These days it’s not enough to simply stay at a beautiful hotel with a top-rated spa, although ADLER Spa Resort DOLOMITI and ADLER Lodge RITTEN, sister hotels in Italy’s Dolomites mountains, would certainly both fall into that category. Today guests are looking for something beyond great photos to post on social media—immersive, memorable experiences that will stay with them long after they’ve returned home.
Both hotels are now taking advantage of their stunning natural settings and offering Forest Therapy, inspired by the Japanese art of shinrin yoku, which translates roughly to “healing in nature.”
These two-hour immersions are so much more than just “a walk in the woods.” Guests will spend time in the forest exploring their own sensory connections to nature, which can boost immunity and reduce stress. As one ADLER guest writes of her experience:
I focus on my breath, on the gentle breeze brushing against my face, on the scent of soft Alpine wood. I let my sensations take over my mind. When I open my eyes again, I touch the leaves, needles and bark with my bare hands and feet, trying to soak in their fragrance. I approach a tree, embrace it, breathe it, I smell its bark and touch it. I am protected, I am grateful … I feel recharged, regenerated, and certain that those windows in my soul will never close again.
Forest Therapy is a research-based framework that supports healing and wellness—here are some characteristics of the practice, from the Association of Nature & Forest Therapy:
• Activities should “make room for listening, for quiet and accepting
presence, and for inquiry.”
• Forest Therapy should not be rushed, nor should the goal be physical exercise
or exertion.
• Walks should take at least two hours, and usually be less than a mile in
length.
• It’s best to treat Forest Therapy as a practice, returning repeatedly
throughout the different seasons.
• An experienced guide can help participants get the most of the experience, by
slowing down and fully accessing all senses.
