Emily D'Souza- Outside Reading: "Walking" by Henry David Thoreau

 Throughout the semester we've mentioned and discussed different works of Thoreau, this specific literature I read for one of my classes in a previous semester, and I feel it heavily relates to our class and the topics of ecotherapy and forest bathing. For him, walking through nature was his escape from the constraints and stress of society and everyday life. He states that “In my afternoon walk I would fain forget all my morning occupations and my obligations to society.” However, these aren't just any walks, he believes they have to be meaningful, and he has some requirements for how to obtain the healing properties from nature. He claimed that a real walk lasts a minimum of 4 hours, you must leave all societal and personal obligations behind during this time, and the walk shouldn't be in the wilderness, but the wildness. Thoreau believed that a real walk is untamed and uninhabited by human life. He states that "Life consists with wildness. The most alive is the wildest." By "wild", he means common native shrubs over imported exotic flowers, trekking through a swamp over cities and towns, and walking through the woods over a road or trail. These aspects are what I thought of when we were discussing forest bathing, and the spiritual and mental healing it can bring.

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