One Mind Mountain

16/04/2024

Full-on sakura time in Japan!
🌸🌸🌸
These pics are from Shinjuku Gyoen, a fabulous spot for sakura in Tokyo.

12/03/2024

I was so eager to post those winter photos last week, that I totally forgot about autumn! Here’s a selection of photos taken on the island of Shikoku, just as the autumn leaves are fading. Shikoku is the smallest of Japan’s four main islands and is extremely mountainous. The mountains (and cities) are dotted with Buddhist temples, 88 of which form a pilgrimage circuit. I was lucky enough to be able to savour just a bit of Shikoku’s pilgrimage culture in autumn!

08/03/2024

As promised, some photos of recent travels in Japan. First up, the cold northern winter. These pics are from the area from Sendai to Aomori, more or less the “tsunami coast.” It’s a part of Japan I’ve spent a lot of time in, both professionally and personally. It’s gorgeous in the big snow, and you can also warm up later with a hot soak in an onsen. Which is exactly what I did ;-)

14/02/2024

Four years now, living amidst the pine forests of Dalat in Vietnam.

With their slim pines and grasses, their ferns and pink wildflowers, all the ingredients are the same in each forest I visit, and yet they are all unique in mood, in color, in their openness or intimacy.

In this photo, one of my favorite places to visit and forest bathe, especially at dawn, which can look misty and moody, like here. It's a place of rolling open meadows, hills and valleys, views of distant peaks, and an every-so fairy tale grove of pines with a stream winding through it. With mists and water buffalo, and early-morning spider’s webs twinkling in the warm sunlight, it’s also where my participants and I have had some of our most magical experiences.

Who wants to come forest bathing?

12/02/2024

My best Tết wishes to everyone from pretty, springtime Dalat!

09/02/2024

Pretty koi play at my feet in a pond I visited for calm and solace quite often late last year. Especially bred to produce these vivid colors, ornamental koi are symbols of good fortune and prosperity in Japan. You see them everywhere in ponds and water gardens. You’ll also see them on traditional textiles and in the koi-nobori kites of the Boy’s Festival, in May each year.

In Vietnam, where the lunar new year is just around the corner, koi have an important role to play in getting the Kitchen God back to heaven before the new year comes. And they can turn into dragons—rather nice with the Year of the Dragon coming! Here in Vietnam, koi carp fish are a symbol of dedication, transformation, power, and luck.

Let’s hope these Vietnamese koi do their job well for this lunar new year!

Happy Tết, 2024, everyone!

New Year and the period after are just gorgeous weather-wise with clear skies and warm sun on your skin. If you’re in town and interested in forest bathing, do get in touch with a PM and we’ll see what we can line up. 🌲❤️⛰️

04/02/2024

It’s been a long long time since I’ve actively posted on this page, but here we are between the solar and lunar New Year celebrations, and at 節分 [setsubun] in Japan and Imbolc in the Gaelic tradition, both markers of the start of spring in the northern hemisphere.

And so, I’d like to take this opportunity to express my greetings to everyone who has been following this page. May 2024 be a good year, wherever you happen to count it from.

Let me explain a little why I’ve been away:
2023 was a huge year for me. I traveled internationally for 5 months and suffered a severe injury (away from home) that involved recovery for 4.5 months. So that didn’t leave much time to be actually here, on the ground, in Dalat.

I am now recovered enough, have enough energy, to be moving around again. So I’m back in Dalat again and very happy to be surrounded by the pine forests that I’ve grown to love over the years (my photo for this post was shot in one of them!).

Are you heading to Dalat over the Tet holidays or after?
If you feel some deeply relaxing forest bathing [shinrinyoku] or reiki would be right for you, please do get it touch. We’ll see what we can do!

I’ll leave injury pictures where they are in my Iphone, but over the coming posts, I’ll be happy to share some photos of 2023’s many travels.

23/12/2022

WINTER SOLSTICE

The shortest day of the year;
the longest night.
…the true New Year.

How will you observe it?

