The Calming Ritual of Forest Bathing: Shinrin-Yoku
The Calming Ritual of Forest Bathing: Shinrin-Yoku comes with healing bath rituals and forest witchcraft with Plants By Laurali! One of my favorite pastimes is hiking pretty in my local park. Today, I’m going to uncover a simple way for the Green Witch to ground their energy after doing intense spellwork.
One of the biggest issues facing beginner witches is their inability to understand the basics of witchcraft. The basics include grounding, cleansing, and protection. This is the foundation upon which witchcraft is built. Once a witch has the basics down, they can move on to bigger and better things!
As a green hearthcraft witch, you can use a strongly built foundation to someday become an advanced-level elder witch! Keep working on your skillset and you become the dream witch you wish to see in the world. It all starts with grounding rituals and practices.
What does it mean to ground your energy? It means to return your energy to the earth. This can be done in numerous ways, including the calming ritual of forest bathing!
When should a witchcraft practitioner ground their energy? Some witches prefer to do it before spellwork. I’ve found that grounding works best after doing spellwork.
You see, spellwork builds energy, and grounding after a spell or ritual tethers your energy back to the earth, holding it in place. As a witch, performing magick takes you outside of your body and connects you to your higher self. After performing, you want to find a way to bring yourself back down to earth.
Forest bathing is a wonderful way to accomplish that! Forest bathing, also known as Shinrin-Yoku (Japanese), requires walking slowly, calmly, and intentionally through the forest to reboot your body system. Practicing green witchery makes this even more important because we need our forest or nature “fix” to keep us going!
The Calming Ritual of Forest Bathing: Shinrin-Yoku
What is forest bathing? Forest bathing requires immersing yourself in the sights, sounds, and smells of nature. The goal is to walk slowly, calmly, and intentionally while you soak it all in.
I practice forest bathing several times a week. As a green witch, I use this time to pray to my Greco-Roman deities, canoodle with the nature spirits, look for signs through animal witchcraft, and wildcraft for plant life to use for natural remedies and herbal magick.
I do everything slowly and with great intention! As a witch, forest bathing will take on a whole new meaning compared to the regular folks in the world. It doesn’t just become spiritual, but magical as well!
The biggest thing to know about forest bathing is that it grounds your energy, which is highly important after doing intense magical work! When you elevate your energy without grounding, you end up with egg on your face.
I’m talking sleepless nights, scattered energies, and an overall feeling of sluggishness. This is where forest bathing can come in and help! Again, you’ll be returning that energy to Mother Earth, in a way that feels as natural as breathing for you.
It’s easy! You will simply head into the forest of your own making and begin to walk. Anyone can do that! Forest bathing pairs well with forest witchcraft and plant witchery.
Good news! If you live in a city, you can use your local park to do it. You can even incorporate shinrin-yoku into graveyard witchcraft, as most cemeteries and graveyards are places of calm and peacefulness.
Forest bathing can be done in places you wouldn’t normally think of. Besides using the graveyard, if you live in the desert, rainforest, and other natural landscapes, those can be used to achieve the same goal. Forest bathing can be used effectively in any place that holds calm, healing energies that are waiting to be unlocked!
The Magical Properties of Forest Bathing
What are the magical properties of forest bathing? Most people associate shinrin-yoku with its medicinal healing properties, but it can be made magical, too! Listed below, are some of the magical properties associated with forest bathing.
Mushroom Witchcraft - Mushroom witchcraft is a great way to ground your energy while walking on the forest floor. Not only that, funghi communities are magically connected to the fairy realm. Foraging for mushrooms also makes a great farm-to-table meal.
Wildcrafting - Wildcrafting for herbs, plants, and tree life is an extremely witchy and magical way to find materials for your craft. The herbs you collect can be used for both spells and herbal remedies.
Animal Witchcraft - Animal Witchcraft while forest bathing is a great way to communicate with animals, find feathers, bones, and fur, as well as look for signs using corvid birds, and more!
Green Witchcraft - Green Witchcraft connects the green witch, the hedge witch, and the forest witch with Mother Earth. The green witch and forest bathing go hand-in-hand together!
Weather Witchcraft - Weather Witchcraft connects us with the four elements and the changing seasons! Shinrin-yoku reminds us of the forces of weather and how to use them in spellcraft.
The Medicinal Properties of Forest Bathing
What are the medicinal properties of forest bathing? Shinrin-yoku not only grounds your energy but acts as a natural healing modality. There are numerous benefits to forest bathing and I’ve listed them below.
Creates a feeling of calm and peacefulness
Lowers heart rate and blood pressure
Lowers cortisol, which is associated with harmful levels of stress hormones.
Assists with the shadow work witchcraft process through introspection
Creates a deep spiritual connection with Mother Nature
Boosts immunity
Boosts mood and lifts spirit
Assists with focus, clarity, and concentration
Reduces stress and anxiety
Aids in the expression of anti-cancer properties
Reduces depression, suicidal thoughts, and ideation
Calms anger and volatile feelings
How to Practice the Calming Ritual of Forest Bathing
To start forest bathing, simply head over to your local forest or park! Once there, begin walking slowly, calmly, and with an intention in mind. Intention is a big part of witchcraft and sets the tone for what you’d like to happen in your life.
In this case, the intention is to ground your energy after doing a spell or ritual. You can also use shinrin-yoku for healing, prayer, wildcrafting, foraging for mushrooms, and to practice a slow-living lifestyle.
While in the forest, look around you and take it all in! Take in every sight, sound, and smell of the forest in great detail. Notice the fecund smell of the mushrooms in rot and decay or the sight of a bird in its nest resting for the day.
During forest bathing, take it one step further! You can do this by picking a wildflower with a long stem and wrapping it around your wrist or weaving it into your watch. You can do this to absorb the essence of the wildflower in bloom.
Take your time! Shinrin-yoku isn’t about looking at your watch or phone constantly. It’s about living in the moment and finding gratitude for the little things in life.
Be mindful of your surroundings as you hike further into the forest. Look into secret hiding places or places of energy. This is most likely where you’ll see or feel the energy of the local land spirits!
You are more likely to spot a fairy or gnome while forest bathing! Gnomes are associated with the earth element and treasure. You can leave a special offering of honey, agave nectar, or a gemstone and ask the fairy or gnome for groundedness. Be sure to give thanks!
You can also use this time to pick up litter! By moving slowly, you are more likely to spot bottles, cans, and physical items that don’t belong in our forests and oceans. This is also another way to show love and respect for Mother Earth and all she has to offer!
You’ll also catch the attention of a nature spirit, as they prefer to work with witches who respect the land! By winning their favor and respect, you can slowly begin to form a relationship with them. Once you’ve earned their trust, you can begin to ask for bigger and better things.
As you continue on your nature walk, your energy will slowly begin to ground your energy into warm cinnamon and nutmeg, which are associated with protection and warmth! Whatever energy you raise during your spell or ritual will be delivered back to the earth.
By the time you leave the forest floor, you’ll feel holistic again! All of the restless energy will have left your body and you’ll be left with the residue of earth witchcraft. It is here you will stay and be anchored to the earth and all the magic it brings!
The calming ritual of forest bathing is in the heart of every green witch! You’ll find yourself being more calm, thoughtful, and whole again. What could be better than that?
