Filed Away…Shinrin-Yo

Up the side of the mountain, it was a long rocky unpaved road on a very old bus ride going to the top of Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve. We were winding through a rain forest where the forest touches the clouds. It was truly magical. Backpacking coast to coast through national parks and reserves, we were immersed in the breathtaking natural beauty. Costa Rica, smaller than the state of West Virginia, was a poor country where the average income was less than $3000. Revenue was generated from tourism and coffee. Yet for a poor small country, Costa Rica holds 5% to 6% of the world’s biodiversity.; making it more than wealthy. Monteverde was one of the 28 national parks of Costa Rica where 25% of the land is either a park or reserve. We were on our way to stay and with each gear shift of the bus, we lurched a little further along.

In 1951, eleven Quaker families moved from Alabama to Costa Rica. Being pacifist, they were looking to live a peaceful life and had refused to serve during the Korean War. Costa Rica offered them a peaceful way of living. In October of 1949, Costa Rica became the first country in the world to abolish its army. And by 1983, Costa Rica declared its permanent neutrality. This declaration led to Costa Rica being nicknamed “the Switzerland of Central America”. When Hubert Mendenhall had traveled by truck from US, looking for land to purchase so the Quakers could relocate this was all just a kernel of what would become a major part of the conservation efforts shaping Costa Rica. By 1970s, Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve began to take shape with some of the pioneering leaders shaping conservation efforts.

Heading up the mountains, the bus lurched forward on the precarious mist veiled mountain road as breathtaking views of swirling rain forest clouds ,endless radiant rainbows and breathtaking waterfalls filled with some of the greenest biodiversity on Earth was right in front of me. Imagine being wrapped in sea green. I swear Costa Rica has fifty shades of green.  As I clung to the overhead grab rails, wonderment steadily filled me as the anxiousness and stress of my pending health magically evaporated into the colors and cacophony of the tropical jungle. My senses had never been so engaged all at once. I was immersing into the healing benefits of Shinrin-Yoku. Already without my conscious awareness, the transformation and union with wellness happening. I’ve heard it said we all have the power to heal ourselves. Without knowing, my body was connecting with the healing memory of the practice of Shinrin-Yoku. Forest bathing aka Shinrin-Yoku and forest medicine was an ancient Japanese practice . Right up there with Finland, Japan was said to be one of the most heavily forested countries in the world. Forest waking was a common day practice, It would be many more decades later I would become familiar with the actual healing term that became know as forest bathing. On a Southwest flight into Phoenix to celebrate Thanksgiving with my son, I would pick up from the seat back pocket the Southwest Airlines Magazine. I was captivated by the story. I gave extra thanks that year because of my rain forest experiences, I had self healed and was cancer free. I would enjoy that restored wellness for almost 30 years until 2019 when breast cancer unexpectedly popped into my life.

The mystical cloud forests captivated me for several days. Soon I found myself in a giant hooded rain coat , knee high rubber boots, hiking on the trails thru the lush and misty rain forest. Free from all worry. This is where I found a sense of wonderment and inner peace. It was intoxicating and before I knew it , I was totally and completely surrendering to this place here on a mountain side with Quakers for me to live and thrive; free from all illness and with no fear. this is where I had some of the best granola of my life. The Quakers made their own granola. But wasn’t life more than granola ? Or maybe life was just as simple as granola. Maybe it was the best granola because for the first time in my life I was 100% present in the moment. For right now, just wanted to stay here and just be. Could I walk away from my life in Connecticut?