Why the Forest Actually Calms Your Brain

and How to Experience It at Repère Boréal, in Charlevoix

Leaving Repère Boréal forest, we feel so much calmer! 🌲 That’s what so many of you tell us after your visit. So we decided to find out what was actually going on. 🧠

A review of more than 100 brain imaging studies conducted by McGill University confirms what many people feel but can’t quite explain: spending time in nature reduces stress, restores attention, and calms mental restlessness.

“Measurable changes can be observed after just three minutes spent in a natural environment but generally, the longer and more immersive the experience, the more pronounced and lasting the effects.” — Mar Estarellas, postdoctoral researcher, McGill University

Forest Bathing : A Practice From Japan

This phenomenon is so well documented that it gave rise to a recognized practice in Japan in the 1980s: shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing. The idea is simple,  immerse yourself in the forest by gently engaging your senses: observe, breathe, listen.

The scientific evidence is consistent:

• A study of 498 participants (University of Kyoto, Morita et al., 2007) shows that anxiety decreases within the first minutes in the forest, with an even stronger effect in chronically stressed individuals.
• A study published in Frontiers in Psychology (Queirolo et al., 2024) measured, after two days in the forest, a significant drop in cortisol, the stress hormone, combined with improved heart rate regulation. Both are direct markers of a recovering nervous system.

3. Let your attention wander in nature

In daily life, attention is constantly pulled: notifications, emails, decisions. In nature, attention becomes softer. Follow the movement of branches, watch clouds drift over the Charlevoix mountains, observe the light changing on the St. Lawrence River. This kind of diffuse attention allows the brain to recover from periods of intense stimulation.

4. Take time to do nothing 

Often the hardest thing to do, and the most valuable. At Repère Boréal, this moment arrives in a light-filled bed, on a terrace at the end of the day, or watching the forest fall into the quiet of evening. Rumination fades. A deep inner calm settles in.