Written By: Shaloo Tiwari | Updated : October 6, 2017 7:43 PM IST
Climate change will facilitate spread of diseases by making new areas into suitable homes for disease-carrying species, say experts.
Nature's gifts to humans are beyond imagination and cannot be replicated. Apart from giving us so many resources, its healing powers are immense. Can you believe this? Just being around it itself is healing and has many physiological and psychological benefits. Forest bathing is one such practice that will amaze you and will make you thank nature once again. It is a practice of taking short embracing visits to the forest in leisure. This amazing practice originated in Japan and is called shinrin-yoku in Japanese. This recreational practice involves taking a forest excursions for relaxation. A study[1] says that less green a person s surroundings, the higher their risk of morbidity and mortality. The range of specific health outcomes tied to nature is startling, including depression and anxiety disorder, diabetes mellitus. The Japanese term Shinrin-yoku means 'taking in the forest atmosphere.' It has become a base of preventive health care and healing in Japanese medicine. The idea behind this is very simple yet very beneficial. Simply visiting a natural area and walking in the amidst the natural environment can have surprisingly rejuvenating and restorative benefits. The scientifically-proven benefits of Shinrin-yoku include:
Boosts immune system and helps your body fight cancer: Forest bathing increases body's Natural Killer and with an increase in the count of the body's Natural Killer (NK) cells immune systems tend to boost. In a study[2] done on twelve healthy male subjects(age 37 55 years), found out that a forest bathing trip can increase NK activity, in turn, proving to be very good for your immune system and therefore help your body fight cancer.
Reduced blood pressure: Forest bathing has been proven to reduce blood pressure too. In a study[3] done on twenty trials involving 732 participants proved that the participants who stayed in the forest environment had significantly lower blood-pressure than that of the non-forest environment. So if you are a high blood pressure patient, you might want to think of forest bathing.
Improved mood, positivity booster: A study[4] proved that forest bathing significantly increased scores of positive feelings and significantly decreased scores of negative feelings making you feel great about yourself.
Helps children with ADHD: According to a study[5], more social and cooperative behaviour and less aggressive, inattentive, or impulsive/hyperactive behaviour was observed in the forest, making it an amazing activity for kid's health too.
Hypertension and cardiovascular diseases: According to results provided by a study[6], forest bathing has therapeutic effects on human hypertension and induces inhibition of the renin-angiotensin system and inflammation, hence inspiring its preventive ability to reduce cardiovascular disorders.
Reduced stress: Our day to day lives make us stressed which is a root cause for many other illnesses. According to a study[7] done on forest bathing, it was revealed that forest environments are advantageous with respect to acute emotions, especially among those experiencing chronic stress. Accordingly, shinrin-yoku may be employed as a stress reduction method, and forest environments can be viewed as therapeutic landscapes.
Helps lower blood sugar level[8]: This might surprise you but forest bathing helps lower the glucose level in the blood too. A study, that examined the effects of shinrin-yoku on blood glucose levels in diabetic patients proved it. The study concluded, "Since the forest environment causes changes in hormonal secretion and autonomic nervous functions, it is presumed that, in addition to the increased calorie consumption and improved insulin sensitivity, walking in a forest environment has other beneficial effects in decreasing blood glucose levels."
"You didn't come into this world. You came out of it, like a wave from the ocean. You are not a stranger here," a quote from Alan Watts perfectly describes this. Well, these are just a few benefits to name. Forest resets your body and mind and makes restores you from within. I would definitely love to try this therapy, would you?
Read this in Hindi.
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[1] Lee, J., Park, B. J., Tsunetsugu, Y., Ohira, T., Kagawa, T., & Miyazaki, Y. (2011). Effect of forest bathing on physiological and psychological responses in young Japanese male subjects. Public health, 125(2), 93-100.
[2] Li, Q., Morimoto, K., Nakadai, A., Inagaki, H., Katsumata, M., Shimizu, T., ... & Kagawa, T. (2007). Forest bathing enhances human natural killer activity and expression of anti-cancer proteins. International journal of immunopathology and pharmacology, 20(2_suppl), 3-8.
[3] 1: Ideno Y, Hayashi K, Abe Y, Ueda K, Iso H, Noda M, Lee JS, Suzuki S. Blood pressure-lowering effect of Shinrin-yoku (Forest bathing): a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMC Complement Altern Med. 2017 Aug 16;17(1):409. doi: 10.1186/s12906-017-1912-z. Review. PubMed PMID: 28814305; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC5559777.
[4] Lee, J., Park, B. J., Tsunetsugu, Y., Ohira, T., Kagawa, T., & Miyazaki, Y. (2011). Effect of forest bathing on physiological and psychological responses in young Japanese male subjects. Public health, 125(2), 93-100.
[5] Van den Berg, A. E., Joye, Y., & De Vries, S. (2013). Health benefits of nature. Environmental Psychology: An Introduction, 47-56.
[6] Mao, G. X., Cao, Y. B., Lan, X. G., He, Z. H., Chen, Z. M., Wang, Y. Z., ... & Yan, J. (2012). Therapeutic effect of forest bathing on human hypertension in the elderly. Journal of cardiology, 60(6), 495-502.
[7] Morita, E., Fukuda, S., Nagano, J., Hamajima, N., Yamamoto, H., Iwai, Y., ... & Shirakawa, T. (2007). Psychological effects of forest environments on healthy adults: Shinrin-yoku (forest-air bathing, walking) as a possible method of stress reduction. Public health, 121(1), 54-63.
[8] Ohtsuka, Y., Yabunaka, N., & Takayama, S. (1998). Shinrin-yoku (forest-air bathing and walking) effectively decreases blood glucose levels in diabetic patients. International Journal of Biometeorology, 41(3), 125-127.
