Forest Bathing In Western Ghats

Wayanad in Kerala is famous not only for recently becoming the chosen electoral seat of the Congress party's Nehru-Gandhi family, having elected Rahul Gandhi earlier and now his sister, Priyanka Gandhi , to Lok Sabha. Wayanad has always been the favourite destination of nature lovers , sustainability experts and holiday makers seeking a slow-paced, green retreat suitable for deep reflection and rest. So it was that I found myself trekking through dense forest, the floor a veritable tangle of gnarled, uneven roots - sometimes rebelling above ground and at other times, disappearing beneath it so that one had to keep an eye on one's footwork - with the eastward-bound Kabini river, a tributary of Kaveri, flowing alongside.


We had first crossed Kabini river in a bamboo raft, to reach the 950-acre Kuruva Island , or Kuruvadweep as it is known here. The island is criss-crossed by all kinds of trees - twisted, gnarled, straight, thick, thin, lush, dry, cavernous - all reaching for the sky. Fallen trees were left undisturbed, providing habitats to a diverse community of insects, birds, ferns and moss. The floor of the forest is layered with a thick carpet of dry leaves and twigs, a rich source of humus, that will turn into dark, decomposed organic matter, going back to the flora as rich nutrients, enriching the soil and enabling moisture retention. The forest's natural cycle ensures that nothing is wasted.


Soon, I was huffing and puffing, getting short of breath. Plonking myself on a bamboo bench under the trees, I declared to my younger colleagues that I would wait here for them to return once they completed their forest tour. I lay down on the bench, at first uncertainly, but there was no one around to look at me or judge me. OK, I said to myself, just relax, enjoy the time given to you here. I lay on my back, thinking to see the sky but what I saw took my breath away. A whole network of green treetop foliage, with the sky struggling to catch my attention, in between this rich sky art.


I was now forest bathing ! Britta Lokting writing in NYT asks if forest walks, cold plunges and talking to trees can make you happier. The peg for her story was the recent report that Finland is once again on top of the list of the world's happiest countries, according to World Happiness Report. Finland said it can teach tourists to be happy. Lokting took this claim seriously and made the trip to Helsinki and travelled by ferry to the island of Pihlajasaari just ten minutes away from the city centre. The island had beaches, trails and rocky shoals but Lokting was looking for trees she could talk to, a therapeutic exercise recommended by Finnish biologist Adela Pajunen. For Finns sometimes share their worries aloud to trees or birds and may even sing to them to bust stress.


The western ghats offers all the ingredients to make you feel happier than you are. Just listening to the rustling of leaves, the soft gurgling of the river water, and the speckled sunlight filtering through the leafy canopy of trees and intermittent birdsong, lulled me softly to sleep. This is organic shavaasan, without a yog teacher or instructor save that of nature.


Authored by: Narayani Ganesh
ganeshnarayani@yahoo.com