Even if you have not yet celebrated, solstice is a season, so there is still time. And nature will wait, patiently, and respond with joy.

When we want to live in alignment, one of the easiest ways to start is by observing the heavenly bodies—the sun and the moon. Make a respectful and enjoyable celebration of their patterns and rhythms. Slowly, we start to realign to ourselves from human centeredness to nature centeredness.

How will you celebrate this day, this season, this earth?

I took myself to the coast - - many times - - and just sat with sea and sky, quietly observing their shifting winteriness, allowing the joy to arise in me.

Here are some photos of my solstice days, posted in a wish for a beautiful new year for everyone and for our planet.

20/12/2022

AUTUMN LIGHT
& MOMIJI FIRE

Momiji [maple leaf] wafers do offer that autumn mood...but don’t even hint at the kind of fire waiting in a Japanese garden in November or December! ;-)

Some recent shots of Kyoto temples in gloomy autumn light, celebrating this tree that together with ginkgo, so quintessentially represents Japanese autumn (scroll down for a recent post on that splendid tree friend!)

#森林浴　

18/12/2022

FOREST BATHING:
an Open Experience
a Fully Personal Experience
- - -

When shinrin-yoku came to the West and was expanded into the wider practice known as relational forest bathing, a conscious decision was made to keep the practice an open vessel.

This means that the forest bathing experience is entirely neutral in terms of cultural context. It also means that it allows for each participant to have a very personal experience. A trained practitioner can lead a group of people through a forest bathing session where some may have a pleasant and relaxing time soaking in the goodness forest environment, an experience that is positive and beneficial for mind and body. Others taking exactly the same walk in the same forest may be left with a sense of sublime oneness with all of life. Others may activate their inner wildness or re-connect with a bodily knowing that is more primeval. For others, the experience could be more about wonder, inspiring a sense of gratitude or creativity or desire to protect the natural world. For a veteran forest bather, I think it’s possible to have all these at the same time 😉 Woah! Talk about feel-good!

Every one of us is individual, with individual histories, individual sensibilities. And we shift around from day to day. So there is no way to know - even for you yourself - what will arise for you in a forest bathing session. One of the beautiful things about this practice is that all experiences are valid and are valued. And they all lead us somewhere towards a holistic state, one of health in the true sense of the word.

Would you like to explore this unique way of interacting with nature in the pine forests of Dalat? Perhaps even in a more intensive immersion? We are heading into the crisp sunny days of the winter dry season, so it is glorious to be out there. Various dates are still available over the Xmas and NY period. Get in touch with a friendly DM to start the discussion.

14/12/2022

FOREST BATHING AND RE-ENCHANTMENT

Almost every day, the message arrives on our doorstep, one way or another, about the multitude of environmental problems that surround us and that threaten a future that may even approach the apocalyptic. To this, some people respond by questioning the very validity of humankind’s presence on this planet.

For many of us, it is clear that we live in a culture of profound and ever-growing disconnect with the natural world. A sentiment like “the planet would be better off without us” takes this disconnect to its most extreme level, virtually negating our place in the web of life. It also stymies action, re-imagination, and motivation.

But since we are a species that is here, and has been here for a very long time, it is clear that we do have a valid place in the web of life. We are a contributing part of the greater ecosystem. The problem is not that we do not belong, it is that we have fallen out of connection and out of right relationship. I think many of us sense this on an emotional level. Despite all our efforts to live the good life within the framework of contemporary society, something still feels absent, not quite right.

When bombarded with messages of our destructiveness, our uselessness, and of our planet going to the dogs, it can be hard to imagine or claim experiences of “joy,” or “connection,” or “grace” vis-a-vis the natural world. Indeed, many people close down further, dull their response, even give up. But if disconnect is what got us here, the way through our current predicament is not in further diminishing our connection, but it re-cultivating the inter-connectedness that we have lost. We need to re-ignite our emotional sense about our place as humans in the web of life. A re-enchanted sense of place. Which is here for us. Our bodies still remember. And practices offering a path to re-enchantment are available.

