The world of Western medicine is revolutionizing: medical professionals are starting to recognize the mind-body connection. Along with traditional Western medicine and therapeutic techniques, many eating disorder treatment providers are turning towards Eastern traditions to improve patients’ experiences. Nature therapy, such as Japanese forest bathing, restorative yoga, and sound therapy are making waves in the world of eating disorder recovery.
If you can feel stress, anxiety, or fatigue in your body, these therapies are for you. Learn more about them, and how you can practice them at home.
Japanese Forest Bathing: Support for Eco-Therapy in Eating Disorder Recovery
Nature has a profound effect on our physical and emotional health — if you’ve ever quietly walked down a trail, you’ve probably experienced the benefits of fresh air and open space.
Shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing, is a Japanese healing practice where people immerse themselves in nature while engaging all five senses. The benefits of forest bathing have been widely studied, and include:
- Reduced levels of rumination (repetitive, disturbing negative thoughts)
- Improved self-regulation skills, which are crucial for those in recovery from an eating disorder
- Strengthened mindfulness skills
- Increased attention levels and mental restoration
- Improved automatic and nervous systems functions
Forest bathing therapy is currently used in clinical settings in Japan. Individuals in forest bathing programs go in groups to the woods, without electronics, for a determined period of time. It may be for a few hours, or a few days. They practice deep breathing, mindful walking, and active listening while in nature. Individuals or groups may also practice yoga, chanting, or guided meditation.
HOW CAN YOU PRACTICE FOREST BATHING AT HOME?
You don’t actually need an entire forest to reap the benefits of this traditional Eastern healing practice.
Start small: just take a walk in the greenest, most nature-filled area that you can get to — if your treatment team has decided that it’s safe and healthy for you to walk around. Leave your phone at home, or silence it and put it in your backpack if you need a map later.
Don’t listen to music, sing, or talk to yourself. Actively listen to what’s around you. Can you hear the wind in the trees? Are there leaves crunching under your footsteps? Can you hear any wildlife around you?
Walk slowly, taking in the sights and colors around you. Breathe deeply, using a mindful breathing technique if you need to. Engage your sense of smell, and feel the air on your skin (if possible.) It might be hard to engage your sense of taste, but it is closely tied to your sense of smell.
Walk mindfully, without worrying about the number of steps you’re walking, where you’re going, or how long you’ve been in nature. Try to focus on the moment, and let the anxiety melt away.
Note: If it is not healthy or safe for you to walk around right now, simply sit and let your senses be soaked by nature.
Related: Read more about nature therapy in eating disorder treatment.
Restorative Yoga Therapy in Eating Disorder Treatment
Many people associate “yoga” with physical movement: the poses, classes, and an overwhelming focus on “burning calories.”
But that’s not what yoga really is. Through physical movement, meditation, breathing, and mindfulness exercises, yoga has the power to help individuals suffering with eating disorders:
- Reduce physical discomfort such as bloating, constipation, and pain
- Improve digestion
- Reduce stress and anxiety
- Build compassion towards themselves and their bodies
- Become more mindful of their mental state outside of their yoga practice
- Build resiliency through sitting with the discomfort that may come with heightened body-awareness
Several eating disorder treatment programs regularly include a restorative, mindfulness-based yoga practice in their schedule. Qualified yoga therapists come and guide patients in a very gentle session, with variations on certain movements to accommodate the needs of every individual.
PRACTICING YOGA AT HOME
When it comes to doing yoga outside of eating disorder treatment, do:
- Make sure you’re doing it for the mental health benefits, not to satisfy your eating disorder voice or an exercise compulsion
- Choose a gentle practice that suits you
- Use a guided meditation, if you find it helpful
- Work with a qualified yoga therapist, if possible
- Stop your yoga practice if you notice yourself obsessing over when and how to do it
- Avoid yoga classes geared towards weight loss
You might find it beneficial to do yoga while immersed in nature, or during sound therapy (discussed below.)
Sound Therapy: Ancient Healing Practices from Greece to Tibet and More
Sound therapy, also known as sound healing, is the practice of using various sounds and/or music to reduce stress, anxiety, and promote healing. The vibrations from sounds interact with the vibrations in your body and brain to produce the calming effects you experience while in a sound therapy session.
In a sound therapy session, you may actively engage in singing, chanting, or playing a music instrument. Another common practice is the sound bath. This is a form of meditation where practitioners use tuning forks or Tibetan singing bowls to produce sound waves that:
- Produce a state of calm
- Remove energy blockages that keep you from reaching clarity on a subject
- Recalibrate or “tune” your nervous system, much like one would tune a piano
In a sound therapy session, practitioners may place tools such as singing bowls on or close to your body so it can closely interact with the sound wave. You might also engage in other soothing activities such as gentle yoga or soft chanting.
The ancient Greeks routinely used sound and music as part of the physical and emotional healing process. The Greek philosopher Pythagoras developed the harmonic tuning fork therapy that is commonly used today. But various forms of sound, chanting, singing, and music were (and still are) used throughout the world to promote healing.
The Western world has a renewed interest in sound healing, mostly due to the adaptation of sonic technologies and biofeedback for treating anxiety and depression.
Music therapy, a more widely used form of therapy in Western medicine, involves listening to music, writing song lyrics, and/or playing instruments for healing. Music therapy has several benefits, including:
- Lowered levels of anxiety and negative emotions
- Distractions from negative emotions
- Increased motivation (from songs you personally find inspirational or motivational)
- Greater abilities to express what you cannot normally express using words
Related: Read more about music therapy in eating disorder treatment, or see how we incorporate ukulele therapy in our residential eating disorder treatment program.
PRACTICING SOUND AND MUSIC HEALING AT HOME
There are private and group sound therapy practices out there. But some people don’t have access to that option, or may not want to go to a physical place.
There are options for at-home sound healing, though. You could:
- Learn how to practice tuning fork therapy on yourself
- Learn to play a singing bowl for healing
- Listen to sound healing mixes online
- Listen to a guided meditation or chanting session online
Sound therapy works best when you start a session with a clear, set intention. You might want to calm stress or anxiety, remove tightness and tension in the body, improve sleep, or gain insight into a problem you’ve been having.
If you’re listening to music online, it’s best to wear sound-cancelling headphones, place a speaker on your body to come in direct contact with the sound vibrations, or both.
All these practices are a great addition to your holistic treatment plan…
While nature therapy, yoga, and sound healing are all effective ways to manage stress and anxiety, they should not be the only form of therapy in your treatment plan.
Other forms of therapy, such as cognitive behavioral therapy, dialectical behavioral therapy, and exposure therapy are designed to help you consciously break down negative thoughts and beliefs. They help you replace eating disorder behaviors with more positive ones. And they are used to process any trauma or co-occurring diagnoses that can contribute to your eating disorder.
In the end, Eastern traditions and Western medicine combined create a holistic treatment approach, one that restores your body and your mind to a place of wellbeing.
If you or a loved one is suffering from an eating disorder, take the first step today and talk to someone about recovery or simply learn more about the holistic eating disorder recovery programs we offer.