author: Tali Beesley, IGC, EWC, MLS
Forest bathing—the Japanese practice of shinrin-yoku, or immersive time in nature—has measurable benefits for stress, mood, and nervous system regulation. For people who are grieving, spending slow, intentional time in natural spaces can offer relief that is both immediate and cumulative. No equipment, fitness level, or experience is required.
Grief is heavy. It can make the inside of a house feel smaller, the world quieter, and time strangely distorted. Many grieving people describe a kind of sensory withdrawal from life—a pulling inward that, while understandable, can deepen the isolation that loss already brings.
Nature has long been known, intuitively, as a place to breathe through difficulty. But in recent decades, that intuition has gained a body of scientific support. And it has a name: forest bathing.
What Is Forest Bathing?
Forest bathing is the English translation of shinrin-yoku, a practice that emerged in Japan in the 1980s and has since been extensively studied for its health effects. It does not involve hiking, fitness, or any particular physical challenge. It is simply the practice of being in nature—slowly, attentively, and with the senses open.
The idea is immersion rather than exercise. You are not moving through the forest as a destination. You are allowing the forest to move through you.
This might mean sitting at the base of a tree and noticing the quality of the light. Walking slowly enough to hear the different sounds layered around you. Touching the bark of a tree, or watching the way water moves. Breathing. Existing—without agenda.
What Does the Research Say?
The evidence base for forest bathing has grown significantly over the past two decades, particularly from Japanese and South Korean researchers. Studies have shown that time in forested environments, even for relatively short periods, can:
- Reduce cortisol levels—the primary stress hormone—measurably
- Lower blood pressure and heart rate
- Decrease activity in the prefrontal cortex associated with rumination and repetitive negative thinking
- Increase natural killer (NK) cell activity, supporting immune function — research from Japanese forest bathing studies found NK activity increased by around 50% after a forest trip, with effects lasting more than a week
- Improve mood, reduce anxiety, and increase feelings of vitality
A 2019 study published in Frontiers in Psychology found that just 20 minutes of contact with nature was sufficient to produce a measurable reduction in cortisol. For people in grief, whose stress response is often chronically activated, this is not a small thing.
Grief has documented physical effects on the body—and can genuinely make you sick. Anything that reliably reduces physiological stress is, in that sense, also a grief tool.
Why Nature Is Particularly Well-Suited to Grief
Nature Doesn’t Require You to Perform
One of the exhausting dimensions of grief is the social pressure to manage how you appear to others—to reassure people you’re okay, to not make them uncomfortable, to answer the question “how are you?” in a way that moves the conversation forward. Nature makes none of these demands.
A forest does not need you to be doing well. A river doesn’t notice your red eyes. The particular relief of being somewhere that has no expectations of you is harder to overstate than it might seem.
Nature Offers a Different Kind of Time
Grief distorts time. The days can feel endless and, simultaneously, months can disappear. Nature operates on its own timescale—the rhythm of seasons, the patient growth of trees, the unhurried movement of water. Being in this kind of time, even briefly, can provide a small but meaningful counterpoint to the fractured time of grief.
There is something quietly comforting about the fact that the world continues—that spring arrives regardless, that birds still gather, that the light changes in the same slow way it always has.
Nature Engages the Senses Away from Thought
Grief can trap us in our heads—in replaying, rehearsing, remembering, and worrying. The sensory richness of natural environments—the smell of earth after rain, the texture of leaves, the sound of wind—draws attention outward, into the present moment. This is a natural form of mindfulness, without requiring any particular meditation practice.
Attention restoration theory, developed by Rachel and Stephen Kaplan, proposes that natural environments restore our depleted attentional resources by engaging what they call “softly fascinating” stimuli: things that catch the eye and hold it gently without demanding effortful concentration. The dappled light on water. The movement of clouds.
Nature Holds Both Beauty and Loss
Grief and beauty are not opposites—and nature holds both without contradiction. A fallen tree. A bare winter branch. The way some flowers bloom for only days. The natural world is full of endings that do not erase what came before them, and this can feel, for grieving people, like a kind of recognition.
You don’t need to intellectualise this. Simply being in a place that holds impermanence without tragedy can be quietly reassuring.
How to Begin: A Gentle Guide to Forest Bathing for Grief
Forest bathing has no rules, no equipment requirements, and no performance standards. Here are some simple suggestions for beginning.
