in the fall of my junior year of college, i was caught in the familiar chaotic tango that many students my age are familiar with: working two jobs, being involved on campus, applying to summer internships, and trying to maintain a social life. 

a healthy amount of chaos never killed anyone – but the stress that comes along with it can. as someone who grew up surrounded by nature, i instinctively returned to the outdoors to decompress. i found a very necessary escape along the sprawling nature trails of north florida, letting myself forget about my highly regimented daily obligations and getting lost in the fir woodlands. 

many people turn to nature for this kind of reprieve. few know that there is a growing therapeutic practice built on this very idea. forest therapy, originating in japan as the practice of forest bathing, or shinrin-yoku, has become increasingly popular in the western world for those looking to supplement traditional cognitive behavior therapy. 

often done in a group setting, forest therapy invites participants to truly slow down and take in the natural world around them – noticing how the wind dances through the trees, the animals that scamper in the brush, or any of the other elements of the outdoors that they wouldn’t notice day to day. most forest therapy sessions also end with a japanese tea ceremony to help them carry and incorporate the peace and new sensory awareness that they have achieved during the walk back into their daily lives.  

the result is an all-encompassing mindful experience that intentionally forces participants to slow down and become more aware of their surroundings, a skill that both helps manage stress and forms a more intimate relationship with the natural world. with 386 forest therapists certified across the united states alone and about 3,000 worldwide according to the association of nature and forest therapy, the practice has positive impacts on both mental health and conservation efforts. 

the magic of the forest

deborah skorupski, a native of merritt island, fla., is a forest therapy guide in the greater sarasota region of the sunshine state. she regularly guides at the marie selby botanical gardens, famed for its year-round, lush landscape that also includes the historic spanish point, making it rich in ecology and history. 

a retired litigation attorney, skorupski turned to nature as an escape throughout her life. as someone whose job it was to mitigate crises, she always felt like there was something more she could offer her clients beyond legal counsel to help their physical and mental health on a regular basis. this calling led her to forest therapy. 

“it really is just the recognition that by taking a couple of hours out of your day, whether it’s once a month or whatever it is, that you’re allowing yourself to just step away from the craziness of their lives and just enjoy being outside in nature,” skorupski said. 

forest therapy emphasizes taking in all aspects of the natural world. whether you’re walking alongside the coast or deep in forests, there is a rich concert of natural beings to appreciate – plants, trees, wildlife, and even wind do wonders for grounding. throughout the walks, skorupski guides people in recognizing these elements of nature.

a sensory experience

studies have shown that forest bathing reduces stress hormones, improves sleep, and eases symptoms of depression and anxiety.

karina del punta is a forest therapy guide who runs neuroxnature, where she collaborates with communities in miami to explore how nature can support mental well-being and collective resilience. she holds a doctorate in molecular neuroscience and understands the science behind why forest therapy is so effective. 

del punta says that forest therapy interrupts the loop of constant prediction, evaluation, and problem-solving that dominates our daily thoughts and produces cognitive overload.

“from a neuroscientist’s perspective, forest therapy works because it shifts the brain from top-down, task-oriented processing to bottom-up, sensory-based presence,” del punta said. 

when you take a step back in this way and really begin to immerse yourself in nature, there is an opportunity to form a relationship with the land. and like any relationship, you have to work to make sure that it’s healthy and maintained. for that reason, forest therapy can be a direct motivation for environmental preservation. 

“forest therapy is about the human relationship with the natural world,” skorupski said. “if people have a relationship with the natural world, they’ll commit to protect it.”

benefiting people — and the land

chasidy hobbs, the university of west florida’s director of conservation, has seen firsthand how forest therapy can motivate communities to preserve land. uwf’s campus is surrounded by 1,000 acres of designated conservation lands, primarily dominated by longleaf pine, an endangered tree that uwf is seeking to restore. 

one of those restoration efforts is a forest therapy trail through the wooded areas on campus.  established two years ago, the trail features 12 signs that encourage those on the path to walk slowly, look around, and embrace the world around them.

at the beginning of the trail, a sign reads, “leave your phone, camera, and any other distractions behind so that you can be fully present in this experience.” though self-guided, the trail emphasizes communion with nature and conservation. 

integrating forest therapy so closely with uwf’s existing conservation efforts makes it impossible to ignore that relationships with the land and preservation are intertwined.

“some people never leave the concrete jungle – that’s their whole environment and community,” hobbs said. “when people lose touch with the natural world, and how interconnected we are with it, the idea of protecting it doesn’t really make sense.” 

at uwf, the community impact that forest therapy has had is palpable. community members and students alike are able to engage with the trail easily and make that vital reconnection so needed to mitigate environmental challenges. 

“forest bathing is a wonderful way for people to have a tangible, obvious connection with nature, which will hopefully lead to more empathy [with what] is impacting those natural areas,” hobbs said. “hopefully, by participating in forest therapy, there will be a desire to help minimize those impacts.” 

connection goes deeper than the surface

forest therapy is not without its criticism. although it has therapeutic benefits, viewing nature as something that humans can exploit for stress benefits has been criticized by some for being extractive. 

especially since america’s ecological history is closely tied to indigenous people, many of whom continue to cultivate and preserve natural areas, forest therapy also faces the challenge of honoring the legacy of people who originally inhabited the land and being conscious of how to give back to it. 

kevin fairbanks, a white earth nation descendant based in illinois, says that without acknowledging america’s deep ecological history, forest therapy can lose its ability to help with conservation. 

“the practice itself, leaning so heavily on this idea of the forest being therapeutic, overlays a very western individualistic kind of psychology,” fairbanks said. “dismantling that [mindset] is more healing.” 

many forest therapy practitioners acknowledge this deep history in their practice by including land acknowledgements for the original inhabitants of the land. brittany rivers, a licensed mental health counselor who integrates decolonization work into their therapy practice, says that integrating the history of land into forest therapy is not simply a courtesy, but a necessity. 

“if you don’t really know what you’re looking at, you might not notice that … there’s a lineage to the place,” rivers said. “doing a land acknowledgement invites people, depending on what is included, to grapple with that.”

while this history may be difficult for some, it also presents a wonderful opportunity to form an even deeper connection with the natural world — one rooted in a commitment to history and restoration. 

many forest therapists also integrate reciprocity, or mutual benefit to the land, into their practice. del punta says that this approach to forest therapy can also aid in conservation efforts. 

“for me, reciprocity is not an accessory to the practice — it is the practice,” she said. “when people experience themselves as part of a living system rather than separate from it, care and responsibility arise naturally.” 

healing abounds

this reciprocity practice reminds those who engage in forest therapy that, as much as they need healing from nature, nature needs to be healed as well. forest therapy invites those who practice it to deeply connect with nature and, in turn, find ways to ensure this connection can endure for generations. 

when i walk on nature trails now, i’m reminded both to slow down and notice my place in nature. as much as i seek healing from winding forest trails, i also ask myself: “what does this land need from me, and how can i help heal it?” 

“our mental health crisis is deeply intertwined with disconnection — from ourselves, from each other, and from the natural world. forest therapy offers a powerful, research-backed way to rebuild those connections. and when communities reconnect, patterns of polarization, loneliness, and stress begin to shift,” del punta said. “that, to me, is the deeper story: forest therapy isn’t only healing individuals — it’s helping us reimagine what a healthier, more connected society could look like.”