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Backyard Sanctuary
Shinrin-yoku offers a calming way to reap the benefits of time outdoors.
Getting outdoors in NoCo isn’t exactly a stretch—we’re bike-laned and open-spaced and single-tracked up around here. But that go-go-go way of being in nature means we might be missing out on the real therapeutic benefits. Enter shinrin-yoku, the Japanese art of “forest bathing,” which involves taking a slow walk through nature and engaging it with all the senses. Japanese researchers have compared walks in the city with walks in the forest and found forest walkers experienced a reduction in blood pressure and certain stress hormones.
The trend is catching on here, but what if you don’t have time to nip out for a two-hour meditative ramble in the woods? If you’ve got even a bit of a green thumb, you can reap the same benefits in your own backyard by creating a forest-like oasis and incorporating rich sensory elements into your own green space. Here’s what to try.
- A meandering path invites you to wander. Mulch and gravel are the cheapest options; just remove the sod, roll out landscape fabric, and fill.
- For height, color and texture, plant NoCo-friendly trees and shrubs like ash leaf spirea, burning bush, Cheyenne privet, mountain mahogany, and PeeGee hydrangea.
- Visit often and engage in what is called “place tending,” where you gain intimate knowledge of the changing flora, fauna, light, seasonal blooms and changes. —Cara McDonald