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#24 The Amazing Effects of Forest Bathing
By now, you may have heard of forest bathing. Though it has a dreamy Western name, it’s really just the act of mindfully walking among trees. Researchers started investigating its health benefits in 2004. Dr. Qing Li, a professor and immunologist at Nippon Medical School and vice president of the International Society of Nature and Forest Medicine, along with Yoshifumi Miyazaki, a researcher at Chiba University, were the first to scientifically explore this phenomenon. Until that time, the country’s forestry department had started the program as a healthy lifestyle choice. Now, thanks to their and others’ studies, we’re learning the amazing effects of forest bathing. Here are three biggies.
It creates NK cells
The most impressive effect is how well the human body creates NK cells. NK is a shorthand term for a type of white blood cell that protects us from disease. Dr. Li found that after Tokyo businessmen spent two hours hiking every morning for three days, their NK count shot up by 40 percent. When he investigated further, he discovered that inhaling the trees’ essential oils had boosted the subjects’ immune systems. Conversely, the subjects who walked for the same duration over the same three days in the city did not increase their NK count.
It lowers stress hormones
Professor Miyazaki found that people who walked in the forest for 15 minutes lowered their stress hormone (or cortisol) concentration by 12.7 percent. Also parasympathetic activity (relaxed state) increased by over 100 percent. To him, this makes perfect sense since our bodies evolved in nature over thousands of years and inherently yearn to be at one with it.
It boosts creativity
Have you ever noticed you solve problems after taking a walk? Well, David Strayer from the University of Utah found that creativity shot up 50 percent in subjects who spent three days in nature. The prefontal cortex is less active in nature. That rest allows your brain to wander and make random connections, leading to problem-solving and creativity.
Conclusion
These are the most well known effects of forest bathing but the science continues to grow and support the practice. And just to clarify, this doesn’t mean you have to backpack into the Alaskan wilderness. As Dr. Li says, “This is not exercise, or hiking, or jogging. It is simply being in nature, connecting with it through our senses of sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch.”
I hope you can get into the woods this weekend and immerse yourself in all nature has to offer. It just might improve your mood.
Photo by Daniel Sessler
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#22 A Great Book About the Restorative Effects of Nature
In 2017, Florence Williams wrote an outstanding book called The Nature Fix. It’s the best collection I’ve read about the science behind the restorative effects of nature. (It’s akin to Richard Louv’s The Nature Principle but more focused solely on the science.) Williams traveled the globe from Japan to Utah to Scotland in an effort to answer the question of exactly why spending time in nature is so healing for us.
What makes the book my favorite is Williams, a journalist, brings a neutral but skeptical eye to the process. She interviews a multitude of scientists, researchers, and therapeutic program directors, sometimes immersing herself in their current studies and retreats, to learn about the latest findings. Then, in a friendly but unsentimental voice, she easily translates those findings into simple, digestible information for the reader.
Reporting With a Personal Touch
She also mixes in a touch of her personal history and experiences too. She examines why she always felt happier in Boulder, Colorado rather than Washington, D.C. (hint, it has to do with the availability of natural landscapes). And we hear the story of her father being hit by a car to illustrate the positive effects of hospitalized patients looking out a window at nature during recovery. It’s a perfect mix of personal stories that reflect the broader issues.
If you’re curious about what exactly the latest research is on the restorative effects of nature, check out this book. It’s an engaging, fascinating read. And seeing how researchers are still conducting and publishing studies, I hope Williams will write a second edition or follow up soon.
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#21 These Plant Paintings Made My Stress Magically Disappear
I was passing by our local art gallery the other day, feeling rushed and worried. Then I noticed these gorgeous paintings. They’re a collaboration by Cindra Avery and Melissa Newell who are both local Northwest artists. I couldn’t stop gazing at these magnificent paintings of leaves. They locked me into a trance of admiration. I felt my breath slow, my vision calm. After a few moments, I walked away, reminded of how much a few plant paintings can lower stress and soothe the soul.
Collaborative by Nature
The pieces together are called “Collaborative by Nature.” As the artists say, “It represents a six-year creative collaboration focused on the natural world. The impetus for this work was based on our shared interests in gardening, birds, collage and mixed media design.”
