About 10 people met up at Portage Cove to participate in a new tour option in Haines – forest bathing.
It’s not an actual bath, so no one is naked. Think of it more like a guided, outdoor meditation.
Aimee Creelman, a certified forest therapy guide, led a group of locals through the state recreation site on a sunny afternoon in mid-July.
“I just got my tour permit from the borough,” she said.
Creelman, who has been a nurse for 30 years, told the group that the practice originally started in Japan as a way to reconnect with nature, with one’s body, senses, feelings and emotions. Supporters also point out that it improves mental health and wellness in an accessible way.
“Today’s my first offering, I wanted it to be what we call a forest tour for people in the community who might be able to utilize this offering within their organizations, and also for folks that are in the tour industry and might have some interest in connecting me to more tourism opportunities,” Creelman said.
She walked the small group through a prescribed set of open-ended invitations.
“The invitations that we offer in forest therapy are very simple – they’re invitations, not mandatory. But people are invited to have this experience. They are invoking the senses. So people can interpret them how they wish,” she said.
The group was immersed in nature by engaging their senses through guided mindfulness like noticing the loud calls of nearby ravens. Some saw eagles circling above the trees. Others heard the sound of flowing water rolling in the rocks at the cliff’s edge. Many said they felt a sense of stillness as tree leaves and branched shadows danced on the dewy forest floor.
Participants also heard some man-made noises like a truck engine shifting gears struggling to climb the hill or boats jetting away from the harbor or ferries taxiing tourists from a nearby cruise ship.
Creelman said there are hundreds of different invitations and the entire experience lasts anywhere from two to three hours.
“Because of the weather and the sunshine, I did an invitation for people to explore how the sun is interacting with a forest or with their body or with the water,” she said.“The next invitation was for people to go out and spend a little time with a being in nature and a being meaning a plant, an entity, a rock, a leaf, the sky, the ground, whatever they wanted to spend time with.”
Creelman said that there are stressors everywhere, even in Haines, and that people’s connection and reliance on technology keeps them indoors and distracted.
“It’s really helpful to unplug for a little while, and then to be in the healing embrace of nature, really, can help people to feel a little better at the end of the walk,” she said.
Mira Ericksen attended the session. She said she enjoyed the invitations, particularly one that involved looking for movement and connecting to it.
“I thought it was a wonderful pause from my busy life. It was nice to have those focuses. I don’t think I thought of anything on my to do list while I was out here for two hours,” she said.
Ericksen has lived in Haines for the past 18 years. After she retired she moved to Oregon but returns to Haines every year for the summer. She said these types of activities are important to mental health.
“I think the general stress level of the American population is sky high. I think we’re seeing it in people presenting all sorts of health conditions,” said Ericksen, who considers herself an outdoor person. “So I think I do forest therapy kind of all the time and I think more people need to do it. You can’t go wrong.”
Allison Wilson from Skagway, by way of England, also enjoyed it. “I’m not very good at yoga or focusing on myself. So having the water and the trees and something else to focus on was good.”
Wilson has lived in the Chilkat Valley for 28 years and currently works as the Tour Operations Manager for Skagway Streetcar. She was surprised by how little one needs to travel to escape and reconnect with nature.
“I think being on this side and hearing all the noise and being quiet on that side made me realize you don’t have to go very far to get five minutes to yourself and regroup,” she said.
Wilson also agreed with Ericksen that it’s important to focus on mental health.
“We all run, especially in the summer, here we run 100 miles an hour. And you know, you’re tempted not to turn off your phone and take time and even guests on ships now are still plugged into their phone and checking their Wi-Fi. So I think this was just a great way to focus on yourself for a little while,” Wilson said.
Creelman wants people to know that forest therapy is not a replacement for therapy and she is not a licensed therapist.
“We are guides. And our goal is to open the door and the forest is the therapist. So if there is healing to be done, it’s the forest that is offering the healing not the guide,” she said.