• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer
  • Home
  • About
  • My Books
    • True You
    • Katharina and Martin Luther
    • 50 Women Every Christian Should Know
    • Spiritual Misfit
  • Blog
  • On My Bookshelves
  • Contact
  • Privacy & Disclosure Policy

Michelle DeRusha

Every Day Faith. Faith Every Day.

shinrin-yoku

How Doxology Can Change Everything

September 12, 2018 By Michelle

Recently I talked to a friend who was having a hard day. It was nothing catastrophic; simply that the mounting demands of her work had taken their toll, and anxiety had gotten the best of her, leaving her feeling overwhelmed and stressed.

My advice to her was twofold. One: get outside; and two: practice doxology.

A few years ago I learned about a Japanese practice called shinrin-yoku, which roughly translates as “forest-bathing.” In Japan, whole forests are set apart for the sole purpose of inviting visitors to be present to the sights, sounds and scents of nature.

Studies show that spending even a few minutes outside each day in any kind of natural space – forested or otherwise — can have a profound impact on our physical health by lowering blood pressure, decreasing cortisol levels and increasing immune function.

But I’ve also found that “forest bathing” – or what we Nebraskans might more accurately call “plains bathing” – can also have a dramatic effect on our spiritual life and the state of our souls, especially when combined with doxology.

Earlier this summer I attended a women’s supper at a local Lutheran church, and at the close of the event, the host suggested we all sing the doxology together before going our separate ways.

“Huh? The what-ology?” I thought to myself, as the women around me began to sing:

“Praise God from whom all blessings flow. Praise him all creatures here below. Praise him above ye heavenly host. Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.”

After fake lip-syncing my way through the unfamiliar hymn that evening, I later learned that the word “doxology” comes from the Greek doxa, translated as “glory,” and logia, translated as “saying.” There are a number of different iterations, but in short, doxology is a fancy word for the simple practice of giving praise.

Since learning about the doxology, I now often sing it quietly to myself while I walk my dog (lucky for me, Josie makes sure I get my daily shinrin-yoku in). As we meander along the path, I notice and give thanks to God for the vibrant black-eyed Susans dotting the meadow, for the melodious call of the Oriole hidden amid the oak leaves, for the sleek fox I spot darting into the underbrush across the ravine.

Giving thanks to God while immersed in his creation not only settles my racing mind and brings me a measure of peace, it also offers much-needed perspective.

Photo by Noah Johnson

There is something deeply comforting in acknowledging and accepting my smallness in the face of nature’s breadth and depth. Noticing the intricate design of the blossoming Queen Anne’s lace at my feet and the vastness of the sky over my head reminds me of how fleeting and inconsequential most of my anxieties and concerns really are.

Singing the Christian doxology while I practice the Japanese shinrin-yoku under the wide Nebraska sky is a somewhat strange and unlikely spiritual discipline, but it’s become a favorite, near-daily personal routine. I’m always amazed that two simple practices – noticing and giving thanks – can make such a profound difference in my mental, physical and spiritual health.

Turns out, shinrin-yoku doxology worked for my friend too. A few hours after I’d talked to her, she reported back that she’d taken my advice. After a quiet walk around the lake and a few minutes spent gratefully cuddling a newborn kitten in the barn, she had returned to her desk with a lighter heart, a less frantic mind and a replenished soul.

This post first appeared in the Lincoln Journal Star on September 8, 2018.

: :

If you are visiting and enjoyed this post, you might consider signing up to receive my weekly blog posts in your in-box (or, if you’d prefer, my monthly newsletter, The Back Patio — a casual chat about books, podcasts, and fun, everyday life kinds of things). You can sign up over HERE, and as a gift for subscribing, I’ll also send you my free e-book, Learning to Listen to Your Soul: 5 Tips for Beginning a Daily Practice of Intentional Rest. 

Filed Under: gratitude, slow, small moments, Spring Creek Prairie Tagged With: doxology, shinrin-yoku

When It’s Time for Some Shinrin-yoku

August 14, 2013 By Michelle

Within minutes, the roar of traffic is replaced by the sound of water rushing over rocks as the trail ascends steeply from the parking lot. The forest is lush with ferns and birch, Noble fir and black spruce . A chickadee’s call sounds high and clear like a piccolo as it cuts through the dense foliage. It smells like pine needles, crushed underfoot.

Lichen blooms on bark like sea coral.  White paper peels from the birch trunk, revealing its underside, creamy smooth as newborn skin. The boys run ahead, eager to see the ferocious water tumbling over boulders, thundering under the wooden bridge. Mist catches drop by drop in a spider’s web like tiny Christmas lights.

The Japanese have a word for this — shinrin-yoku. Forest bathing. They’ve known for a long time what researchers are only beginning to prove now: that spending time in the woods is good for us. It lowers our blood-pressure. Reduces cortisol levels. Increases the cancer-fighting white blood cells. Makes us breathe deeply and smile and know that all is well, at least for a while.

We are forest bathing, wandering without an agenda, without a plan. Stopping when we want to, pausing to look closely and listen.

Spotting a large mushroom at the base of a birch tree, I call Noah back to see. He loves mushrooms, studies them, pouring over books with pages and pages of photographs. The underside of the mushroom is ruffled like an accordion, cupping a tangerine center. It looks poisonous, Noah tells me, and I agree. Something about the mushroom’s citrus insides draws us near and then warns us to steer clear.

I look for the lady slippers we spotted last year on the far side of the river, along the less-traveled path. My sister and her family, Brad, Noah and Rowan have gone ahead, but I linger, ducking under a pine bough that rains droplets on my damp hair. I wrap my jean jacket around my camera. The blooms are exactly where I remember, gathered in a sun-dappled grove in groups of two and three. They remind me of elderly aristocratic ladies, diminutive but regal, like they’ve come to this shady glen for tea.

Another less-trodden trail peels off to the right. I linger for a moment at the fork, tempted to spend all day out here by myself, with only the shrill cries of the birds and the murmur of the river to keep me company. Then I continue on, following the voices ahead of me to the parking lot below.

*photos from our summer trip to the North Shore, Lake Superior, MN.

Filed Under: quiet Tagged With: finding God in nature, shinrin-yoku

Primary Sidebar

For as long as I can remember, I’ve been a Triple Type A, “make it happen” (my dad’s favorite mantra) striver and achiever (I’m a 3 on the Enneagram, which tells you everything you need to know), but these days my striving looks more like sitting in silence on a park bench, my dog at my feet, as I slowly learn to let go of the false selves that have formed my identity for decades and lean toward uncovering who God created me to be.

Read Full Bio

Available Now — My New Book!

Blog Post Archives

Footer

Copyright © 2023 Michelle DeRusha · Site by The Willingham Enterprise· Log in