The artists describe how the theme emerged organically: “We passed pieces back and forth until both of us felt we had fully explored the material, the surfaces, and finally, the meaning. When we first started this experiment in creative collaboration, we were often surprised and a bit unnerved by the work we received and briefly left with ‘What am I supposed to do?’ … Over time our pieces and work evolved, with each of us responding to the marks, color use and forms as we pushed each other in new directions.”
They’re Just Leaves But…
What is it about an artistic manifestation of plants that’s so alluring? After all, the actual subjects are just leaves. But something in my brain locked onto those recognizable images and then studied their unique curvatures, textures, and color. It was as if I’d seen those plants and yet hadn’t seen them. Avery and Newell had rendered their essence in the plant paintings but via an elevated interpretation that offered something wholly new to the world.
If you’d like to learn more about these wonderful artists, check out Melissa’s website here.
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#19 Do Cut Flowers Put You in a Better Mood?
Yesterday for Daily Stress ReLeaf, I talked about a book that teaches readers how to create a sacred garden space. Jessi Bloom’s Creating Sanctuary talks about honoring yourself and how your garden can be a reflection of that. But what if you don’t have a garden or any outdoor space? Well, one way I honor myself is to display cut flowers in the house. For me, cut flowers equals a better mood. And not only does it boost my mood but it also brightens my family’s mood, if only momentarily.
A Sweet But Destructive Cat
In the past, I was unable to display cut flowers because of our cat. I loved our blue Russian mix Aleksy but he was an enemy of any cut flowers my husband bought me or I brought in from the garden. He loved to chew on the stems. Nothing made him happier than decapitating tulips in particular. It was a sad sight to wake up and see fresh flower heads laying chopped and abandoned on the dining table. So for years, I didn’t keep cut flowers around. If my husband gave me a bouquet for a special day, I locked them in my office or up high on a shelf where I rarely looked at them.
Does Science Say Cut Flowers, Better Mood?
My dear sweet cat passed away last year. Though I still miss his spirited ways, I now take advantage of my quiet still counters and table tops. When I receive roses, I proudly display them in a prominent place in the kitchen and take a moment to breathe in their scent every day. I feel grateful, especially on rainy days in winter. Apparently, a lot of other folks feel similarly. A Rutgers study found that both men and women’s moods are bettered by flowers. We’ve evolved to react positively to them.
To say I react positively puts it lightly. Cut flowers are like a blast of sunshine for me, reminding me that nature is simple and beautiful. Flowers know nothing of life’s complexities or disappointments. They just do what they do best: grow and offer their gifts. Excellent stress relief.
A Question For You
So my question to you is do cut flowers put you in a better mood? Are they an expensive indulgence for you or a must? Do you also have cats that like to chomp on them? Tell me in the comments below or on Twitter.
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#18 A Book on How to Create a Sacred Garden Space
Jessi Bloom’s Creating Sanctuary is a beautiful guide on how to honor your land while honoring your self. It’s part garden design, part plant-based medicine, part soul-healing. She talks about creating a sacred garden space that aligns with your spiritual self before advising on how best to care for that self, physically and mentally. Though the premise sounds a little woo-woo, I found the book provides both inspiration and information in fair proportions. As she says, we all want “peacefulness, protection from a harsh world, and rejuvenation.” So having an expert like Bloom to help with that makes good sense.
Sacred Space, Sacred You
The first section deals with imagining and building your garden, addressing design elements and meaningful physical objects. She discusses the importance of listening for the land’s spirit before addressing spiritual objects like bells, altars, mandalas, etc. The book’s middle discusses the how-to of garden installation and includes a small encyclopedia of 50 sacred plants, based on medicinal uses and ancient myths. There’s an excellent chart on healing plants, their benefits, and how to use them. Plus, recipes for handy things like skin salve and natural bug repellent. Readers may find the last section a bit on the hippie side with daily rituals and mindfulness exercises but for the spiritually inclined, Bloom offers really useful ideas.
An Aspirational Dream
Like all great gardening books, there are alluring photos and crisply laid out exercises and recipes. Photos of Bloom show her doing yoga poses and harvesting plants. Her life looks of course too perfect to be true but that’s what we all want, right? The life of a relaxed, healthy gardener who lives in a quiet, eden-like setting. Overall, Creating Sanctuary is a helpful book if you want guidance on that, proving that plants really can make us happier.
