HYDERABAD: While sunbathing is a relatively well-known concept and not a desirable summertime activity in a tropical country like India, the State government is planning to introduce Japan’s ‘forest bathing’, known as Shinrin-Yoku, in forest areas across Telangana, especially in and around Hyderabad.
Officials said that people who are looking to tackle various health issues that have come up owing to sedentary and stressful lifestyles can visit Telangana’s urban forest parks to see an improvement in their health. “The idea is to leave all the screens behind, find a spot where you can’t hear the hustle and bustle traffic, the constant ring of mobile phones and without a manmade structure in sight. Just sit on the earth and free your mind,” an official said
Around 60 forest blocks have been developed into urban parks with basic amenities in and around 30-35 km of Hyderabad city by the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation (GHMC), Hyderabad Metropolitan Development Authority (HMDA), Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited (HMRL), Telangana State Industrial Infrastructure Corporation (TSIIC), forest department and the Telangana State Forest Development Corporation falling, apart from district headquarters.
The Shinrin-Yoku, which means bathing in the forest atmosphere or taking in the forest through human senses, will relieve stress, boost immunity, increase focus and memory, improve heart and lung health, control anger and addiction, reduce anxiety and worry, increase cancer-killing cells, mindfulness and lower blood pressure, among other things, officials said, adding that this experience is not exercise or hiking or even jogging, it is simply being in nature, connecting with it through one’s sense of sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch.