I came on The Sefton Coastal Path walk representing a UK – China Education Business I work with called Little London International but as the conversations began to flow I quickly got into ‘GreenMoments’ ‘NatureConnection’ Promoter mode as I wanted to add value to my fellow walkers by sharing knowledge and my experience of certain nature places along the Sefton Coast – GreenMoments is a name I use to combine Green Exercise & Mindfulness.
For the past few months I have been engaging in and promoting a concept known as Barefoot ‘Earthing’ or ‘Grounding’ which is walking barefoot in a natural environment to improve your Health and Wellbeing / Vitality and Wellness… for this, I have spent a lot of time walking on sand and beaches.
For todays walk, however, I chose traditional hiking boots… so I won’t go into any of the many benefits of walking barefoot in this blog because it was the TREES that had the wellness POWER that I want to share with you from our walk.
Right from the start, I could sense our walk leader Michael ‘MDP’ was ‘Pining’ for more of this walk to be along the coastal beach parts with fantastic views over Liverpool Bay and right out to the Irish Sea which was awesome for that sea air (Vitamin SEA / SEAcotherapy style of Nature Connection). However, I was ‘Pining’ for the PINE TREES a little bit more today because I’ve been on the beach so much lately.
Moreover, there is one particular place along the Sefton Coast that I like more than any other and that is the Red Squirrel Walk at National Trust Formby with all the Bonsai looking Pine Trees.
I think as we walked along the beach we had a bit of a ‘Sliding Doors’ moment (have you seen the movie?). At the point where we could carry on walking down this lovely beach to the end of our walk and nice pint of beer – I suggested to the group that we do a slight detour because I just had to take them to the ‘Squirrel Walk’ (we saw a red squirrel too) while we were walking in this part of the Nature Connection World.
While on the Squirrel Walk path I told Michael (MDP) about the concept of Shinrin-Yoku ‘Forest Bathing’ from Japan which is spending time walking slowly in a forest environment and to take in the whole forest atmosphere and breath in the ‘Phytoncide’ that are the essential oils produced by the trees to protect themselves – but these phytoncides are also very good for human health and wellbeing too.
Being amongst these trees at National Trust Formby is my favourite way to engage in Shinrin-Yoku Forest Bathing in Liverpool City Region, so I hope my fellow walkers liked the little detour……. [Editor’s Note: We did, indeed!]
Want to hear more from Michael?
Michael is keen to engage with our community online via Michael VJ Jones GreenMoments NatureConnection Promoter @michaelvjjones
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