Mindfulnes in Nature Workshop with HSLU

Birds singing, butterflies dancing and leaves waving in the Sun.  A fantastic mindfulness retreat immersed in the beautiful forest.

Mindfulness in Nature Workshop, Zurich

A Project with University of Luzern Applied Science (HSLU) Students

Birds singing, butterflies dancing and leaves waving in the Sun.  Immersed in the beautiful forest of Männedorf, Zurich, I hosted a Half-day Mindfulness Retreat in the middle of nature, amongst the trees.  Together with students from HSLU, Luzern University, we are developing a mindfulness product for busy people whose days are filled with 1 deadline after another.  The students are the best examples: they are in the middle of exams, final paper deliveries and project presentation preparations.  How can we stop the hamster wheel and take a break from the incredibly overwhelmed modern lifestyle we have?

Seek sanctuary in nature, especially in the forest

Seek sanctuary in nature is a good choice, especially in the forest. You probably already knew that trees are good for us, because they absorb the pollution, carbon dioxide from the air.  But do you know that many trees also release a healthy chemical, called phytoncide?  Phytoncides are very active substances that help to prevent trees from rotting or being eaten by some insects and animals.  They help humans to build immune cells and destroy unwanted cells in our bodies, perfect for preventing or healing cancer.  Trees support us to calm down faster and provide us many nourishing benefits.  Our ancestors have been living in nature for thousands of years, being in nature brings us back to the roots, relaxes us and makes us feel grounded.  

Forest bathing, the Japanese way to reduce stress

The Japanese already knew about it in the 1980s. Due to urbanisation and fast economic developments, there was a rapid increase in stress and anxiety level among the Japanese population.  Therefore,  the Japanese health minister and the forestry minister started an initiative to help people to reduce stress and boost health in a natural way, in the forest, and they call it Forest Bathing.  Japanese would go to the forest in groups and stay there for a few days, up to 1 or 2 weeks.  They learn different relaxation and mindfulness exercises in the forest environment.  There are hotels, rehabilitation and clinical centres built in the forest, just for this purpose.  Since then, there have been many researches and clinical trials and forest bathing has been proven to be a very effective method for stress reduction, anxiety relief and performance improvement.  In recent years, many European countries are following suit.  Forest bathing is now being offered in many countries, like Norway, Finland, Uk, Germany and also in Switzerland.  Forest bathing is my favourite form of mindfulness practice, because I love nature.  To be surrounded by trees, flowers and birds help me to unwind, to let go of my tension and to teach me to see things from a different perspective, connected to a higher picture.  At Art of Mindfulness, we offer many of our workshops and retreats in nature, particularly in the forest.

Basic Qi Gong that can be easily integrated into daily life

I also showed a couple of basic Qi Gong movements, which can be integrated easily in our daily life.  Movements in the rhythm of our breath promote being in the present moment, the key to mindfulness. In traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese believe, when our energy is flowing fluently in our body, we would be healthy and happy.  Whenever we are sick or depressed, it’s because our energy is not flowing well and is blocked somewhere.  Chinese call energy, Qi and they use Qi Gong to heal physical or emotional imbalances.  

Three hours went by in a blink.  We had a fantastic afternoon together.  The take-away for the participants was to integrate 1 of their favourite mindfulness practices into their daily life, using a Habit Tracking sheet.  As we all know well, we go to seminars, retreat, read books and gather wonderful ideas, however, if we do not take action to implement what we learnt, our lives would still remain the same.  As Confucius said, “ You hear, you forget; you see, you remember; you do, you understand.”  

I welcome organisations and individuals to come to our Nature Retreat and find out how mindfulness and nature can help you and your team to reduce stress, increase performance and become more agile.   You can write to me at min.wang@artofmindfulness.ch for more information.