{"id":376,"date":"2014-06-01T20:01:00","date_gmt":"2014-06-01T20:01:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/naturestuff.net\/web\/?p=376"},"modified":"2021-12-31T14:52:46","modified_gmt":"2021-12-31T14:52:46","slug":"feeling-out-of-sorts-try-forest-bathing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/naturestuff.net\/web\/feeling-out-of-sorts-try-forest-bathing\/","title":{"rendered":"Feeling Out of Sorts? Try Forest Bathing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n


June\/July, 2014 issue<\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n


Last year at this time, my column in The Scoop dealt with how the natural\u00a0\u00a0 world promotes good health and longevity. How some on our guided hikes have health issues, while others do not. Arthritis comes up frequently during conversations behind me, and another has Parkinson\u2019s. Others may have different health issues, but say nothing, for today, there are no health concerns, as they consume whatever medication they need, and forge bravely ahead, refusing to give in. These people will live forever because they exercise and are always in a positive frame of mind. You will never see any on our hikes seek out the nearest\u00a0\u00a0 handicapped parking spot at the supermarket and sprint into the grocery store.\u00a0 They embrace exercise.
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\u00a0I have mentioned Frontenac Provincial Park in past columns, and I will\u00a0\u00a0 surely do so again. It is one of my favourite provincial parks, primarily because of its remoteness. I have been on 15 km trails where I\u2019ve walked all day and not seen a soul, have not heard a cell phone, received a text message or heard the distinctive beep of a computer when an e-mail message has come in. No motor boats, no cars, and rarely an airplane.
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\u00a0I am alone with only the sound of nature around me \u2013 the diagnostic\u00a0\u00a0 clucking of a chipmunk, or the explosion of wings as a ruffed grouse takes off, or a wood thrush with his flute like melodies echoing through the trees.\u00a0 Sometimes there is nothing. Absolute quiet. The air is fresh and invigorating, punctuated with the fragrance of the forest \u2013 of leaves, mosses, and dank wood.\u00a0\u00a0 I close my eyes and a feeling of absolute peace washes over me, as invoices, deadlines, and unanswered e-mails fade away and become lost in the morning haze over a distant wetland. I am rejuvenated, and I emerge from these walks in the forest with my batteries fully charged.
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\u00a0The Japanese refer to this experience as \u201cshinrin-yoku\u201d or \u201cforest\u00a0\u00a0 bathing\u201d. They firmly believe that the scent of trees, the sound of brooks, and the feel of sunshine have a calming effect. Beyond the obvious soothing result, it also has been found that essential wood oils, known as phytoncides (natural preservatives), as well as fungicides emitted by many plants, can actually increase natural killer cells in humans, thus enhancing our immune systems.\u00a0 The chemical compounds emitted by trees, released from pockets between the leaf\u00a0\u00a0 cells, produce fragrances that have been shown to prevent, and even cure, cancer.\u00a0 Biologist Joan Maloof says, \u201cWhen we breathe them in (these fragrances), they become part of our bodies, the forest becomes part of us … we are increasingly cutting ourselves off from Nature\u2019s drugs, which are free, and handing our health care over to the drug companies, which are not.\u201d
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\u00a0Research into \u201cforest bathing\u201d suggests that we benefit from breathing in\u00a0\u00a0 \u2018phytoncides\u2019, the volatile organic compounds plants emit to protect\u00a0 themselves\u00a0 from bacteria, fungi and insects. There have been 120 airborne volatile chemicals discovered in these beneficial emissions, of which only 70 have actually been identified. Results compiled from several related studies show a wide range of positive benefits from\u00a0 just a mere stroll in the woods. These benefits include decreased blood glucose levels in diabetic patients, a decrease in stress hormones, heart rate, blood pressure, depression, anger, fatigue, and depression, while psychological vigour increases. One acquaintance has had ovarian cancer for eight years, and attributes her longevity to her walks in her backyard forest along the waters of the Moira River.
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\u00a0Japan, who we can thank for opening our eyes, has many conditions that favour the practice of forest bathing. Forests occupy 67 per cent of the land in Japan and are easily accessible. Japanese tree species including Japanese cypress, Japanese cedar, Japanese beech and Japanese oak are all proven to be effective in raising natural killer cells activity.\u00a0 The Japanese government now officially recognizes certain forests by granting them designations of Forest Therapy Base and Forest Therapy Road.\u00a0 While forest bathing, it\u2019s not important to power walk, but rather, to simply absorb the forest through the five senses:\u00a0 the murmuring of a stream, birds singing, the colours and fragrance of the\u00a0\u00a0 forest, even taste in some cases.
