Forest Bathing as Medicine
Not just a gimmick ~ the real deal.
Often there are new terms arising to help us with our health, be it physical, spiritual, or mental. I typically view these as catch phrases or marketing schemes to get us interested, and then to buy something or join a new club. The health industry is big business.
Not so for Forest Bathing.
As a therapist, I have long known the benefits of getting outside for your mental health. I have written about it, found numerous research studies supporting the claims, and have personally experienced how the outdoors can really boost my spirits. Forest Bathing, however, is a whole category unto itself, and Dr. Qing Li has devoted his career to proving the value.
Dr. Li is a professor at Nippon Medical School in Tokyo. In his research, he has studied the connection between the phytoncides that trees release and the health benefits to us if we walk among them and breathe them in. Apparently once the phytoncides get into your bloodstream, they activate your natural killer (NK) cells.
NK (Natural Killer) cells are a type of white blood cell that play a role in the immune response to infected or cancerous cells. They can recognize and kill cells that have abnormal or altered proteins on their surface, such as viruses or cancer cells, without prior exposure or activation by specific antigens. They also produce cytokines that regulate the immune response. ~ Health Tree Foundation
In controlled experiments, people who spent just two days walking among trees saw their NK cell activity and anti-cancer proteins rise by roughly 50%. The boost lasted up to 30 days afterward.
Further benefits of forest bathing include lowering your cortisol, reducing blood pressure, and activating your parasympathetic nervous system ~ the rest and recover mode that we all desperately need.
Dr. Li also did comparative studies of people walking in urban settings in order to find out if it was the movement component that was the main or contributing factor. These urban walks did not produce the same benefits.
Get Dr. Jen Hammersmark’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
Another interesting finding is that if you walk amongst the trees with headphones in, perhaps listening to music or your favourite podcast, or scrolling on your phone, you would not receive the health benefits. The phytoncide absorption is suppressed during these activities, and absorption does not occur.
Trees and plants release phytoncides, natural antimicrobial oils that help protect them from germs.
For humans, these phytoncides have been shown to:
* Boost mood and immune function
* Regulate blood pressure and heart rate
* Reduce stress and anxiety
* Improve concentration, sleep, and creativity
* Potentially support recovery from cancer and depression
In Japan, forest bathing (Shinrin-yoku) is already recognised as a clinical therapy and can even be prescribed by doctors.
Dr. Li has published over 90 articles over the course of his career. If you are a science geek and want to deep dive into his work, an overview can be found here.
Over forty years ago in Japan, this research began for two important reasons: the first was to encourage people to visit forests for our health, and the second to give rise for protecting our forests. I believe the second initiative is equally important worldwide.
In Japan they have four decades of research which is so conclusive that both there, and in South Korea, they prescribe forest-bathing sessions on their NHS. It all started in Japan in 1982 when the idea for a national health programme for forest-bathing began. This had a dual purpose. The first was was to encourage people to visit forests for their health, this was based on an intuitive idea that being in the beautiful, green forests of Japan would have a beneficial effect. The second purpose was to help protect the forests; if people were encouraged to visit forests for their health, they would be more likely to want to protect and look after them. At this time a research programme was started to test their theory that the forests were good for health. Fast forward to today and Forest-bathing has become standard practice in Japan. There are now over 70 designated ‘healing forests’ across the country. ~ Japanese research
If you are wondering where the term Forest Bathing comes from, it is a Japanese translation of the term shinrin-yoku. Shirin means forest, and yoku means bath or shower. Not the naked kind, but rather taking in the forest through our senses.
In this video interview, Dr. Li talks about shinrin-yoku and how important it is to activate all five senses while doing this intentional journey in the trees. Enjoy Qing Li, his sense of humour, but mostly his passion around his findings and the benefits that you too can experience.
