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Forest Bathing book cover
Forest Bathing
The Rejuvenating Practice of Shinrin Yoku
2018
First Published
3.75
Average Rating
176
Number of Pages

Shinrin Yoku: "taking in the forest atmosphere", the medicine of simply being in the forest, "forest bathing". From the healing properties of phytoncides (self-protective compounds emitted by plants) to the ways we can benefit from what forest spaces can teach us, Forest Bathing: The Rejuvenating Practice of Shinrin Yoku discusses the history, science and philosophy behind this age-old therapeutic practice. Examples from the ancient Celts to Henry David Thoreau remind us of the ties between humankind and the natural world—ties that have become more and more elusive to Westerners. This book explains the traditional Japanese concepts that help readers understand and share in the benefits of the Japanese approach to forest bathing—a cornerstone of healing and health care in Japan. These concepts include:

  • Yugen: Our living experience of the world around us that is so profound as to be beyond expression
  • Komorebi: The interplay of leaves and sunlight
  • Wabi sabi: Rejoicing in imperfection and impermanence The book goes on to offer guidelines for finding our replenishment in these peaceful, isolated spaces—from turning off the phone (or leaving it at home) to seeking the irregularities in nature, which in turn can make us less critical of ourselves. Finally, it offers tips not only on being fully present and mindful while you're in the forest, but also on how to take that mindfulness home with you—even if that home is the busiest and most crowded of cities.
Avg Rating
3.75
Number of Ratings
742
5 STARS
25%
4 STARS
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3 STARS
28%
2 STARS
9%
1 STARS
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Author

Francesc Miralles
Francesc Miralles
Author · 35 books

Son of a dressmaker and an erudite office worker, he was born in Barcelona on the 27th August 1968. After spending eight years in a religious school in la Ribera –just beside the Palau de la Música¡–, he attended high school at the extinguished academy ALMI and IES MONTSERRAT. Despite his bad grades, he was accepted into the UAB’s faculty of Journalism, which he quited after four months. That the same year, he started to work as a waiter at LES PUCES DEL BARRI GÒTIC, a bar in the Gothic Quarter where he learned to play the piano. In the following year, returning to the Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, he started studying English Literature, which he combined with precarious language teacher jobs. After five years of being a sloth, he stalled at the third year of his studies and quited them again. Having been attacked by travel fever since the age of seventeen, he decided to leave everything behind to travel the world. A bunch of chance encounters led him to live in Croatia and Slovenia during the armed conflicts. Upon returning to Barcelona, he resumed his academic life as a student of German Literature at the Universidad de Barcelona. Once he completed his studies, he attended a master for publishers. His entrance in the editorial world had started a year earlier, as translator of German and English spirituality and alternative therapy books. Before finishing his postgraduate studies, he got hired as editor for a publishing house specializing in self-help books. There, he directed several collections, and he also wrote many different types of work under a pseudonym. After leaving the publishing house, he promised to himself never to work again for a company. He decided to try his luck with a first youth novel. Since then, he basically dedicates himself to writing, and works as literary adviser for different publishing houses and an agency. LOVE IN LOWERCASE (AMOR EN MINUSCULA), already translated into twenty languages, is getting published in 2016 by Penguin USA. This book also has its second part, eight years later, in the WABI-SABI novel, about the beauty of imperfection, which will be published in UK this may. Nowadays he combines literature and journalism, and on a monthly basis publishes articles in EL PAÍS SEMANAL, and in the magazines CUERPOMENTE and MENTESANA. Beyond this, he also works for the radio and offers literary Sherpa services and art therapies. ***************************************************** Hijo de una modista y de un administrativo ilustrado, nació en Barcelona el 27 de agosto de 1968. Tras pasar ocho años en una escuela de curas de la Ribera—al lado del Palau de la Música—, cursó bachillerato entre la desaparecida academia ALMI y el IES MONTSERRAT. Pese a su mal expediente consiguió ingresar en la facultad de Periodismo de la UAB, carrera que abandonó al cabo de cuatro meses. Aquel mismo año entró a trabajar de camarero en LES PUCES DEL BARRI GÒTIC, una taberna de la calle Montsió donde aprendió a tocar el piano. Nuevamente en la Autónoma, el año siguiente inició la carrera de Filología Inglesa, que combinaría con empleos precarios de profesor de idiomas. Tras cinco años de desidia, se estancó en tercer curso de carrera y volvió a abandonar los estudios. Atacado desde los 17 años por la fiebre del viajero, decidió dejarlo todo para vagar por el mundo. Un cúmulo de casualidades le llevaron a vivir en Croacia y Eslovenia durante los conflictos bélicos, peripecia que relataría muchos años después en su libro CAFÈ BALCÀNIC. De regreso a Barcelona, se reenganchó a la vida académica como estudiante de Filología Alemana en la Central. Completada la carrera, hizo un postgrado para editores. Su ingreso en el mundo editorial había empezado ya un año antes, como traductor de alemán e inglés de libros de espiritualidad y terapias alternativas. Inmediatamente después fue contratado como editor por un sello de autoayuda. Allí dirigió diversa

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