Here we are back at Attingham Park where we left off looking over an old wooden gate.
As we left the view over the gate we crossed the River Tern by a suspension bridge from where we watched the eddies produced by the extra flood water moving down the river. It was as we stepped off the bridge that we decided that we were entering a section of the woodland where peace reigned as fewer people walked this far. It was a good time to utilise the ideas of Shinrin Yoku.
The trees were extremely tall with brambles and bracken as undergrowth at this time of year with the addition of a blanket of dried leaves. As we wandered along the path we were aware of movement along side us. There was not even enough breeze to move leaves so the movement was not the wind. We watched and discovered that a small flock of Goldcrests was feeding, searching beneath bramble leaves picking off insects using their long fine bills. They seemed to be in such a hurry.
The silence in the trees was almost complete, just broken by the high pitch calls of the Goldcrests and the occasional watery winter song of robins. The delicate scents of woodland, dried leaves, bracken and pone needles intermingled to create its own perfume. Concentrating on the experience of being in a woodland added so much more to our walk. We understand now the reason why the Japanese medical system include Shinrin Yoku in their multi faceted health system. The phrase Shinrin Yoku translates as ‘Forest Bathing’, a good definition for it.
greenbenchramblings 