Forest Healing

Any readers of this blog are aware of my love of the woods. Woodland walks have been the subject matter here on more than one occasion ( see The Woods Call, A Cold Gold Walk, and others). I have oft expressed of the "alive" feeling that comes over me during any hunting trip or hike deep in the woods. Well, as it turns out, there is real scientific evidence to support the physical and mental healing a person feels from being a part of forest surroundings. Nature Magazine  printed article a while back  that sheds light on the honest-to-goodness, feel-it-in-your-bones, therapy of the woods.

Here is an excerpt of the article:

As we all innately know, spending time in nature is good for our body, mind and spirit. It’s why we’re attracted to green places, flowers, lakes, fresh air and sunshine. Taking a nature walk—affording plenty of fresh air and exercise in a quiet setting—has traditionally been prescribed for good health. That raises a question: How much natural healing are we sacrificing when we spend most of our days indoors?
In Japan, a group of medical researchers and government-affiliated forest organizations support the creation of forest therapy centers, where people enjoy the trails and guided walks and also receive free medical checkups under the trees. Since 1984, they have been studying the health benefits of walking in the woods, termed shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing. There are now more than 30 such officially designated sites.
In related studies, scientists from Japan’s Nippon Medical School and Chiba University tracked positive physiological changes in individuals walking in the woods compared with city walkers. Early results were published in the International Journal of Immunopathology and Pharmacology, European Journal of Applied Physiology and Journal of Biological Regulators and Homeostatic Agents. Forest walkers showed:

• Lower concentrations of salivary cortisol, known as the stress hormone
• Lower blood pressure and heart rate
• Reduction of adrenaline and noradrenalin, also stress-related hormones
• Increase in immunity-boosting natural killer (NK) cell activity, and the numbers of NK cells and anti-cancer proteins known to combat cancer

Newest Findings

The researchers theorized that organic compounds called phytoncides, produced by trees and other plants as a protection from disease, insects and fungus, were also producing beneficial natural killer cells in people in the forests. In a study that exposed participants to phytoncides via aromatic oils fed through a humidifier in a hotel room, the researchers found similar increases in NK levels.
A 2011 study by Nippon Medical School’s department of hygiene and public health showed that the resulting increase in NK cells lasted for 30 days. They concluded that a monthly walk in the woods could help people maintain a higher level of protective NK activity and perhaps even have a preventive effect on cancer generation and progression.
Qing Li, Ph.D., the assistant professor leading several of these studies, suggests that dense forest areas are more effective at boosting immunity than city parks and gardens. He also reports that phytoncide concentrations increase during summer growing seasons and decrease during the winter, although they are still present in tree trunks even when the trees are deciduous.

So there is more than fresh oxygen and atrophy-stopping exercise to credit for our renewed spirit during a woodland traverse. Native Americans have long held the believe that  animals, plants and humans all share a true physical connection, since we are all of the dust, and from one Creator.
 So while humans may be the only part of creation that has an eternal soul, it seems we all share a molecular/chemical connection. I know that my body responds to the woods in a very powerful way.

It seems time spent in the woods has real scientific benefits. I know a long hike or primitive camp in the woods frees my mind and makes me feel healthier. Woodland experiences, to me, are good for all of me. Mind, body, and soul.

 Get out there yourself every chance you get. Soak up the PHYTONCIDES.... and feel the difference.