Forest bathing: a beginner’s guide to the evidence

Forest bathing, or shinrin-yoku, means spending attentive time in a woodland environment. You might move slowly, pause beside a path or sit among the trees. The emphasis is on experiencing the surroundings, rather than completing a route. Forestry England’s introduction describes the practice and offers ways to begin.

It can be a welcome reason to spend time somewhere interesting. The research also deserves a careful reading: a short-term change in a questionnaire or biological measure is not the same as a guaranteed health outcome.

What early forest-bathing experiments measured

Park and colleagues’ 2010 paper reported experiments involving 280 young male university students across 24 Japanese forests. Participants viewed and walked in forest and city settings on different days. Forest conditions showed lower cortisol, pulse and blood-pressure measures, among other differences.

Those results concern brief, organised visits. They do not show that any woodland, visited for any length of time, will produce the same response in every person. They also do not establish that a particular sound, tree scent or colour caused the differences.

A visit changes several things together. The route, weather, surroundings, expectations and experience of walking may all matter. That makes a real forest an appealing place to explore, but a complicated setting in which to isolate a single mechanism.

What about claims that forests “boost immunity”?

A randomised trial published in 2025 compared 90-minute forest and urban walks in healthy men aged 40–70; 78 completed the walks and analysis. The forest group showed a greater change in salivary secretory immunoglobulin A, an immune-related marker.

That finding is more specific than the headline “boosts immunity”. The study examined an immediate biological response, not whether participants subsequently caught fewer infections. Participants knew which environment they were in, and the findings cannot automatically be extended to other groups or repeated practice.

When reading a health claim, ask three questions: who took part, what was measured, and for how long? A result can be interesting while leaving the bigger clinical question unanswered. There is no need to turn a visit into a search for a measurable bodily effect.

Plan for comfort before choosing an exercise

Choose somewhere you can reach and use comfortably. A short woodland path with a seat may suit you better than a long circular trail. Check the surface, gradients, opening arrangements, toilets and transport before setting out. Keep enough time and energy for the return journey.

Forestry England’s easy-access trail directory is one starting point in England. Read the individual location’s information rather than assuming that an access label meets every requirement. Conditions and personal needs vary.

You can go alone, with someone you know or with a group. If you prefer company, agree whether the visit will include conversation or a little quiet time. Sitting while a companion explores nearby can be a reasonable arrangement if it feels comfortable to everyone.

A simple way to spend the visit

Begin by settling into the place. Keep your eyes open, breathe normally and choose a comfortable position. Let attention rest on something that interests you: the spaces between branches, moving light or the sound of leaves overhead.

You can change your focus when you want. Notice the wider woodland, then a detail close to the path. You do not need to touch unfamiliar plants, close your eyes or breathe to a prescribed count. Choose the senses and positions that are comfortable for you.

These are practical suggestions, rather than a research protocol. Finish when you have had enough. There is no threshold at which an ordinary woodland visit becomes a successful forest bath.

If listening is what draws you outdoors, our beginner’s sound-walk guide offers a different, more structured activity.

Leave room for the woodland

Follow local signs, keep to appropriate paths and give wildlife space. The Countryside Code covers caring for nature and sharing outdoor spaces in England and Wales. Guidance differs elsewhere, so check the place you are visiting.

Avoid playing a soundscape aloud in habitat or using calls to attract birds. You can hear more of the actual place by leaving it undisturbed.

When a forest visit is not possible

A nearby green space can offer its own encounter with nature. A woodland recording is another option when travel or outdoor access is difficult. Neither needs to reproduce a research study to be enjoyable.

You can browse real nature recordings and read how NatureScapes captures them. Listening at home is a recorded experience, with different conditions from being outdoors; the forest-walking findings above do not establish the same effects for an app or video.

Let curiosity guide the visit, and let the evidence keep the promises proportionate.

— J