Life doesn't always give us the luxury of slowing down.

Between caregiving, family responsibilities, appointments, and the endless to-do list, taking care of ourselves can easily become one more thing we never quite get around to doing.

In this solo introduction, Wendy shares how caring for her 96-year-old mother has changed not only her daily routine but also the way she thinks about self-care. Looking for ways to restore calm in an often unpredictable day, she revisits one of her favorite conversations from the Boomer Banter archives with certified forest therapy guide Angie Stegall.

Together they explore the practice of forest bathing—not hiking, exercising, or identifying trees—but simply slowing down, becoming present, and engaging your senses in nature.

The best part? You don't need hours in the woods.

Angie explains how even five minutes in your own backyard can help quiet your mind, reduce stress, and reconnect you with yourself.

Whether you're a caregiver, recently retired, or simply feeling overwhelmed by life's constant demands, this episode offers a simple reminder that peace is often closer than we think.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• What forest bathing really is—and what it isn't.
• Why slowing down can actually improve your patience, mood, and sense of well-being.
• How mindfulness and nature work together to calm a busy mind.
• A simple five-minute practice you can try today, even if you don't have time for a hike.
• Why going outside may be one of the best ways to reconnect with yourself.

Resources Mentioned

• Angie Stegall – Forest Therapy Guide and Coach
• Notes from Nature by Angie Stegall
• Wendy's Substack: Thriving Through Time by Boomer Banter
• A description of Forest Bathing from Cleveland Clinic

Connect with Wendy: [email protected]

If this episode resonates with you, I'd love to hear about your experience. Have you tried spending five quiet minutes outside? What did you notice?

Leave a comment, share this episode with a friend, and subscribe to Boomer Banter wherever you listen to podcasts.

Sometimes the greatest gift we can give ourselves isn't doing more.

It's simply taking a moment to breathe.

Sam.

Having mom live with me has made me busier in some ways, and in other ways, it's given me time to really think.

So when I say busy, I mean, you know, there's more laundry to do, there are meals to plan, appointments to keep, finances to keep up with and finding time to spend with her and monitoring her health.

When I say it gave me time or it's giving me time to think, I don't mean time to actually sit and contemplate and, you know, that kind of stuff.

But as we say in coaching, challenges really are opportunities for.

For growth.

So I find myself thinking about legacy, which I do want to talk about in another episode going forward, I find myself thinking about how to respond better, how to be more accepting, all of these things I'm trying to learn to get better at, and how to take care of myself while also taking care of mom.

Hi, I'm Wendy Green, and this is Boomer Banter.

And for almost six years, this show has meant a new guest every week and real talk about aging well.

But now, as things have changed, I'm offering solo episodes about what I'm actually living through, caregiving for my mother.

And the bigger question, how do we find purpose and stay connected at this stage of life, while we may also be caregiving for an older parent?

Angie works with women entrepreneurs who want to go outside to go inside.

And one of the tools she uses is something called forest bathing.

Jump in.

What is forest bathing?

Okay.

It literally means taking in the atmosphere of the forest.

So forest bathing is really about quiet stillness and presence.

And so when I take somebody out, forest bathing, we are going to engage all six, six of your senses.

And I know there are typically five senses, but I also work in the woo woo realm of the sixth sense, where you're sensing what is going on around you.

Forest bathing is not a nature walk.

We don't care about the official scientific names of the plants and the animals and.

And the trees that we're around.

Forest bathing is literally stuck.

Stillness, presence, and quiet.

You go out into the forest to meet yourself.

You go out into the forest to meet the trees and connect with the trees, to connect with the plants and the dirt and the atmosphere in a way that is incredibly healing.

There's lots of scientific benefits.

I can go into them if you're interested.

There's tons of scientific benefits about practicing this.

And in such a busy, noisy, fast world, getting still, getting quiet and being present to nature and yourself is incredibly important.

After my episode with Angie, she led a group that I put together on a forest bathing experience.

It was literally about stillness, presence, and quiet.

We listened, we smelled different leaves, we felt the texture of the tree trunks.

We sat in the grass, and we took off our shoes and walked in the stream.

It was a very calming experience, and it was so appreciated.

As I say in the following piece, I felt busy all the time, and I wasn't sure how I was going to slow down enough to feel the quiet and the stillness.

All right, so here I am feeling like I'm busy all the time, Sometimes running on a hamster wheel, but mostly enjoying what I'm doing.

And I'm thinking about, you know, going forest bathing with you.

I know in the past, Angie, I have been able to get out in the forest and, you know, recognize how.

How huge it is, how small I am.

You know, I kind of appreciate that, But I think now.

It would take.

Me a long time to just slow down enough.

You know, I would almost feel like I'm on a mission.

Okay, so here I am.

I got to slow down, and I've got it done.

And what am I going to get out of it?

How am I going to take this calmness back with me?

One, I had one experience with Angie, and that was five years ago.

