Comments from forest therapy participants (June 12th)

Rain magic in the forest

On this day, I took three people into the forest.

It had been raining until the morning, so when I entered the forest, not only was the green dazzling, but I could also sense the movements of various living creatures.

It seemed like everyone felt it more clearly once their senses were opened, and it was great that with three people rather than just one you could share a lot more different ways of experiencing the forest.

Just as we started eating our therapy lunch, a heavy downpour began to fall.

Then the rain stopped, sunlight began to shine through the cracks, and the heat of the earth began to rise.

It was truly a beautiful sight, as if the rain god had descended upon the forest. Thank you so much!

We received some wonderful introductions from the participants, so we would like to share them with you.

Makiko guides you with the stance that "The forest is the therapist, and I'm just a guide to keep you safe and secure," so even though there are people involved to guide you, what you take away from what you see is different for each person.

It reflects who I am at that moment. It allows me to relax and focus on my own dialogue with the world. ⁡ This is also convincing.

Since coming to Yakushima, I feel like I'm meditating when I'm in nature, climbing mountains and swimming in rivers.⁡⁡⁡Humans naturally have fluctuating and uneven rhythms, just like the natural world, but in order to maintain our sociality, we tend to be bound by something rational and regular, in line with the rhythm of “time.”

To recall the rhythm of nature, such as the sun and the moon, Makiko guided us through various approaches, such as breathing with the energy of the rocks, taking deep breaths with our eyes closed, opening our eyes with our bodies as if "if this moment is a moment of new birth," lining up with the other participants, closing our eyes, and walking through the forest while relying on Makiko's voice (this sharpens our senses to our hands, soles of our feet, and sounds), and more.)⁡ I tried various ways to change my usual patterns of thinking and behavior and to have a dialogue with the forest world.

⁡ Personally, I really liked "The moment you open your eyes with a feeling of being reborn"! (Actually, I liked everything about it.)lol)⁡

Putting aside all the definitions and concepts I had felt and thought about in this life, that feeling of opening my eyes with a completely blank mind. ⁡The trees, light, and sounds spread out before my eyes. ⁡I was so moved, it's hard to describe. ⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡⁡

As Makiko guided me, she created what she called a "liminal line," "between the ordinary and the extraordinary." I found myself standing somewhere between the sense of living as a social human being and the sense of relaxing by surrendering myself to the rhythms of nature.

In response to the question, "What is there in the forest right now?" one participant answered, "Everything that lives, dies, comes, and goes is here." It was easy to simply accept the fact that something exists in nature.

⁡⁡The finale was a tea ceremony with the tea set prepared by Makiko. We arranged fallen leaves and broken pieces of wood on the table to create a small tea ceremony.

I thought forest therapy was a bit similar to Theta Healing, so I explained the concept to her. Although she wasn't familiar with Theta Healing, I felt like she was probably someone who already knew how to experience the invisible world through her senses and experiences.⁡⁡⁡When you are close to nature, which you cannot resist, your senses become increasingly open and you feel more like you are living within something bigger.

⁡I think many people who live on Yakushima become aware of this in their daily lives.

I would love for anyone who needs it to experience Makiko's forest therapy.⁡ What you receive from the forest will surely be completely different depending on who you are on that day and time, and it will broaden your ways of enjoying the world.

(Woman in her 30s)