PICTURE this: You are sitting with your back against a towering tree surrounded by meters of forest. The air is crisp after an afternoon of rainfall and is saturated by the earth’s aroma springing from the ground. The sounds of chirping birds and a soft trickle from a stream nearby are all you can hear. You take a deep breath, enveloping all Mother Nature has to offer. This is forest bathing.
Imagine that you are actually regenerating your metaphorical health bar and boosting your health while doing this. Could this really be true?
Verdict:
TRUE
Forest bathing, or shinrin-yoku, is a Japanese practice dating back to the 1980s.
The practice entails spending time fully immersed in nature, with the ultimate goal of being mindful and aware of your surroundings.
The people of Japan quickly adopted this tradition for two purposes: to combat technological burnout more organically and to inspire the nation to fall in love with and safeguard the forests.
During the following decades, researchers conducted various studies on the benefits of the new ecological pastime.
According to Dr Qing Li, one of the world’s leading experts on the subject, forest bathing can reduce blood pressure and heart rate, which can lead to the prevention of hypertension and heart diseases.
Following this study, another group of researchers conducted an experiment across 24 forests across Japan to study forest medicine.
At each field site, 12 participants, averaging around 21 years old with a small variation of 1.5 years, engaged in an experiment where they walked in and observed either a forest or a city setting.
Half of the participants explored a forest area on the first day, while the remaining half explored a city area.
On the second day, they switched places for comparison.
The study based itself on physiological indicators, including salivary cortisol levels, blood pressure, pulse rate, and heart rate variability.
Readings were taken in the morning before breakfast at the accommodation facility and before and after a brief walk (around 16 minutes) and viewing session (about 14 minutes).
The findings indicate that being in a forest environment resulted in lower cortisol levels, reduced pulse rate, decreased blood pressure, increased parasympathetic nervous system activity, and decreased sympathetic nervous system activity compared to being in a city environment.
In further research by the American Psychological Association, mounting evidence confirmed that interacting with nature has cognitive benefits.
It was also published by the National Library of Medicine that there were direct links found between exposure to nature and a decreased risk of cardiovascular disease.
In a world that often moves at breakneck speed, taking a few minutes a day to embrace nature sounds like a choice worth considering - especially if it could benefit your physical and mental well-being.
While forest bathing has many health-boosting benefits, if you are suffering from any illnesses or ailments, it is imperative to consult your physician first to see if forest medicine could be a contributing puzzle piece in the jigsaw puzzle that is your recovery.
References:
1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.
2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.
3. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/
4. https://www.apa.org/monitor/