Alas, we are not flooded with messages like that each day. 😞

To feel our place, we need to first radically open up our capacity to actually feel. This naturally activates our sense of wonder, for the world reveals itself as an astonishing marvel once we slow down, silence the constant chatter, and take the attention off ourselves. As we learn how to walk with greater respect and sensitivity, re-enchantment and joy follow, for we are now on the path of building right relationship. The intelligence of the heart come to lead, and we start to sense our place as equals in the web of life. And it feels damn good to be there.

Forest bathing is a relational practice that offers just such a path. As one participant reflected on their experience: “I felt neither significant nor insignificant; I was simply one of the beings that were all around me. I came out feeling clean, fresh, transparent.”

One Mind Mountain is pleased to be able to work with individuals and small groups, playing a role in the collective re-imagining of our place in the web of life. Come and be re-enchanted!

To inquire about one-off experiences or deeper, intensive or extended explorations, please get in touch with a DM.

10/12/2022

Checking out the site of an upcoming project: art meets the forest of Dalat. It will be very interesting to see how it all works out, what newness or depth this might take us to.

07/12/2022

YELLOW GINKGO LEAVES

Maple and ginkgo must be the king and queen of color for autumn leaves in Japan.

Native to China, ginkgo has been widely cultivated in Japan and Korea for many centuries. You can find them in parks and gardens, and also in stunning rows along the streets. In autumn, their leaves become a theme in traditional Japanese confectionary, and of course, the nuts are delicious to eat too.

Not only are their bright golden tones mesmerizing to look at, but ginkgos are special in quite a few ways:

they’ve been on the earth since pre-dinosaur times
they’ve been used in Chinese medicine for many a century
six ginkgo trees survived the Hiroshima atomic bomb
ginkgo trees are resistant to air pollution
they live happily for 2000, 3000 years
(*the greenish tree in the photos is 500 years old!)

I think we humans can learn something from our ginkgo friends. 🙂 Don’t you?

- - -

Shinrin-yoku / forest bathing is a wonderful practice through which we can start cultivating a relationship with nature, including our tree friends. Want to try it? Get in touch with a DM to organize a session.

26/10/2022

HOW DO WE KNOW THE NATURAL WORLD?

We live in a sensuous world, but how much are we truly alive and open to this sensuous world?

Our local forests and our own gardens can feel very familiar, and in this familiarity, we tend to tune the world out, thinking that we “already know all that.” How much intimacy or aliveness is our “already knowing” blocking out?

I recently took some people forest bathing in a forest where they “knew all the plants already.” In response, I designed a sensory invitation: Touch the plants. Feel their textures, their delicacy, their resistance to the pressure of your hand. Get to know them as if you are meeting them for the very first time. Do this with eyes open and again with eyes closed. Tune into your own body too: the difference in your body’s sense of perception, knowing, involvement.

In just a few minutes, everyone experienced a powerful shift into new, enlivened relationship. Intimate relationship. Myself included. One participant returned from the invitation with his face glowing: “I think I’ve just experienced something like calm ecstasy,” he said.

I invite you to try it, even at home with house plants. Eyes open. Eyes closed. What new level of intimacy, what new level of knowing the world, of relationship arises?

- - -

Are you on Instagram?
To enjoy more photos and words like you have in this post, I welcome you to follow my account:
https://www.instagram.com/yugen.reverie.garden/
where you will find lots more in this spirit.

19/10/2022

FOREST BATHING IN AUTUMN
Autumn colors are truly with us in much of the northern hemisphere, including Japan - - you can see how pretty the colors are in this photo.
🍁🍃🍂🌿
Here in Dalat, autumn is the most obscure of the seasons, mainly because of the overlay of the rainy season on the four seasons pattern, and also the pine trees that make up much of our forests. Pine trees are evergreen, and with all the rain over the past months, if anything, autumn turns into the greenest of all the seasons. Forest grasses grow tall, lush, and vibrantly colored at this time of year. Some forests feel like a vast sea of green—the forests turn a very different color to at other times of the year.

