Forest Therapy with Sam Messersmith
a questionnaire on practice
on practice
Forest Bathing, or shinrin-yoku, originated in Japan in the 1980s and has since been proven to be an effective practice to increase our well-being. It’s not just that trees are nicer than houses to look at or that walking on a dirt path vs. a city sidewalk is more pleasant, though both are true. And the sound of birdsong is, undoubtedly, sweet, and hearing it does regulate our nervous systems.
But also the earth has an electrical charge and when our skin comes into contact with that electrical charge (walking barefoot on conductive surfaces or touching a tree still living and in the ground) it rights our bodies: reduces inflammation, blood flows more easily, free radicals are zapped and we feel better. It’s called Earthing or Grounding.
Walking barefoot through the forest would be the ideal health boost, but I suspect even just being surrounded by that electrical charge, without touching a single tree (though definitely do touch trees), is in fact a bath of ions balancing our bodies at the atom level.
Forest Therapy Guides are trained to guide clients through an immersive and meditative experience that supports moving into well-being with the help of the forest.
shares how and why her Forest Therapy practice is essential to her well-being.
Sam Messersmith is a certified nature and forest therapy guide, writer, and poet who is passionate about helping others reconnect with their hearts and the natural world. Through her Substack, Wandering Willow, she shares reflections on nature, creativity, and emotional well-being. Sam’s work blends mindfulness, storytelling, and the wisdom of nature to inspire personal growth and connection. When she’s not guiding or writing, she enjoys creating spaces for community and heartfelt conversations.
Forest Therapy as Practice
Forest Therapy (FT) is quite focused on the practice of being present, and not prescribing outcomes.
As a Nature and Forest Therapy Guide, it has become second nature (no pun intended) to see everything through the lens of "practice." It has been hard for me in my life to let go of outcomes. FT helps me to be in the moment, not focused on outcomes, just "being."
What is practice?
To echo the above, I believe practice is the art of staying present. BE-ing in the thing that you are DO-ing.
How do you practice?
I come back to my senses, literally. The core of FT is re-awakening your senses. It is in the present moment that you hear a bird sing, taste your herbal tea, feel the fur of your pet, and smell dinner cooking in the crock pot.
What does it mean to practice?
To me, it means letting go. Forgiving myself for not being perfect. Letting go of what something "should" look like, and accepting what is here now before me.
What brings you to practice?
My mind. My mental health. It can get spiral-y and overwhelming in there sometimes. I most notice when my body reacts to these thoughts. I feel tense. The world feels rushed and I get agitated. That is when I know I need to take a step away from whatever it is I am doing, and come back to my senses, back to my breath.
What keeps you coming back?
FT helps me to relax. I am a better person for it. A better wife, better cat mom. I do it for my health: mental, emotional, spiritual, physical. Connection is a huge component as well. I feel connected to my body and spirit. Connected to nature. When done with others, it helps me feel connected to the world as a whole.
Where do you wobble?
Oh everywhere I think. Mostly when I worry, and become fixated on a course of action to protect myself and my loved ones from any perceived harm. Basically when I try to predict the future, and envision something awful to be prepared for, rather than hopeful for a peaceful, uplifting future.
How does your practice feel?
My practice of Forest Therapy makes me feel like anything is possible. My world feels so expanded. My creativity is the best it's ever been. I feel more playful. The most impactful feelings: connected, peace, freedom, and safety. I feel safe to be me.
What is your aim, if any?
I suppose I would like to master the Way of the Guide, if such a thing is possible. To be able to channel that Guide part of me in my daily life. Letting people be as they are, with nothing to fix. Letting myself be the way I am, with nothing to change. Allowing for what is to just simply be. In moments of stress and anxiety. I'm not even sure of what that would look like exactly, but that is definitely my reason for coming back again and again.
—Sam Messersmith
invitation to collaborate
If you’d like to share about your creative, spiritual, well-being, or otherwise living life practices, please get in touch, unraveling, unmoored seeks collaborators.
We’ve released ourselves from deadlines and are now open to rolling collaborations. We’ve also come into clarity about Poetic Musings: we’re (by we, we mean I, as in Libby) not interested in being gatekeepers to publication. We’re interested in celebrating poetry and the practice of writing poetry (and lyric essays, etc.), so we’re leaning into featuring poets (as opposed to publishing poets) some of their work, and hearing a bit about their practice. We’re not sure what this looks like yet in practicality, but we’re very excited about forming this section with our collaborators.
More info can be found on the About Page. Please message or email with questions.
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Thank you for this wonderful opportunity to express my practice. I think I needed this!- to remind myself of what brings me back home.
I love this, Sam! And I love Forest Bathing. What fascinates me is the discovery of phytoncides found in the air in the forest and its immunological benefits. People come out of their experience with lower heart rates and less stress and the science is backing it up! One day we'll find that nature was always the cure. Thank you for a great post!