Mindfulness at Hotel HUBERTUS

More and more people are discovering mindfulness and realizing how good it is for them to “be fully in the moment.” Participants in our mindfulness retreats and yoga retreats also learn, during their stay with us, to reconnect with nature. Afterward, they feel better, more relaxed, and more alive.

What we’ve long recommended to our guests—and what we practice with them time and again when we go out with them—has been the subject of scientific research in Japan. There, researchers have recognized that nature has a positive effect on both body and mind, and have established so-called “outdoor clinics.” There, guests participate in a practice known as “Shinrin Yoku,” which translates to “forest bathing.”

It always gives me personal pleasure when what I—and the entire Traubel family—have been practicing and teaching for many decades is increasingly confirmed by science.

BE TOUCHED
Nature here in the Allgäu invites us to immerse ourselves in silence. It nourishes us. It revitalizes us. And it brings us into contact with what truly matters: pure being. Being in the present moment in deep connection with everything. There are moments when I myself am so deeply moved by the beauty of the mountains, the forests, and the rivers that I am speechless and feel profoundly connected to everything. Seeing that thousands of animal and plant species, fungi, lichens, and bacterial strains live and thrive here—and watching their beauty unfold unconditionally before my eyes—never fails to move me deeply. At the same time, in such moments, I am repeatedly reminded of just how mercilessly we are destroying this very same beautiful nature.

EXPERIENCING SILENCE
I found the silence of the forest particularly nourishing. Sitting there and listening to the silence, immersing myself in it, merging with it—it was pure bliss. Again and again, moment by moment. These moments were interrupted only by the cry of a buzzard, the buzzing of a bee, or the crackling of wood as an animal made its way through the green thicket.

EXPERIENCE THERAPY
Incidentally, so-called forest therapy is gradually gaining ground in Germany as well. It has now been scientifically proven that even a short walk among spruce and larch trees boosts our mental well-being and strengthens our immune system. Thus, what conventional medicine long dismissed as “esoteric nonsense” has since been backed up by hard facts.

Research has shown that certain volatile compounds released by pine and fir trees stimulate the production of our immune system’s defenses and calm the nervous system. It has also been discovered that forest air is healing, in part, because it is “electrified.” The trees draw certain radioactive elements up from the groundwater. These elements decay when exposed to the air and negatively charge individual air particles. Exactly how they affect the human body has not yet been studied. However, it has been proven that people who breathe in this “electrified” air experience better wound healing and are even happier.

This result doesn’t surprise me. After all, fortunately, there are no advertising posters in the forest constantly trying to convince me that I’m missing out on all sorts of clothes, electronics, home furnishings, perfume, investments, superfoods, and so on—all the things I supposedly need to feel happy, even if just for a brief moment. It doesn’t stink of diesel there, and there’s no traffic noise either. In fact, we now know just how beneficial the forest is for our mental health and for the interplay between body and mind. Children who spend time in forest kindergartens have, among other things, a strong immune system, a well-developed nervous system, are agile, and have good coordination. They are connected to their senses because their perception is honed in the forest. Thus, they not only experience how diverse and meaningful the world is, but they also prevent “digital dementia”—which, according to scientist Ulrich Spitzer, threatens children who only learn about the world through a smartphone and believe that a cow is purple.

Harness the power of the forest. Connect with it. Even in fall and winter, nature is moving, beautiful, and healing. It’s waiting for you. What are you waiting for?