Choose a Space That Feels Safe
This does not need to be a forest. A park, a garden, a tree-lined street, a beach, a riverbank—any natural space where you feel physically safe and relatively undisturbed will do. If you are mobility-limited, sitting near an open window with a view of sky and trees, or spending time in a garden, carries some of the same benefits.
Leave Your Phone on Silent (or Behind)
The goal of forest bathing is presence. Notifications, messages, and the pull of the screen work against this. If you can, leave your phone in your bag or at home. If you need it for safety, put it on silent and resolve not to check it for the duration of your time.
Move Slowly—or Don’t Move at All
The pace of forest bathing is slow enough that you can notice things. Slow enough to hear your own breathing. Some people sit in one place for their whole session and find that perfectly sufficient. Others wander gently, without a route or a destination. Neither is better.
If it helps, give yourself a gentle intention: “I am going to notice five different sounds.” Or: “I am going to find somewhere to sit and just breathe for a while.”
Bring the Grief With You
You do not need to leave your grief behind to benefit from time in nature. You can bring it with you. Some people find it meaningful to speak to the person they lost while in a natural space—whether silently or aloud. Others find that grief surfaces gently and unexpectedly in nature, in a way that feels safe rather than overwhelming.
If it feels right, you might create a small ritual before or after your time outside. Our guide to creating a grief ritual might offer some inspiration.
Go Regularly
The benefits of nature exposure are cumulative. A single visit can shift your nervous system for a few hours; regular visits can begin to shift your baseline. Even 20–30 minutes a few times a week makes a meaningful difference. You don’t need to spend all day in a forest to feel its effects.
What If I Can’t Access Nature Easily?
Eco-therapy research has found that even partial nature exposure carries benefits. If you live in an urban environment without easy access to parks or green space, consider:
- Tending indoor plants—caring for something living has its own quiet therapeutic value
- Watching nature documentaries or playing nature soundscapes
- Sitting near a window with natural light and a view of sky
- Community gardens, which exist in many urban areas and offer both nature and community
- Seeking out a local park or green space, however small
You work with what you have. Any connection to the natural world is better than none.
Forest Bathing as Part of a Wider Grief Practice
Forest bathing works beautifully alongside other grief practices. You might journal before or after your time in nature, recording what came up. You might use your time outside as a space for quiet reflection—not with the pressure to reach conclusions, but simply to let thoughts and feelings move.
If you’re also drawn to other ritual or embodied approaches to grief, you might find our guides to creating a ritual grief box and grief journal prompts useful companions.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is forest bathing and how does it help grief? Forest bathing (shinrin-yoku) is the practice of spending slow, sensory-aware time in natural environments. Research shows it reduces stress hormones, lowers blood pressure, and improves mood. For people who are grieving, it offers a space without social expectation and engages the senses in a way that can temporarily ease the mental weight of loss. Its benefits are both immediate and cumulative with regular practice.
Do I need to be outdoors in a forest specifically? No. While forested environments have the most robust research evidence, any natural space—a park, a beach, a garden—offers meaningful benefits. Even urban green spaces, indoor plants, and nature sounds or visuals carry some of the same physiological and psychological effects. Work with what is accessible to you.
How long should I spend in nature to benefit from forest bathing? Studies show that even 20 minutes in a natural setting produces measurable reductions in stress hormones. For grief support, regular sessions of 20–60 minutes a few times a week are a reasonable starting point. There is no maximum—stay as long as feels nourishing.
Can nature therapy replace grief counselling or therapy? No—and it doesn’t need to. Forest bathing and eco-therapy are complementary tools, not replacements for professional support when that is needed. They work well alongside individual therapy, grief groups, and other coping practices. If your grief feels stuck, severe, or is significantly affecting your daily functioning, professional support is worth seeking.
Is eco-therapy or nature therapy the same as forest bathing? They are related but not identical. Eco-therapy is a broader therapeutic field that uses nature and the human-nature relationship as part of healing—it may be facilitated by a trained therapist. Forest bathing (shinrin-yoku) is a specific practice of immersive time in natural environments. Both draw on the restorative and nervous-system-regulating effects of nature.
Grief changes everything—but it does not have to be navigated alone, or only indoors. Whether it’s your first time stepping outside since the loss or you’ve been walking the same path for months, nature meets you where you are. You might also find it helpful to explore grief journal prompts or learn about why grief can persist for years—and why that’s okay.
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