"Forest Bathing" & "Aural Immersion" Activity 💚💚💚

On Forest Bathing & Aural Immersion

II MA English Class | Tuning into Nature’s Symphony

23rd August 2025

#greenWalk, #campusWalk, #treeWalk

It was a beautiful Saturday and the blessed rains had painted MCC a tad lovelier today.

So it was, that in the fourth hour, when I entered the II MA English class, I told them that, we are all going to have our class today out in the deep woods.

But before they could embark on their Green Walk, I got them to promise me two blessed assurances –

Firstly, that it is going to be a Silent Walk where no one gets to talk or gesture to anyone else, anytime during the entire course of their silent walk.

Secondly, that, none of us gets to use our mobile phones during the entire 1.5 km stretch of the walk.

These two conditions were to be kept until the moment we reached the beautiful, serene Campus Lake, I had told them.

The II MA Class took a firm resolve to this end.

Then I spoke to them of the advantages of the Silent Green Walk as follows -

It’s called Aural Immersion, wherein we fully engage our sense of hearing to connect with the natural environment, also called, “deep listening,” where you actively tune in to the rich and complex soundscape of the forest.

This practice is called, forest bathing - a Japanese practice of immersing oneself in the forest atmosphere to promote well-being. While forest bathing engages all five senses, aural immersion puts the auditory experience at the forefront.

Aural immersion can help us to involve ourselves in focusing and paying attention to the sounds around us – from the subtle to the most prominent ones.

It can also help tune ourselves to Nature’s sweet symphony, that includes, the rustling of leaves in the wind, the chirping of birds and the calls of other animals, the buzz of insects, the crunch of your own footsteps on the pathway, etc, I concluded.

After this initial orientation, we started out on our Green Walk.

On our way, as we all had resolved, none of us spoke during the entire duration of our Walk.

The rains had made the landscape all the more sweeter for a sylvan walk amidst the lush green woods.

After the Walk that spanned more than a kilometre, we landed at the beautiful Campus Lake.

There, we broke our silence, and started our discussions on how the Silent Walk was therapeutic for all of us. We also started capturing the beauty of the woods in our mobiles. 

Some said that the alternating rays of the sun were a source of delight. Some said that they loved the calls of the birds. Some others said that, during their UG days the lake had much more copious reserves of water. To some, the walk helped them to control the urge to talk. ‘I was almost about to speak to my friend in excitement, but then, I decided not to!’, said one.

I was able to talk to myself, during the entire course of the walk, said another. 

This is the first time I’m coming to the Campus lake, and it is so beautiful, said yet another.

Some said that they were able to connect with a lot many species of beautiful butterflies of all hues.

We were able to spot all three varieties of kingfishers at the lake.

We also spotted the quills of the porcupine, along with a host of peacocks, peahens, and deer along the way.

At a few places we were able to spot puddles of water, that had percolated in certain spots. We then discussed the value of a puddle to the environment.

The Walk ended at around 1.15 pm, with a refreshing time of refuelling at the College Cafeteria.   

PS: You may want to read Ms. Safa’s (II MA Class) take on the Silent Green Walk HERE on her blog.