One group in Leaside-Bennington is helping Torontonians pause, breathe and reconnect with nature through the practice of forest bathing.
The Toronto Foundation’s 2024 Vital Signs report found that 26 per cent of adults in Toronto reported moderate symptoms of depression, and 17 per cent reported moderate symptoms of anxiety.
Toby Davine, manager of communications and PR at Evergreen, a national nonprofit focused on public spaces, says that having an organized way of connecting with nature helps in overall well-being.
“Many of us live in tiny apartments downtown, so access to nature is so important. We know that green spaces help alleviate chronic health conditions, improve our mental health and even social cohesion, and that’s really important to us at Evergreen. We’re really trying to transform our public spaces in cities for the health of people and planet.”
In 2023, Evergreen Brick Works launched the Forest Bathing Club, a guided nature therapy session, inspired by the Japanese art of “Shinrin-yoku.”
Participants immerse themselves into nature using all five senses — sight, hearing, touch, smell and taste. A 2020 Canadian review in the Journal of Outdoor and Environmental Education found that this form of nature therapy helps to reduce stress and improve mental health.
The club has had over 300 participants to date.
Emily Pleasance, a nature and forest therapy guide, leads the Forest Bathing Club at Evergreen Brick Works. She says, “Trees emit these things called phytoncides, which are just like oils, and they are anti-microbial, anti-fungal, anti-bacterial — all things that [trees] produce to protect themselves, and we absorb them in our skin and inhale them in our breath, and that has a direct correlation with a boost in our immune system. So there’s tons of science behind it.”
She adds it’s also about the feeling of being connected to others, which brings hope.
“We need hope in these times, and hope doesn’t happen in isolation.”
Janet Restrup, who’s been a participant at the Forest Bathing Club since May 2024, says, “Last month, when I came to Forest Bathing, I had found out the day before that my mom had a heart attack, and I was out of town and I couldn’t be with her right away. So that’s what I brought to the group that day. I said, ‘Listen, my mom just had a heart attack.’ I came into the group with a lot of apprehension and a lot of grief, and what I left with was a sense of calm and a sense of hope.”
Restrup shares, “when I went to her the next day to visit, I was emotional as I would be, but my emotional regulation was so much stronger because I had come [to Forest Bathing], I had gotten it out, and then I went and I visited. And it was like night and day, really. It’s not control over emotions, it’s resilience, it teaches you resilience.”
The Forest Bathing Club hopes to expand its reach to younger Torontonians by partnering with schools to help children better understand nature and use it to regulate their emotions.
