Reviews - Shinrin-yoku | The StoryGraph

"Al mirar el firmamento nocturno, para convocar el sentimiento yugen solo necesitas respirar hondo y cerrar los ojos unos instantes. Imagina que eres un viajero en una gran nave espacial que es el planeta Tierra. Visualiza cómo nuestro mundo atraviesa las estrellas. Abre los ojos otra vez y siente el yugen del cielo estrellado en todo su esplendor: somos viajeros cósmicos."

jelka's review against another edition

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3.5

Japanese hot girl summer 5/?

General criticism/review:

- A lot of this book felt superficial, overly pop sciency (dont show me bar plots with 2 data points unless they're US election results, thanks) or off-topic (one of the downsides of liking nature lit is that every author thinks they have to talk about Thoreau in detail. Notably, our boy Walden was *not* Japanese!).

- If you list something as a pro/do, there is no need to list its opposite as a con/don't. I have a brain, as do your other readers.

- Esoteric concepts and scientific studies and undefined *hypotheses* are all combined here and I'm not sure how I feel about that.

- Too much European lit/esoterism/philosophy for a book about Japan.

- However I read the book at the perfect moment (before and after a hike) so it still did it for me and gets a good rating.

Some notes about stuff I liked:
- "Keep a green tree in your heart, and perhaps the singing bird will come." Chinese proverb.
- wabi-sabi: the art of imperfection; reject straight lines. beauty is imperfect, incomplete and ephemeral
- A lot of health benefits to forest bathing and phytoncides are listed, as are the health risks of city life.
- loved learning about Mithridates VI
- loved learning more about Shinto Spirits
- concept of *Yugen*: literally: deep remote darkness + mysterious/hidden -> "the mysterious moment in which, while observing the universe, our feelings reach the depths of our innermost, hidden core." (while observing nature/enjoying art...) "It's what we experience when we gaze at a starry sky at night, when we suddenly realize we're part of something bigger than ourselves. It's a feeling that nature provokes in us [...] but we can also cultivate it [...].
- komorebi: the effects of light and shade that nature can generate (sun on leaves, fog curtain, ...)
- shinrin yoku: be present, leave room for improvisation, breathe deeply and slowly, let your mental clouds pass by, feel yourself as part of everything
- practise mindfulness + walking meditation; 5 senses meditation
- write & read haikus
- healing qualities of certain house plants, essential oils, birdsong and tea