If you knew there was a remedy so powerful that it could alleviate stress, boost your mood, enhance creativity, and even strengthen your immunity, all without side effects, what would stop you from completely immersing yourself in it as much and as often as you can?

Shinrin-Yoku is the Japanese art of forest bathing. It helps to lower heart rate and blood pressure, reduce stress hormone production, boost immunity and mood, and improve overall feelings of well-being.

In a study where 60 participants took weekly 15-min outdoor walks for 8 weeks where half were randomly assigned to a group that was given instructions to elicit awe during their walks vs a control group with no instructions, those who took awe walks reported greater joy, increase in daily prosocial emotions such as compassion and gratitude, and decrease in daily distress compared to those who took control walks. These results suggest cultivating awe enhances positive emotions that foster social connection and diminishes negative emotions that hasten decline. (Sturm VE et al. Emotion. 2022 Aug.)

Taking an awe walk is a great way to train your attention to focus on and connect with the beauty of the world around you. I love visiting places where I can soak in nature. I especially love taking those walks with my mother. Almost 9 years ago, my mother suffered a spontaneous ruptured brain aneurysm, and one of her deficits now is her short-term memory. So when we go on walks, I do an exercise with her that helps her build new memories in her brain by savoring the moment and experiencing it with all her senses.

During the course of the walk, we focus on:

5 things we can see

4 things we can hear

3 things we can feel

2 things we can smell

1 thing we can taste

When we create memories, we do this subconsciously. It’s why when you smell apple pie, maybe it takes you back to your grandmother’s house at Thanksgiving… or in my case, the smell of menthol because my grandmother used to apply Ben Gay on her joints for her arthritis 😄 If y’all pull out a cough drop and I shed a tear, you’ll know why!

When I savor the moment by experiencing it with all my senses, It helps me find joy in the big things and lose myself in the wonder of the world around me — the heights of the trees, the clouds floating overhead, the vastness of the sky, but also the beauty in the intricate details of the little things — the dew drops on a blade of grass or flower petal, the veins in a leaf, the corrugated roughness of tree bark, the iridescent colours of an insect, the chirping of the crickets, the buzzing of flying insects, the rustling of the leaves in the trees, the gurgling of the waterfalls, the melodies of the birds, my footsteps on the pathways, the warmth of the sunshine on my face, the taste of the fresh air, the sweet scents of pine trees that carry their stories with the wind…

My challenge to all of you this week is to take an awe walk. Start with once a week, then increase to a few times a week, and then daily. Even if it’s for 15 minutes a day. Give yourself the gift of curiosity, wonder, awe, and connection with yourself and the world around you. Pay attention to how you feel before the walk and after and the changes you notice over time. And let me know how it goes!

And for those of you in the Houston area, we’re going to do our first community Shinrin-Yoku walk this weekend!

Join us on Saturday, January 11th from 2-4pm at Memorial Park. The trails are accessible as well for strollers and wheelchairs, so bring the whole family!

Details below:

Meeting location #1 at 2 pm

Vale-Asche Foundation Playground at Memorial Park

29.7720, -95.4306

Departure from #1 to #2 at 2:15 pm

1.5 mile, 35 minute walk to meeting location #2

Meeting location #2 at 2:50 pm: West Lawn

29.7667, -95.4440

The West Lawn is ideal for picnic blankets, frisbees, footballs, reflections, and conversations. There is also a nearby parking lot and restrooms.

Depart from #2 (West Lawn) to #3 at 3:30 pm

Bowden Terrace next to Hines Lake

29.7670, -95.4310

1.3miles, 28 minute walk to location #3

End of official tour. Socialize at your leisure. It’s a 0.6 mile walk North back to Vale-Asche Foundation Playground from this location

Summary map: https://maps.app.goo.gl/yEMDkEEWWztn5imj8

Aerial photo summary of walk: https://photos.app.goo.gl/wjsiVQtSdk5bpmwh7

You are welcome to join any or all of it. This is only the first time we are doing this, but it most definitely will not be the last! RSVP HERE

(it’s free to attend, but it just gives us an idea of how many people will be there and who to look for!)

See you there!

With deepest gratitude, love, and JOY,

Dr. Meena Julapalli

www.thejoyfulpath.org