I recently purchased a pretty new but second hand ag bike to join a trip along the Oodnadatta Track with a group of friends.
The Yamaha AG125 is a farm bike, and I found out when I went to have it checked for registration that it is only a farm bike! It cannot be registered for road use in Australia.
So it was not able to be used for the outback trip, even though it is a capable and suitable piece of equipment.
I advertised the bike for sale online, thinking that there would be someone with a farm who would just love a farm bike with only 600 k’s on the clock, and for $1000 off the new price.
I got an enquiry from a young farmer in the middle of Tasmania who had discussed the matter with his partner and they had decided it was time for a new bike. Having a reliable purpose built farm bike on a farm makes a whole bunch of things easier.
I delivered the bike on the Nick Hall Adventure Therapy ute. It was a beautiful day for a countryside visit/tour and I had a great conversation with the new owner about bikes, and farming. I am always very impressed with farmers knowledge and understanding of the land and weather and growing conditions. It is actually very inspiring to find people so dedicated to, and informed about, what they do.
Forest bathing is a practice or process of therapeutic relaxation where one spends time in a forest or natural atmosphere (like an uncrowded coastline/beach), focusing on sensory engagement to connect with nature, and breathing in the air.
Forest bathing is also known as sylvotherapy, and, emanating from Japan, shinrin-yoku.
Sylvotherapy/Shinrin-yoku is a wellbeing and healing practice that involves mindful connections with natural places.
It promotes physical and mental well-being through activities like sitting or walking in a forest, sensory engagement, and even physically embracing trees to connect with their energy. Potential benefits include reduced stress, lower blood pressure, a strengthened immune system, and improved concentration and mindfulness.
In Japan, which is two thirds covered in forest, the term shinrin-yoku was created by Tomohide Akiyama, who was the director of the Ministry of Forestry, in 1982. After several studies were conducted in Japan during the 1980s, forest bathing was seen to be an effective therapy method. Akiyama knew of these studies along with the findings that showed the beneficial health effects of the compounds, such as phytoncides, and of the essential oils that certain trees and plants emitted. He officially put forward shinrin-yoku as a recognised practice, promoting its benefits to his public and establishing guidelines for its implementation.
Shinrin-yoku/forestbathing has been developed as a response to the increasing urbanisation and technological advancements and was put forth to inspire individuals to reconnect with nature and as a means to protect the forests and the natural lands. It was understood that if people spent time in natural forests and like places, and were able to find therapeutic comfort within them, they would value and protect them.
The Japanese calligraphy for Shinrin-yoku, forest bathing.
Practicing forest bathing/shinrin-yoku/sylvotherapy means spending time in nature, amongst the trees and grass, and mindfully engaging within a forest atmosphere or other natural environments. It is usually done by sitting in or walking through, a forest. Walking would be done at a slow and gentle pace. These practices would be done without carrying any electronics or other distractions, and taking the time to soak up the surrounding nature.
It involves using all five senses and letting nature enter through those senses. Some examples of exercising this can include:
Listening to forest sounds, i.e. birds and insects.
Touching the ground, the trees, and the leaves.
Smelling the flowers and other essential oils of the plants and trees.
Here are the slides from my recent presentation at the Outdoor Health Australia forum in Lennox Head, New south Wales, which turned out to be another very beautiful and exciting part of Australia.
“How To Be Not Overwhelmed (in Nature and Elsewhere.) The Restoration of Spontaneity.”
Mindfullness, nature contact, nature immersion, experiential, deep ecology, person centred.
Hi, I’m Nick Hall. I have been immersed in person centred adventure therapy since 1994. I now offer my private practice Nick Hall Adventure Therapy where we do walk and talk sessions, and small adventure therapy sessions canoeing, swimming, stand up paddle boarding and forest bathing. I have worked in adventure therapy groupwork, as a river guide, with torture and trauma victims, at the Aboriginal Health Service in Tasmania, and run my own groupwork program Community Rites Of Passage. I have presented internationally and around Australia. I am a foundation member of Outdoor Health Australia. I also present on empathy, high functioning group formation, and deep ecology.
This is an experiential workshop held in the outdoors. It focuses on learning to identify what overwhelm is and when it is occurring internally, and then moves to using this awareness to manage this situation, whether it occurs in an outdoor setting, or elsewhere in one’s life. This workshop is for anyone, of any experience, who wants to explore the functioning of overwhelm in themselves. It is intended to be a gentle exploration, an introduction.
Nick Hall Adventure Therapy 