Forest bathing: a slow walk in the Sintra woods

Forest bathing is the simple practice of spending unhurried time among trees, with no destination and no pace to keep. It began in Japan in the 1980s under the name shinrin-yoku, when doctors noticed that time in the woods lowered stress in people who worked long hours in cities.

You do not hike or exercise; you walk slowly, stop often, and let your senses do the work: the smell of damp bark, the sound of wind in the canopy, the light moving on the path. Studies since then have linked even an hour under trees to lower blood pressure, a calmer heart rate and a quieter mind. From the house, the Sintra forest starts a few minutes up the road, which makes a morning of forest bathing the easiest ritual to add to a stay.