connecting with your spirit 171
ended on a hopeful note. We can save the trees, the planet, and
our health, but it will require a major and rapid growth spurt in our
awareness.
Day 22: The Shinrin - Yoku Challenge
This Shinrin - yoku , or forest bathing, experiential will be one of
the fastest and most obvious benefi cial responses you will create
through your Rice dieta immersion. All you have to do is fi nd the
nearest wooded area or park and enjoy your one hour of aerobic
exercise there twice within this week. Then in the exercise and
feeling sections of your Dieta Journal note any improvements in
your mood, clarity of thought, and gratitude to nature. Consider
participating in local events that would benefi t the environment,
such as Earth Day walks or runs. Perhaps join the Sierra Club or
another organization that sponsors educational hikes to provide a
new, active resource to support your personal and environmental
health interests.
Spend more time outside and with nature in general and cul-
tivate your connectedness and gratitude to our life - and health -
giving planet. Last month, my son and I went gleaning, a practice
described in the Old Testament, where one collects the remaining
foods yet to be harvested from a fi eld. In addition to our burn-
ing a couple of hundred calories with other generous folks, my son
learned the age - old joy of performing community service in the
great outdoors.
A Personal Love for Nature
My appreciation for nature and my love for trees extends back
as far as I can remember. This relationship with trees grew expo-
nentially when I was in my early twenties and the thrill and allure
of climbing 300 - foot fi r trees to pick their cones for reforestation
while camping in the woods and making $ 200 to $ 400 per day
with a cooperative called Hoedads was too enticing to refuse.
A friend who invited me to join him on this adventure assured me