Mariel Cigarra

Lucretia shared this exercise.

And if you want to try something a little more spiritual, while you sit in the forest, ask a tree or a plant to tell you about what medicine it holds.

And then you can always compare what you imagine to a book.

When you spend time in nature and around trees, that can also be an opportunity to think about the folks who came before you, whether that's deep in the forest or even in your neighborhood.

Lucretia told me about the Treme District of New Orleans, known for being among the oldest African-American neighborhoods in the country.

She likes to look at the neighborhood's oak trees draped with Spanish moss and imagine, what have they seen?

I'm sensing a parallel here, right?

Trees bring people together.

We sit under them in the shade and picnic.

We gather around them and harvest their fruit.

but they're in community with each other too.

The young and the old, propping each other up and sending each other nutrients through their networks of roots.

There's just so much wisdom that trees and plants hold for us when we pay attention.

All right, time for a recap.

If you want to forest bathe, go to a place that has a lot of trees with the intention of appreciating and focusing on nature.

The trees shouldn't just be a backdrop to some other activity.

Go slowly.

Take it easy.

This isn't about doing heavy cardio.

It's about slowing down your heart rate and getting to a calm place where you can start to see the wisdom that nature offers.