This is a time of glorious sunny days like we’ve had this week, and also rain and mists. Either way, it is such an atmospheric time for a visit to the forest to explore the gentle, restorative, and deeply connected practice of forest bathing.
Please DM for more details.🍂🌿

01/10/2022

LEARNING HOW TO LISTEN
Sound ecologist Gordon Hempton has been an inspiration for a long time, but listening to this interview, I learn so much more about how to be a better forest bather!

Silence is an endangered species, says Gordon Hempton. He defines real quiet as presence — not an absence of sound, but an absence of noise. The Earth, as he...

15/09/2022

こけ | MOSS
Tiny environmental messengers

Things majestic and things intimate.
Things tiny and things grand.
On a skilfully led shinrin-yoku walk, you will find yourself switching scales of attention and observation, exploring your place in the web of life.

Looking many times into the tiny, tiny, tiny world of the forest, I’ve come to moss, who is now one of my favorite nature beings. Moss sits there quietly, getting ever so green if it can, and somehow managing if it cannot.

I’d always assumed that moss was like any other plant, but how little I knew! Moss has no roots. This is why it can grow on rocks. It was the first plant to move from the oceans to the land. It is one of our messengers for subtle changes in air quality, in temperature and rainfall levels—a messenger of environmental change. Did you know?

Could you open your heart-ears and listen to the voice of this tiny tiny plant? This is one of the aspects of inter-being with the natural world that we explore on a forest bathing walk.

11/09/2022

MIDAUTUMN FESTIVAL |
中秋の名月 | RABBIT & MOON

What a beautiful moonglow we’ve had this weekend. I hope you are enjoying it, no matter where you are in the world.

Here in Vietnam, this weekend kids have enjoyed the Midautumn Festival all over the country. It’s a time of colorful celebration on the streets.

You may not have been aware, but Japan also celebrates midautumn and the full moon at this time. It’s called Chushu no Meigetsu. Since a good millenium ago, the Japanese people have enjoyed the custom of moonviewing, and this weekend with the midautumn moon, is the idea time. Mmmm, well actually, a proper autumn moonviewing also includes moonviewing next month, two days before the full moon. So if you missed out this month, you can get a second chance in October 😉

One way that seasonality is observed and nature connection is maintained in the hearts of the Japanese people is through wagashi, or Japanese style sweets, like the ones pictured here. Why a rabbit? In Chinese, Japanese, Korean, and Vietnamese folklore, a rabbit lives in the moon, but the moon rabbit legend exists in other Asian countries too. Here little bunny is gazing up at the moon, in tender awe at its golden glow. I wonder if she’s doing it this month or next?

Images from: The Graphics of Japanese Confection: Wagashi

29/08/2022

A VIETNAM NATURE LOVER'S PARADISE
this is an awesome journey through the plants and flowers and fruits found in Vietnam.

An illustrated index of the country's flowers, plants, fruits & trees

17/08/2022

Searching for a re-envisioning of our relationship with the natural world?

In this video, a short collection of powerful words on spiritual ecology by some of my favorite inspiring people: Thomas Berry, Thich Nhat Hanh, Joanna Macy, Sandra Ingerman, Vandana Shiva, and Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee.

Spiritual Ecology: The Cry of the Earth A Collection of Essays Edited by Llewellyn Vaughan-Lee Available at Spiritual Ecology: The Cry of the Earth Showing the deep connection between our present ecological crisis and our lack of awareness of the sacred nature of creation,

13/08/2022

SHINRINYOKU TURNS 40! 🎂🎁🍰

At the end of last month, Shinrin-yoku turned 40 years old!!🎂 Contrary to what you sometimes read on the internet about this being an "ancient" or "traditional" Japanese practice, it is not. The word "shinrin-yoku" (森林浴) was coined in 1982 by Tomohide Akiyama, who then headed Japan's Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. To the word for "forest" (shinrin), he added "yoku", meaning bathing (which here refers to one mindfully absorbing the atmosphere of the surrounding environment) and published his new concept in a newspaper article. Primarily, his new proposal for human health centered on the beneficial effect of phytoncides.

