Forest Bathing in Olympus – Rooted in Science, Lived in the Woods of Pieria
How a documentary, a forgotten term from Japan, and life under Mount Olympus revealed that what I already do has a name – and a mission.
November 19th, 2025 — Litochoro, Pieria / by Giorgos Gizelis
Some people meet forest bathing in a wellness brochure, at a retreat, or in an airport bookstore.
I met it backwards.
First came the forest.
Then came the walks.
Then came the quiet visits with friends, relatives and people from Athens and different parts of the world when they came to see us in Pieria.
Only years later did I discover that what I had been doing all along
— for myself and then for people close to me —
had a name, a history, and even medical research behind it.
That name was forest bathing.
In Japanese: Shinrin-Yoku.
And since the 1980s, doctors in Japan have literally been
prescribing it.
Living under Olympus before I knew the word
I’ve been living in Litochoro,
at the foothills of Mount Olympus,
since 2013.
In the beginning it was simple:
walks along the Enipeas Gorge,
coffee brewed on a small gas stove near an old monastery,
winter fog wrapping the pines,
summer light burning through the canyon like a slow camera movement.
When friends or visitors came, we didn’t talk about “sessions”.
We just went out.
No script, no branding.
We walked slowly,
we listened to the water,
we stopped in places where the air felt thicker with meaning.
I watched how people arrived:
shoulders high, eyes busy, words fast.
And I watched how they left:
quieter,
softer,
somehow rearranged.
At that time, I thought:
“Okay, the mountain helps. Nature is good. That’s it.”
I wasn’t wrong.
I just didn’t know how much more there was underneath that sentence.
Discovering a word — and a whole field of science
A few years ago, I stumbled across a book by Dr. Qing Li,
then an article, then a series of talks.
All of them pointed to the same strange idea:
what I was doing on Olympus had a Japanese name
and decades of research behind it.
In the early 1980s, in a Japan drowning in neon and concrete,
doctors and national park authorities noticed something obvious but profound:
people were getting sick from modern life,
and they felt better when they spent time in the forest.
They called it Shinrin-Yoku — literally,
“bathing in the forest atmosphere.”
Not hiking.
Not sports.
Just being there,
connected through all five senses.
Later, researchers like Dr. Li started measuring what the forest does to the body:
- blood pressure goes down,
- heart rate slows,
- stress hormones drop,
- immune cells called NK (natural killer) cells increase.
The forest was not just “nice”.
It was medicine.
At that moment, something clicked:
“So this is what Olympus has been doing to us all along.”
The documentary that put language to what I live
Recently, I watched the documentary
“Forest Bathing: Rooted in Science” (AMI-tv).
I didn’t expect it to hit so close to home.
On screen, I saw:
- Japanese researchers talking about immune function and stress,
- a guide leading people through a cedar forest,
- invitations to smell, to listen, to touch,
- therapists discussing how nature can act as a kind of co-therapist.
The guide said:
“I’m the guide. The forest is the therapist. I just open the door.”
That line stayed with me.
Because that is exactly how it feels here on Olympus.
Video inspiration: “Forest Bathing: Rooted in Science” — how Japan turned a quiet walk in the woods into a medically recognized practice, and how science caught up with what our bodies already knew.
Watching this, I realized that my own “content scouting walks”,
the slow days above Enipeas with coffee and silence,
the test experiences we create for
Exclusive Experiences – Olympus & Beyond,
are part of something much bigger:
a global movement to bring people back into contact with nature,
not as scenery,
but as relationship.
What a forest bathing walk feels like under Olympus
When I take people I care about into the woods of Pieria or Olympus now,
I still don’t carry a script.
But I carry an intention.
A typical forest bathing style walk with me is simple:
- Slow pace: no rush, no summit goals, no “we must reach that viewpoint”.
- Phone quiet: cameras are welcome for a few moments, but then they go away.
- Five senses awake: we listen to water, feel the air, smell the soil after rain, notice how light moves on the leaves.
- Gentle invitations: sometimes I’ll ask you to sit with one tree, send it a message, and wait to see what comes back.
It’s not about performance.
It’s not “extreme nature”.
It’s the opposite:
permission to be soft.
I have seen friends laugh for the first time after a hard season of life.
I have seen people close to me cry quietly, with the river making sure nobody feels embarrassed.
I have seen couples walk closer without needing to talk it through.