And to this day, I can bring up those feelings of being in touch with my senses.

When we have time for a hike,.

People who have been force bathing with me, my.

My only intention for them is to settle into the stillness and the quiet and the presence.

And I tell them, I just want you to be here now.

And most of my forest bathing programs are two to three hours in length.

And without my asking them to set an intention, without my asking them to feel or see or hear or smell anything, to just be sticking, still be quiet and present with me for two to three hours, they have reported independently that they've gone home and have slept better for several days than they have in months, they report going home and feeling more calm for the day or for the week.

They report having more patience with themselves and with other people.

They report feeling just in a better mood in general.

And so there's nothing that you have to do, and there's nothing really that I have to do other than create the space, or you can create the Space to go out and be quiet and still and present.

So I wondered if forest bathing is like mindfulness meets nature.

That's a really good description.

Yes, it is.

Mindfulness, right?

Stillness, presence to the moment you're in.

Being mindful of where your feet are.

Being mindful of what's around you.

Just being mindful of the thoughts, the monkey mind.

And being mindful of just noticing.

Oh, my gosh.

If I sit out here, my monkey mind, my thoughts start running away.

But the longer I sit here and I'm mindful of my breath and I'm mindful of my butt sitting on this rock and then I notice, oh, hear the birds chirping.

I hear the stream running.

Oh, my gosh.

Now I'm mindful.

I can smell the water.

That's weird.

I've never done that before.

Oh my gosh.

I noticed that the forest, when I got here, just sounded like a cacophony of noise.

And now I don't hear anything.

Oh.

And I sit here a little longer and now I hear everything.

I hear all the birds.

Oh, I hear the squirrels.

In fact, I can hear the squirrels before I see the squirrels.

Right.

So there's this thing that happens as you let yourself.

You give yourself permission to settle in and be mindful just where you are with no intention other than just to be here now.

Nice.

So you shared your book with me, Notes from Nature.

So it's a great book to take out into the forest with you or to think about, you know, before you go, because has different sections about, you know, your mind and your spirituality, your, you know, your physical being.

And you talk about going outside to go inside.

Yes.

Which is part of the forest bathing.

But.

But can you do it by yourself?

Absolutely.

And this is the part I really needed to hear again.

I don't have two to three hours for a hike these days.

I will when we take our trip to Colorado, I hope.

But what about the days when I just need to quiet my mind to ease some of the pressure to get still again?

Can I do that in five to 10 minutes?

Absolutely.

If you have five minutes in a day to walk out into your backyard and take your shoes off and stand in your lawn and close your eyes and breathe and listen and smell and feel and then open your eyes and see what you notice.

That five minute practice is one of the most healing gifts you can give yourself.

Truly.

What do you do on a cold, rainy, snowy day?

You bundle up.

You still go out.

Still go out.

So for December, I did, I did 31 days of sit spotting.

And a sit spot is where you go and you sit in one place and you forest bathe just in from that one place.

And I had 12 courageous souls that signed up in December to do sit spotting with me for 31 days.

And whether it rained or it snowed or it was below freezing, you just put on the right clothes and you go out to your set spot at 20 minutes, you set a timer and you just sit out there and let whatever happens happen.

All right?

There's no one else's expertise.

There are no gurus.

There are no.

There's nobody out there to tell you what to think.

And so you're just left with your own original thoughts.

And you become your best guide.

Yes, you do.

Yeah.

And your inner wisdom comes right?

Inner wisdom go out to go in.

Your inner wisdom comes forward.

And sometimes it's really surprising.

We live in a busy, stressful world.

Those of you who listen to Boomer Banter are involved, caring people.

And sometimes we put so much pressure on ourselves to do so much, even after we have retired.

Well, maybe especially after we have retired.

But what would it be like to take a five minute break in your backyard to stand or sit quietly and listen?

What do you hear?

Take a few deep breaths.

What do you smell?

Pay attention to the sun or the breeze on your skin and watch your thoughts.

Don't try to control them, just let them flow in and out.

And try this with your eyes closed.

Five minutes.

And then after five minutes, when you open your eyes, what do you see?

How do you feel?

For me, it's a way to restore some inner calm to an unpredictable day.

I'd love to know from you what the experience is like.

You can let me know in your comments and I will put links to information about forest bathing if you want to have a longer experience, and to Angie Steagall's website in the show notes.

Before you go, I want to recommend that you add the podcast Women Over 70 Aging reimagined to the podcasts that you subscribe to.

Hosts Catherine Marino is 76 and Gail Zalitsky is 84.

This unique duo captures the essence of women aging through their award winning weekly podcast.

Their life experience and knowledgeable approach.

Find women over 70 aging reimagined wherever you listen to podcasts.

And thank you for listening to Boomer Banter.

Hope you take the opportunity to go outside, to go inside.

And please check out my substack Thriving through Time by Boomer Banter.