala), quieting anxiety and overthinking.

• Restores focus and mental clarity: According to Attention Restoration Theory, natural environments allow the brain’s prefrontal cortex to rest, improving concentration, memory, and creativity.

• Lifts mood and emotional wellbeing: Exposure to sunlight, plant aerosols, and soil microbes such as Mycobacterium vaccae increases serotonin — the “feel-good” neurotransmitter that enhances mood and reduces symptoms of depression.

• Releases tension and supports nervous-system regulation: Slow breathing and gentle sensory focus increase vagal tone, helping the body move out of “fight, flight, or freeze” into grounded calm.

• Encourages presence and mindfulness: Using all five senses to connect with the living world brings you back into the moment, supporting emotional regulation and self-connection.

• Encourages belonging and connection: Sharing forest experiences in community supports co-regulation: our nervous systems synchronise through breath, tone, and rhythm, helping us feel safe and seen.

• Builds emotional resilience: Over time, regular forest immersion strengthens the nervous system’s ability to return to balance after stress, creating a greater sense of steadiness and inner safety.

• Supports self-expression and creativity: As mental noise softens, intuition and imagination awaken: the natural outcome of a calm and connected mind.
  
  
  Research shows that even a single Forest Bathing session can lower cortisol (the long-term stress hormone), increase NK cells (supporting immune function) and guide the body into rest-and-digest—out of fight-or-flight. The benefits of one session can last up to a week.
  
  When practised weekly, these effects compound, supporting mind and body to return to balance.
  This is why a weekend retreat or a 6-week course can be profoundly healing for the whole person.
  
  In Essence

  Forest Bathing is a return to how we were designed to live: connected, grounded, and attuned to the natural world that sustains us.
  The more time we spend in nature, the more our bodies remember what our true nature is and what equilibrium feels like.
  

Becoming Your True Nature With Nature

Please check the events page for what’s coming
→ Explore Events

Becoming Your True Nature Immersion experiences include:

• Half-day and full-day retreats

• Seasonal group sessions

• Longer immersive Becoming Your True Nature retreats (coming 2026)

• 6-week Forest Therapy courses for emotional health and wellbeing

These gatherings invite you into a slower rhythm: one that gently supports the nervous system to shift from fight-or-flight into rest-and-digest. In this space of stillness, the body’s natural healing abilities can begin to awaken.


Collaborations

• National Trust (Knott Woodlands & Eaves Wood)

• Rookhow Woodlands

• Rydal Hall Woodlands

• Silverdale Quarry (AONB)

• Grizedale Forest (Forestry England)

• Private Woodland Estate, Greystoke

• Lakes Yoga

Clients include: Lorna Singleton (Swiller), Cancercare, The Lighthouse Charity, The Bridge House Project, Armathwaite Hall Spa, plus private 1:1, couples and group sessions with individuals from all walks of life.

Please email me for any collaborations or projects, I would love to hear from you.

I have been guiding Forest Bathing since 2019 & have had the privilege to lead 3 Forest Therapy Courses with charities in Cumbria. Every gathering with woodlands, nature, is different, unique, sacred and transformative in a gentle way.

Thank you for reading, love Delyth.