Something to Read

The Season of Cozy

This is the season of cozy. Everywhere we look, the message is the same. Come inside. Sit by a crackling fire in a stone fireplace. Wrap yourself in a blanket while a warm mug of tea or nog does its best to thaw the cold. Even if you’re in a location that doesn’t get that deep chill, I’m looking at you Southern California, cozy is still calling.

The challenge is that all of this cozy can keep us from something more emotionally and physically profound. It’s not about choosing cozy over cold. It’s about balancing the two so we get the best of both worlds.

One concept that always pulls me back outside is forest bathing, which comes from the Japanese phrase shinrin-yoku. At its core, it means immersing yourself in the atmosphere of the forest. You don’t need hiking boots or a fitness goal. You don’t even need a forest. What you need is the willingness to let nature do what it’s built to do for us.

Three key takeaways that stood out in the research:

  • Time around trees can boost immune function by increasing white blood cells, a benefit linked to the natural compounds forests release.
  • Exposure to natural light helps regulate circadian rhythms, which leads to better sleep and more consistent energy.
  • Nature reduces activity in the prefrontal cortex, easing symptoms of anxiety and improving overall mental well-being.

And if you live in a city, you’re still invited. Nature exists in pockets: a park, a leafy street, a quiet path you’ve walked a hundred times without noticing. For us, it’s the Public Garden in Boston or Central Park in NYC. We can hear traffic and see buildings, but everything in us drops into a calmer state the moment we step inside the perimeter.

Learn more about shinrin-yoku from the good people at the Portland Japanese Garden.

Something to Hear

A Small Taste of Forest Bathing

Without moving away from your device, you can get a taste of the forest from this under 20-minute episode from NPR’s Life Kit. You’ll learn a bit about the practice of forest bathing from an expert at Nippon Medical School in Tokyo, and you’ll hear some of the forest sounds that can genuinely shift our physical and emotional chemistry.

If cozy is calling you inside, let this be your invitation to let your ears take you outside for a few minutes. Find the full episode on the Life Kit website here.

Something to Do

Take a 5-minute Outdoor Sensory Reset.

Step outdoors for a moment of intentional noticing – a backyard, balcony, sidewalk, or city park all count – choose one of these three elements and truly listen to the world around you:  

  • What you see (shadows on the ground, colors, movement)
  • What you hear (wind, traffic, birds, the crunch of snow)
  • What you smell (cold air, pine, wood smoke, damp leaves)

We’re challenging ourselves and all of you to enjoy the cozy moments while also stepping outside more often. Let’s listen a little less to the messages of staying tucked in and a little more to the possibility that nature might be exactly what our bodies and minds are craving. 

Something to See

Chisuji Falls is just a twenty-minute walk from the sleepy mountainside town of Gora, but it feels like another world. The unmarked path follows a clear, cold stream that burbles as it rounds moss-covered boulders, the light filters yellow green through starry fingers of Japanese maple trees.

“Chisuji” is Japanese for “a thousand threads”, and that is what this lovely waterfall looks like: a thousand milky strands streaming down the rocks to a shallow pool. When I visited, there was no one else around. It was such a restorative experience to breathe air that smelled of wet rocks and growing things, to listen to the falling water and birdsong and whispering branches overhead.

Our image and description this month was shared by our very own Elizabeth Barr. Follow her on Instagram to learn more about her published works, including a new book coming out in Fall of 2026.