The concept took hold as a therapeutic practice for alleviating the stresses and poor health that had become a major social problem, particularly among Japan's overworked urban populations. It later started to attract serious scientific study, and in Japan, is now championed by scientists working at the intersection of forests and human health. These days, Japan is home to some 65 official forest therapy bases throughout the country where visitors can enjoy shinrinyoku walks lead in the Japanese way. I can't wait to visit some when Japan finally opens to tourism.

I have been sick for several weeks lately and have not been able to keep up with posting. But on the 40th anniversary day, I was able to organize a celebratory walk for a group of four participants in the pine forest of Dalat. It was a glorious morning with sunlight streaming through the trees. Our shinrinyoku walk was peppered with bilingual readings from Japanese books celebrating nature and forest invitations with a focus on key words and concepts that show a deep awareness of the joy that comes when we feel connected to the natural world. Not to mention a few Japanese sweets at the end!

Here's a little video showing the forest that morning.

If you'd like to read more about phytoncides, take a look at my post here:
https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=118904033996134&id=105191135367424

23/07/2022

"If the earth is to come alive in the 21st century, humanity must undergo a great shift in consciousness. Each of us needs to become aware of the profound relationship that exists between our thoughts and the health and stability of the earth. To revive our ailing planet, each of us needs to infuse the earth with the healing energy of our deep gratitude for all the earth’s blessings.

Words of gratitude, thoughts of gratitude, actions of gratitude toward our beloved earth-as we rekindle this spirit of gratitude our way of life will naturally change and the earth will find the power to heal itself… As we deepen our sense of oneness with all life on earth, may we each come to know what it truly means to love, cherish, and make the most of our own lives as well."

Masami Saionji
The Earth Healer's Handbook

Introduction to the practice of expressing gratitude to the earth and the environment. For more information please visit Byakko.org

09/07/2022

A very inspiring three days, listening to a diverse selection of speakers from research and practice, and being a part of the discussions at this conference. It is so heartening to see the increasing recognition that forest bathing is receiving worldwide and the conviction and passion with which the professional community is working.

Join UBC Forestry for a virtual event on forest therapy research, its institutional context, and contributions to human wellbeing.

01/07/2022

FOREST BATHING
AWESOME for MENTAL HEALTH

We all know that being in nature is “good for us,” but what exactly does that mean?

Almost every day, I get scientific research papers appearing in my inbox, and increasingly you also see news stories in the mainstream media about the multitude of health benefits associated with shinrin-yoku [森林浴] or forest bathing. These include both physiological and mental health benefits. Worldwide, our mental health got quite a bashing over the past 2.5 years, and many of us spent (and continue to spend) way too much time indoors as well. How can shinrin-yoku help?

Study after study shows that shinrin-yoku/forest bathing will reduce:

[森] anxiety
[林] depression
[浴] mood disorders
[森] burn-out syndrome
[林] feelings of anger, confusion, hostility
[浴] stress hormone levels

🌿 and help boost your 🌳

[森] short-term memory
[林] creative reasoning
[浴] emotional intelligence
[森] sense of vitality
[林] concentration, focus & attention
[浴] cognitive function
[森] sense of curiosity
[林] sense of groundedness
[浴] sense of connection and meaning

The psycho-physical recovery from stress starts within minutes of entering green natural landscapes. That might have been OK for our ancestors who led much simpler lives, but these days, with the damaging impact of digital media and the fractured, frantic pace at which most people try to live, it is hard for us to stop thinking, planning, stressing, multi-tasking, and handling our phones while in nature. We are not really connecting at all. Our bodies are in a constant state of sympathetic nervous system arousal, when it is boosted parasympathetic function that we need for the above mental health benefits to occur.

