Shinrin-Yoku, or Forest Bathing, as it is literally translated from the original Japanese, is one of my personal therapeutic lifelines. My mentor and colleague, Dr. Cyndi Gilbert, agrees. In fact, Cyndi wrote a book about it called Forest Bathing: Discovering health and happiness through the Japanese practice of Shinrin-Yoku.
Cyndi and I talk about how immersing oneself in nature in some capacity: whether it be looking at a poster of a nature scene on the ceiling of your dentists' chair, to having a room with a view when recovering from surgery to complete wilderness backcountry trekking, have numerous effects on the health of our bodies, minds and communities.
However, we also acknowledge that nature is not always accessible. We discuss the privilege that certain health practices often require, and muse on how to make naturopathic medicine more accessible.
Dr. Cyndi was a professor of mine at CCNM. She is also a supervisor at Queen West Community Health Centre in downtown Toronto. When I was a student, Dr. Cyndi held a group in her home clinic to help us through the trials and tribulations of our formation as clinicians.
She is committed to a harm reduction and anti-oppression model of care that affirms her patients, and respects their first-hand knowledge of their own health. Her practice is inclusive of diverse peoples, bodies, genders, sexual orientations, families, and relationship constellations. She is body-positive, sex-positive, sex work-positive, and BDSM/kink-informed.
She is also the author of The Essential Guide to Women's Herbal Medicine and is an activist in the realm of Healthy Equity. She offers continuing education courses aimed to teach current naturopathic doctors and students to create more inclusive practices.
I'm excited to introduce you to Cyndi--she is so fun to talk to and we could have gone on and on. Forest bathing and community medicine are both passions of ours.
You can find Cyndi at:
Her website: https://cyndigilbert.ca/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/drcyndind/
Learn more about Good Mood Foundations: taliand.com/good-mood-learn
