Shinrin-Yoku: Forest Bathing
Go to a Forest. Walk slowly. Breathe. Open all your senses.
This is the healing way of Shinrin-yoku Forest Therapy - the medicine of simply being in the forest.
The idea is simple: if a person simply visits a natural area and walks in a relaxed way there are calming, rejuvenating and restorative benefits to be achieved. We recognize that forest therapy approaches such as Shinrin-yoku have roots in many cultures throughout history.
People have long understood that spending time in nature, and specifically among trees in a forest, has a calming effect, but it is only in the past decade or so that consistent scientific results have added weight to the idea of it as preventive medicine.
Research results report of increased mental wellness, boosted immune system and reduced stress levels, heart rate and blood pressure. These effects are not only due to the calm atmosphere and gentle exercise, but also to the very interactions with the trees, their presence and the air around them.
Researchers primarily in Japan and South Korea have established a robust body of scientific literature on the health benefits of spending time under the canopy of a living forest. Now their research is helping to establish shinrin-yoku and forest therapy throughout the world.
Shinrin-yoku is a term that means “taking in the forest atmosphere" or "forest bathing." It was developed in Japan during the 1980s and has become a cornerstone of preventive health care and healing in Japanese medicine.
Modern research has found that after a forest-bathing trip, people had significantly higher number of so-called natural killer (NK) cells, a type of lymphocyte that boosts the immune system’s defences against viruses and cancers – an effect that lasted for seven days after the experience. Further studies have showed that the immune boost was, at least in part, a result of exposure to phytoncides, a substance emitted by plant and trees.
Professor at the Centre for Environment and Heath at Chiba University in Japan, Yoshifumi Miyazaki , has measured the direct benefits of forest therapy directly in his research which include an increase in those NK cells, known to fight tumours and infection, increased relaxation and reduced stress reduction in blood pressure after just fifteen minutes together with a general sense of wellbeing.
Read more about Shirin-yoku and the many health benefits on www.shinrin-yoku.org
‘It is not just forest that can have a beneficial effect on our wellbeing,’ professor Miyazaki says. Other natural stimuli, such as parks, flowers, gardening and even pieces of wood have been shown to reduce stress, making it attainable for all of us, even city-dwellers.
The medicine of the forest is far more than a contemporary wellness trend. People have been living in forests since ancient times. Nature is in our blood. It’s in our bones. It’s in our very human spirit. Forest bathing is about doing something we know deep down, but that we have forgotten in our fast-paced modern lives. The wilderness is not only a source of health and healing. It is a part of who we are.
“It is clear that our human body still recognises nature as our home, which is important to consider as an increasing number of people are living in cities and urban environments. ”
The Scent of Pine
For a quick sensorial forest experience in your own home, try putting pine or cedar oil in a diffuser or simply inhale the scent. Essential oils travel directly through your brain to the limbic system for instant calm and grounding.