Review
“This wonderful book . . . is itself a tribute to forests and the magnificence of trees, featuring more than 100 color photographs of forests around the world.” —NPR
“In his reassuring and nicely illustrated guide . . . Li offers ‘a wealth of data that proves’ that shinrin-yoku can reduce blood pressure, stress, and blood-sugar levels. . . . This isn’t any mundane walk in the woods.” —The New York Times Book Review
“A joyful guide . . . If there’s anyone who understands the magic of time spent under arboreal canopies, it’s Qing Li, the Japanese doctor who helped spread the gospel of shinrin-yoku (‘forest bathing’) around the world.” —Outside
“This elegantly designed book will show you how and why being in the forest is replenishing, restorative, and healing. Good and good for ya.” ―Esquire
“With more than 100 photographs from forests around the world, Qing, the world’s leading expert in forest medicine, shows how nature can boost your health, creativity and concentration.” —Parade
“The definitive guide to a Japanese therapy that says that mindful, intentional time spent around trees can reduce stress levels, boost mood and creativity, and even help you live longer.” —BuzzFeed
“A necessary read for anyone looking for new ways to help them relax.” —Mother Earth Living
“A scientific argument for a walk in the woods.” —OZY
“Filled with beautiful photographs of forests from around the world, this quiet, unassuming book guides the reader through the art and practice of shinrin-yoku, encouraging our overworked, plugged-in world to make room for moments of solitude and peace through the healing properties of trees.” —The Columbian
“An invitation and an inspiration to take a walk in the woods, wherever you are.” —Greater Good Magazine
“Such a lovely book . . . filled with beautiful photos of the woods. And Li’s writing is wonderful. ‘I am a scientist, not a poet,’ he explains, as he writes poetically about the science of trees. . . . The book beautifully explores the science of forest medicine—and goes into great detail about how to practice shinrin-yoku.” —TreeHugger
“A stunningly beautiful book about . . . the life-changing magic of walking in the woods.” —Neil Pasricha, New York Times bestselling author of The Book of Awesome and The Happiness Equation
About the Author
Dr. Qing Li is the world's foremost expert in forest medicine. A medical doctor at Tokyo's Nippon Medical School, he has been a visiting fellow at the Stanford University School of Medicine and is a founding member and chairman of the Japanese Society for Forest Medicine, a leading member of the Task Force of Forests and Human Health, and the vice president and secretary general of the International Society of Nature and Forest Medicine.
Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.
We all know how good being in nature can make us feel. We have known it for millennia. The sounds of the forest, the scent of the trees, the sunlight playing through the leaves, the fresh, clean air – these things give us a sense of comfort. They ease our stress and worry, help us to relax and to think more clearly. Being in nature can restore our mood, give us back our energy and vitality, refresh and rejuvenate us.
We know this deep in our bones. It is like an intuition, or an instinct, a feeling that is sometimes hard to describe. In Japanese, we have a word for those feelings that are too deep for words: yu-gen. Yu-gen gives us a profound sense of the beauty and mystery of the universe. It is about this world but suggests something beyond it. The playwright Zeami Motokiyo describes it as the ‘subtle shadows of bamboo on bamboo’, the feeling you get when you ‘watch the sun sink behind a flower-clad hill’ or ‘when you wander in a huge forest without thought of return’.
I feel this way when I am in nature. I think of my childhood in a small village. I remember the green poplar forests in spring and summer and the yellow leaves in autumn. I recall the games of hide and seek I played in the trees with my friends and the animals we used to find, like rabbits and foxes, Chinese hamsters and squirrels. There was a beautiful apricot forest in my village which flowered pink all through April. I can still remember the taste of the apricots we harvested in the autumn.
But what exactly is this feeling that is so hard to put into words? What lies behind it? How does nature make us feel this way? I am a scientist, not a poet. And I have been investigating the science behind that feeling for many years. I want to know why we feel so much better when we are in nature. What is this secret power of trees that makes us so much healthier and happier? Why is it that we feel less stressed and have more energy just by walking in the forest? Some people study forests. Some people study medicine. I study forest medicine to find out all the ways in which walking in the forest can improve our well-being.