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\u00a0Given\u00a0 the evidence, it seems that there is something to all this, that our\u00a0\u00a0 exposure to the woods makes us more healthy. Those who have suffered no\u00a0\u00a0 illnesses will invariably admit to having spent time in the woods,\u00a0 whether\u00a0 working there, or just enjoying a leisurely walk. If I can be\u00a0 considered any\u00a0 kind of an example, I can\u2019t recall the last time I have\u00a0 suffered a case of the\u00a0 flu. And I can\u2019t remember the last time I\u00a0 actually had a cold. The only time I\u00a0 was in a hospital overnight in\u00a0 almost 70 years was for appendicitis at the age\u00a0 of 5 and a\u00a0 tonsillectomy when I was 12.\u00a0 Is this coincidental, or has a lifetime\u00a0\u00a0 exposure to trees actually benefited me in some way?
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\u00a0Still\u00a0 not convinced? I wrote about forest bathing in a local newspaper some\u00a0\u00a0 time ago. Here is what one reader said, \u201cI wasn’t\u00a0 aware of the\u00a0 \u2018Phytoncides’\u00a0 until reading your article.\u00a0 Throughout the years, I have\u00a0 indulged in\u00a0 ‘vacations’ of being in remote woods and forests, back at\u00a0 an old family camp on\u00a0 crown land, northern areas of the province, and\u00a0 back at a little log cabin we\u00a0 own, ‘north of 7’, surrounded by swamps,\u00a0 woods and inland lakes. The stressors\u00a0 of the work place, the\u00a0 ‘rat-race’, dissipate and evaporate. Marsh sounds\/songs\u00a0 and the\u00a0 fragrance of the forest floor not only calm, and refresh one,\u00a0 but an\u00a0\u00a0 odd side effect occurs, one returns looking over 10 years younger, as\u00a0 the skin\u00a0 glows and lines seem to disappear from our faces. Flushed with\u00a0 colour, eyes\u00a0 clear, and physically fit.\u00a0 Is this the elixir of the\u00a0 elusive ‘fountain of\u00a0 youth’?\u00a0 Discovering little creatures\u00a0 gives a\u00a0 delight that we had as children.\u00a0 Neither I nor my husband have ever\u00a0 been in hospital, neither of us are on any\u00a0 prescribed medication. I am\u00a0 almost 60, and my husband is mid sixties. We have a\u00a0 couple of friends\u00a0 who have lived in that environment all their lives, both are\u00a0 in their\u00a0 70’s, no health issues, and physically seemed to have defied ageing.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 Recently I took a friend of mine on a nature outing, I couldn’t believe\u00a0 it!! We\u00a0 were looking for wildflowers, wild turkeys and anything else we\u00a0 might find, the\u00a0 whole time, she was ‘texting’ on her cell phone,\u00a0 receiving messages, and talking\u00a0 on it!\u00a0 What is wrong with people?!\u201d
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\u00a0I\u00a0 have talked in past columns about how walking keeps us fit. As we get\u00a0\u00a0 older, it keeps us limber and it keeps us active so we don`t fall victim\u00a0 to\u00a0 learned helplessness. We need to keep moving. Now with new evidence\u00a0 pointing to\u00a0 forests being able to neutralize toxins in our\u00a0 environment, thereby benefitting\u00a0 us in still other ways, it would\u00a0 behoove us to concentrate our hiking efforts to\u00a0 wooded trails so we can\u00a0 glean even more benefits from the effort. According to\u00a0 the experts,\u00a0 the concept makes sense. We have spent much of our evolutionary\u00a0 history\u00a0 in natural environments, so returning to Nature is almost like a\u00a0\u00a0 physiological homecoming of sorts.
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\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

June\/July, 2014 issue\u00a0 Last year at this time, my column in The Scoop dealt with how the natural\u00a0\u00a0 world promotes good health and longevity. How some on our guided hikes have health issues, while others do not. Arthritis comes up frequently during conversations behind…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,13],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-376","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-all-columns","category-picton-gazette"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturestuff.net\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturestuff.net\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturestuff.net\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturestuff.net\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturestuff.net\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=376"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/naturestuff.net\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2124,"href":"https:\/\/naturestuff.net\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/376\/revisions\/2124"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/naturestuff.net\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=376"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturestuff.net\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=376"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/naturestuff.net\/web\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=376"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}