And I have seen one basic truth repeat itself:
when nature is respected and given space,
it works on us in ways no marketing campaign ever could.
The real need is not a new trend – it is more living nature
It would be easy to turn forest bathing into a fashionable product:
hashtags, packages, branded blankets, the usual story.
But the more I read, the more I speak with therapists,
and the more I walk these trails,
the clearer it becomes:
the true need is not just “experiences for humans”,
but protection and expansion of the forests themselves.
If forest bathing helps people feel better,
it is because the forest is still there.
If we want more mental health, more balance, more grounded lives,
we don’t just need better schedules.
We need:
- more trees,
- more clean rivers,
- more quiet zones,
- more protected paths,
- less pressure on fragile places.
That is why, for me, forest bathing in Olympus is not just a wellness concept.
It’s a political and ecological choice:
to value living ecosystems more than the next “hotspot”.
Connecting those who offer it with those who need it
Somewhere out there, there is:
- a psychologist who knows that her clients would open up more under trees than under neon,
- a counselor who is tired of office walls,
- a somatic therapist who works with breath and body,
- a mindfulness teacher who feels most honest when teaching outdoors.
And somewhere else, there is:
- a person who types “forest bathing Greece” into Google at 2 a.m.,
- someone recovering from burnout who just wants a quiet place to reset,
- a small group of friends looking for a retreat that is real, not performative.
ExperiencePieria.info exists to be the bridge between these two worlds.
My vision is simple:
to use the platform not just as a travel directory,
but as a curated map of nature-based guides, therapists, and hosts
who work ethically in and with the forests of Pieria and Olympus.
How we will do it – the curated Forest Bathing & Nature Therapy listings
Step by step, we will:
- Invite local and visiting professionals –
therapists, counselors, psychologists, coaches, somatic practitioners, forest therapy guides –
who genuinely work with nature, not just use it as a backdrop. - Share an experience together in the woods –
so I can understand their approach, their ethics, and the feeling they create for people.
Not as their therapist or co-facilitator, but as a host who knows the land and cares deeply about how it is used. - Create a dedicated story + listing on
ExperiencePieria.info –
with photos, a Nat-Geo style article, and clear information:
methods, accessibility, languages, group size, and seasonal suggestions. - Organize them into a curated category –
for example: “Forest Bathing & Nature Therapy – Olympus & Pieria”. - Connect them with the people searching –
so anyone looking for “forest bathing Olympus”, “nature therapy Pieria” or “healing in nature Greece”
finds real humans, not just generic offers.
No one will be able to “buy” their way to the top of this category.
It will be curated, slowly, based on real experiences in the forest.
A call to therapists, guides and seekers
If you are a:
- psychologist or counselor,
- psychotherapist, trauma-informed practitioner,
- coach, facilitator, breathwork or mindfulness guide,
- forest therapy or nature-based guide,
- retreat host who truly honors the land,
…and you feel that your work belongs under the trees,
not only under ceilings,
then consider this an open invitation.
Come to Pieria.
Bring your clients or groups to the woods of Olympus.
We can:
- walk and experience a forest bathing style session together,
- document it carefully and respectfully,
- present you through a story and a curated listing on ExperiencePieria.info,
- help people who are searching for exactly this find you in a clear, honest way.
If you are on the other side — a person searching for forest bathing, nature therapy, or simply a quieter way to be in Greece —
keep an eye on our upcoming category for
Forest Bathing & Nature Therapy – Olympus & Pieria.
My hope is that, over time, this small region will become not just another “destination”,
but a living network of humans and forests helping each other stay alive.
Nature is calling – and it’s closer than you think
In the documentary, near the end, there is a simple reminder:
if people understand how much the forest helps them,
they will be more willing to protect it.
I believe that deeply.
Forest bathing under Olympus is not about escaping life.
It is about remembering that we are part of it.
So the next time you feel that strange weight in your chest,
that quiet exhaustion that no screen can fix,
consider this:
maybe you don’t need a new app.
Maybe you need moss under your boots,
cold air in your lungs,
and a tree to sit with for twenty unhurried minutes.
Nature is calling.
If you wish, we can answer together — here, in the woods of Pieria and Olympus.
Giorgos Gizelis
Travel Writer & Founder of
Experience Pieria
Exploring Pieria & Greece one story at a time — sharing authentic places, people and tastes.
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