stories

If you’ve ever spent any time in a forest, you’ll have experienced nature’s immediate calming effect. The dappled light streaming through a canopy of leaves; the soft crunch of twigs underfoot as birdsong echoes around you. The stillness is intoxicating. This multi-sensory experience is called ‘forest bathing’, and it’s one of the best things you could do for your mental and physical health.

One of our favourite home and fragrance brands, Earl of East, has a Japanese line that captures the revitalising scent of forest bathing. We’re here to introduce you to the concept of forest bathing and help you understand what makes Earl of East’s Shinrin-Yoku products so special.

Outdoor enthusiasts may be familiar with high-quality outdoor brand Snow Peak. Its minimalist designs and robust materials are not only good for camping trips, they’re pleasing on the eye too. From its early days manufacturing mountaineering equipment, Snow Peak has always embraced the kind of dual attention to form and function that we love here at zen minded. But how did this company – unknown outside Japan for years – make its mark on the international stage?

WFH can be ideal; with it comes the freedom to take things at your own pace, but with enough binge-worthy TV on tap to steal your attention away from the important tasks, the experience can sometimes take a little fine-tuning.

Here are five tips to get you going on this new adventure.

We recently had the good fortune to interview Chikako and Geoffrey Perez of Tokyo Kodo – an exciting, new Japanese Incense brand. What makes their concept unique, is that they have manged to combine the ancient olfactory art of Japanese incense appreciation, with the enchantment of French perfume. We spoke with Chikako and Geoffrey at their Tokyo based HQ.

Extremely popular in Japan, the pour-over coffee making method is becoming increasingly fashionable worldwide - it allows an extra degree of finesse and control over your coffee making.

Hailing from the somewhat recent musical phenomenon known as Vaporwave, which is difficult to fully categorize as a musical genre as it takes on many different forms, Telepath has created his own distinct and visionary style.

There has been a huge increase in the popularity of incense collecting. This is partly due to a rise in the amount of types of incense available.