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Paper short abstract

In Valchiusella, holistic practitioners offer “forest bathing” to urban tourists seeking authenticity. But what happens when nature, lived daily by farmers, becomes a luxury experience? An ethnographic study on nature as a sensory and symbolic good.

Paper long abstract

In the alpine context of Valchiusella, a Piedmontese valley traditionally based on family farming, there has been a noticeable influx of new urban residents and tourists attracted by a "natural" and "authentic" lifestyle, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic. Concurrently, new promotional practices have emerged that contribute to the aestheticization and commodification of nature. Among these, forest bathing — a Japanese-origin practice involving immersive walks in the forest to promote physical and mental wellbeing — is offered by local holistic operators to a wealthy, urban clientele.

This paper draws on ethnographic fieldwork to explore how nature is reinterpreted and commodified through sensory and therapeutic imaginaries that distinguish between those who “live” nature and those who “consume” it. For local farmers, the relationship with nature is an embodied, everyday reality, while for newcomers, it becomes a purchasable and narratable experience. The study interrogates the boundaries between “authentic” experience and sensory performance, survival and spirituality, rural life and elite tourism. In line with the panel’s themes, it reflects on how the holistic narration of nature contributes to a new aesthetic of ecological luxury and how such narratives are perceived, accepted, or contested by local communities.