Breathe with the trees: Forest Bathing in Kralingse Bos

This free, public, guided Forest Bathing experience will take place in Kralingse Bos in Rotterdam, the Netherlands. The activity invites participants to step away from the pace of everyday life, slow down, and reconnect with nature through their senses. It will explore how meaningful contact with nature can support personal wellbeing, resilience, attentiveness, and engagement with climate and environmental challenges. 

Forest Bathing is a gentle, nature-based wellbeing practice. It is not a hike, exercise session, or performance. Participants will move slowly through the woodland and surrounding landscape, covering only short distances.

The guide will offer a series of gentle invitations to notice the forest through sight, sound, touch, scent, and stillness. Participants may adapt, skip, or simply observe any invitation according to their comfort level. 

The programme will include quiet individual moments, slow walking, sensory observation of the forest, and optional opportunities to share reflections with the group. The activity will create space to explore the relationship between nature connection, mental wellbeing, climate resilience, and the importance of protecting local natural environments. A light lunch will be provided, creating an additional opportunity for informal exchange and community building. 

The event is designed for people with no previous Forest Bathing experience and is suitable for most fitness levels. It will be conducted in English, with opportunities for participants to connect across backgrounds and reflect on how local natural spaces contribute to healthier, more resilient communities. 

The activity aims to: Strengthen participants’ connection with nature and their local environment. Create space for reflection on climate resilience and wellbeing. Encourage appreciation and care for urban biodiversity and green spaces. Build community through a calm, inclusive, shared experience. Inspire participants to remain engaged with climate and environmental action in their everyday lives. Kralingse Bos, situated around Kralingse Plas in eastern Rotterdam, offers a combination of mature woodland, forest paths, open water, grasslands, wildlife, and seasonal landscapes. This setting provides an accessible opportunity to experience the value of urban and peri-urban nature. 

All activities are voluntary invitations. Participants are encouraged to wear comfortable, weather-appropriate clothing and suitable footwear for forest paths. 

Registration is required, and the activity will be open to the public and free of charge.