The key is doing a shinrin-yoku walk led by someone trained in the practice. ☀️ 🌱 🌱

You will be taken to a carefully selected forest area that is safe and comfortable; being with someone experienced reduces any nervousness or fear of being in the untamed landscape. Ever so gently, you are slowed right down and given a framework for pleasant focus, which get you out of your head and into your body and start to truly connect with the nature that is around you. You forget about your phone, stop thinking about life’s problems or wish-list, and start to revel in the delight of the many beautiful and soulful things that our natural world is filled with. Your parasympathetic nervous system takes over the sympathetic, and you start to heal.

🌱 Let me show you how it works. For information on shinrin-yoku offerings, please get in touch with a friendly DM. ⛅️ 🌼 💖

- - -
🌱🌱 TINY VALLEY is an intimate space with bird life, pine forest, and ferny slopes. We walk along a narrow cement path and do shinrin-yoku on the path, so this is an ideal location for people who feel a bit nervous about standing in a forest and prefer to stay on a totally clear surface.

29/06/2022

01. Go to the search tool
(the magnifying glass)

02. Type: testimonial

(not testimonials)

03. Done!
You can now read every testimonial

24/06/2022

DAWN ROCKS, a secluded little hilltop along the Khanh Hoa coast, is a wonderful spot to greet the sun and do a forest bath - here, not in a forest, but amidst the rocks, sand, and windswept shrubs. Forest bathing is not limited to forests; it can be enjoyed in many different kinds of natural environments, and also at different times of the day! At DAWN ROCKS, it is best enjoyed at dawn or dusk.

For a testimonial from this location, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=115793467640524&id=105191135367424

24/06/2022

HEALING VALLEY is in an area about 40 minutes from Dalat that is dotted with fern gullies, groves of pine trees, and rolling grassy meadows, and better suits a 4-hour shinrin-yoku session (or a full morning immersion from dawn). If time is a limitation, One Mind Mountain also offers shorter 2-hour forest bathing sessions in several locations in Dalat.

For a testimonial from HEALING VALLEY, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/onemindmountain/posts/162657939631429



posted 13 June 2022

23/06/2022

GOLDEN PINES - it’s not the name of a species, though one such does seem to exist. It’s the name for one of One Mind Mountain’s shinrin-yoku locations just out of Dalat. An open meadow on the side of a mountain, dotted with pine trees with golden-colored needles that glisten in the sunlight. With fallen logs, different islands of vegetation, and lovely views of the surrounding hills, it’s a magical spot for forest bathing.

For a testimonial from this location, please visit: https://www.facebook.com/permalink.php?story_fbid=113592187860652&id=105191135367424

23/06/2022

Located 40 minutes from downtown Dalat, INTIMATE VALLEY is a unique shinrin-yoku spot with coffee & persimmon trees; pines, grasses & ferns; and views that open up through the trees along the way.

For a testimonial from this location, please visit:
https://www.facebook.com/onemindmountain/posts/149349714295585

21/06/2022

SUMMER SOLSTICE

I often wonder if Ajeet Kaur is feeling the same sentiments as me while singing this gentle song, whose lyrics start with:

“Walk quietly my love.
Let's kiss this earth we walk upon, with our steps."

These words could not be a stronger message for how to live in relation to the earth and how to re-envision ourselves as a species - one who's steps are capable of kissing the earth as we go about our daily business.

Our ever so quiet daily business.

This kind of species is one whose presence on the earth is a positive one. It's a radically different image of ourselves to the one often implicit in the words: “It’s human nature” or “The planet will be better off without us” and many other of our thought patterns, expressions, and world views.

This re-visioning of ourselves as a positive species, whose daily footsteps kiss the earth, whose gentle daily activities bring benefit and blessings to the earth, is my wish for humanity as I go into retreat during this summer solstice.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e6hEvSvpx7M

Ajeet Kaur performing "Kiss the Earth" live in Amsterdam with Ezra Landis and Raffa Martinez.Stay connected with Ajeet Kaur:Instagram: https://instagram.com/...