FOREST BATHING’S Health BENEFITS.
The sounds and smell of the forest, the sunlight poking through the trees, the fresh, awesome clean air, all these things give us a sense of comfort.
What is forest bathing, and how can it ease our worry and stress?
Being in nature can reset our mood, give us back energy, refresh, and rejuvenate, plus help us relax and to think clearer.
It should come as no surprise by now that walking among trees has huge health benefits. Shinrin-yoku in Japanese means “forest,” and yoku means “bath.
FOREST BATHING’S TOP BENEFITS
This ancient practice in Japan is where people are encouraged to visit and spend time outdoors walking through forests to improve their health.
Forest bathing allows us to use the five senses to feel and understand the power of the forest.
What is forest bathing lets you feel nature enter you through your eyes, ears, hands, mouth, and feet?
Listen to all the sounds around you and hear the wind rustling through the leaves of the trees.
All the different colours of green from the base of the trees all the way to the top.
The sunlight filters through the open spaces.
The fragrance of the forest is indescribable because of the variety of aromas throughout the forest.
Take a deep breath and let the natural aromatherapy of phytoncide enter your mind and body.
Taste the freshness of the air as you take deep breaths.
Place your hands on the trunk of a tree. Dip your fingers or toes in a stream. Lie on the ground.
Drink in the forest’s flavour and release your sense of joy and calm. This is your sixth sense, a state of mind.
Now you have connected with nature.
You’re spending a certain amount of exercise going on any forest bathing adventure but the benefits of getting outside and enjoying everything nature offers…
The mental benefits alone for myself outweigh the physical because, for me, being outside away from the craziness of the city is soothing.
Depending on where you live, there is always a getaway right around the corner.
Many studies have confirmed that spending time within a forest setting can have amazing benefits to reduce psychological stress, depressive symptoms, and hostility.
It’s reported improved sleeping patterns while increasing vigor and energy levels,” reports Mother Earth News.
It is simply being in nature, connecting with it through our senses of sight, hearing, taste, smell, and touch.
They have reported these healthy changes in nearly a dozen studies involving 24 forests and can lower your levels of cortisol, blood pressure, and pulse rate.