The Benefits of Forest Bathing
Also known as, Shinrin-yoku and Forest Therapy
Japanese Society of Forest Medicine, Time Magazine, National Geographic, An article from UBC, Wikipedia, this recent article by the Vancouver Sun and the list goes on…and on. There’s so much Scientific research coming out on the benefits of Forest bathing. They’re affirming what ancient cultures have known all along. We are at home in the forest. We’re always better when we are together with our friends, the trees. We belong in Nature. We are Nature.
If you only want to read one article, Click on this article and scroll all the way down to see the extensive scientific research links the New York Department of Environmental Conservation put together.
Shinrin-yoku is a term coined by the Japanese that emerged in 1982. It roughly means, bathing in the forest atmosphere.
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According to the Forest Bathing Institute Research on Mindfulness they concluded that: “For vulnerable groups experiencing mental health challenges or difficulties achieving a meditative state, mindfulness may introduce well-being risks. By offering a gentler, more intuitive approach that encourages outward attentional focus, forest bathing was found to overcome this barrier. The findings inform how to position both approaches in practice, as a first step towards social prescribing recommendations.”
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According to this article, “Trees give off volatile essential oils called phytoncides that have antimicrobial properties and may influence immunity. One Japanese study showed this study a rise in number and activity of immune cells called natural killer cells, which fight viruses and cancer, among people who spent three days and two nights in a forest versus people who took an urban trip. This benefit lasted for more than a month after the forest trip!”
Many doctors are now prescribing nature as a preventative method to boost your immune system.
Read Dr. Qing Li, Forest Bathing: How Trees Can Help You Find Health and Happiness to learn more about his studies. Including a study showing that 10-11 trees per block is optimal for a healthy community. Click here to see how many trees Vancouver has and why they say it’s important.
Also, more trees equals more healing! Even a small study discovered that looking at a tree out a window can help you heal more quickly.
Check out this Scientific Study: Spending at least 120 minutes a week in nature is associated with good health and wellbeing
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Walking in a forest, breathing in the air filled with phytoncides reduces adrenaline, noradrenaline and cortisol levels while β-pinene has anti-depressant properties.
This study encourages using phytoncides (wood essential oils) to help your over-all health and wellness when indoors.
A study: Effect of a forest therapy program and the forest environment on female workers’ stress
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Phytoncides like α-pinene enhance sleep. Phytoncides is what trees give off. So if you’re breathing in what they are giving off, it helps you sleep better.
Try all-natural essential oils (not synthetic ones) in your home. These can give you a similar benefit as walking in the trees.
Studies were done with people walking under trees on breaks from work or not walking under trees. They slept better when walking under trees.
See also the Techno Stress Section: Two nights without technology or screens helps reset you. You can do this on your own or with our future forest bathing sessions. We’ll be offering two night backcountry trips or retreats to help you with your sleep by removing techno stress. We’ll call these Techno-Detoxing Sessions. When nothing else works, the Forest is here for you!
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Being in nature, noticing what’s around you, helps you be present in the moment. Stopping those monkey thoughts is like meditating with your eyes open. Listening to a stream, a bird, the wind, rain, etc or smelling the forest air, taking shoes off or touching the ground, the trees or water.
Slowing down to connect to all these natural elements in the moment make it that much easier to become present. And if you’re present you can think more clearly, more creatively and have more potential to be productive in your everyday existence.
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Science has said it’s easier for negative thoughts to attach to you. They attach like velcro within seconds. Whereas good thoughts need 10 seconds of our attention in order for them to attach.
That’s why it’s even more important to focus our attention on beautiful things. Nature gives us an unlimited supply, and variety, of beauty to chose from.
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Now thought of as:
THE MOST PRECIOUS COMMODITY.
Can you think of a time where you experienced total silence?
Have you thought of how noise causes stress? For some this might be a foreign concept. But, for Neurodivergent or Highly Sensitive People this is one of the biggest causes of stress. Forest Bathing eases this. Think of silence as soothing salve on an open wound.
Silence can sometimes make some people cry within seconds. We’re that unaware of our need for it.
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We use to only live, sleep, breath, and eat in nature. But now many of us are more removed from nature than being in it.
Our bodies know the difference.
Many scientists are sharing that when we spend time in nature we feel a deeper sense of belonging and peace within ourselves because of our L-O-N-G history of always living and surviving out in nature.
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Scientists have proven that just 10 minutes spent in nature can increase cognitive development.
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Do you struggle from Techno Stress?
Our world is getting faster and faster. Watch an old movie then compare it to a new movie and the difference is staggering.
Our phone, and therefore, a world of infinite possibilities are always at our beck and call. How do we reset ourselves when it gets too much and how long does it take for that reset button to truly help our sleep patters?
Good news! You can reverse this. Two nights without technology/screens helps reset you. This also adds SO much value to your sleep cycle.
*Watch for our future forest bathing sessions offering two night backcountry trips or retreats to help you with your sleep by removing techno stress. We’ll call these Techno-Detoxing Sessions. ;)
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According to this study, Beyond restorative benefits: Evaluating the effect of forest therapy on creativity, “The study findings indicated the 3-day forest therapy workshop contributed to participants’ physical and mental health by regulating physiological responses as well as increasing positive emotions and reducing negative emotions. In regards to the creativity enhancement, the forest therapy workshop improved participants’ creative performances by 27.74 %, which indicates forest therapy is beneficial for high-level cognitive functioning. Moreover, we noted the change in creativity correlated significantly and negatively with change in the confusion–bewilderment emotion. This result indicates alleviation of confusion–bewilderment correlates with enhancement of creativity.”
Other studies by Dr Qing Li stated that Forest Bathing boosted problem solving and creativity by 50%.
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Here is a group of Scientific studies if you want to dive into it for yourself. We will try and update this list when we find out more information for you.