Why spending time in the woods makes you feel calm

Hey everybody, it's Mario.

Isn't the forest a magical place? Like when you really venture into the woods and you see these century old trees towering over you, sunlight twinkling through them, and spiders weaving their elaborate webs, the smell of pine needles is in the air, birds are tweeting, you hear a mysterious sound that you're not going to pay too much attention to, but you really hope is not a bear.

“There is a moment of awe that happens when you step into a forest, and I think a lot”

of us can sense that forest bathing, or taking in the forest through your senses, makes us feel better and calmer. I was surprised to learn that there are decades of scientific evidence backing that up. A lot of the evidence comes from Japan, where the term forest bathing originated in the 1980s. Over many years, researchers have shown in peer-reviewed studies that time in

the forest is a kind of medicine. Forest bathing helps your immune system. By increasing your levels of anti-cancer proteins and immune cells that kill tumors, it's been shown to lower blood pressure and stabilize blood sugar. It can help with depression. It can lower adrenaline and turn down the dial on your body's fight or flight response.

What we could see in the data was that as soon as somebody came into proximity of a tree, and they were just present a mindful, paying attention and appreciating the tree,

but there's basically their parasitic activity, which is the relaxation response in the

body, was increased. I know, all of that from spending time with trees. On this episode of LifeKit, we will talk about how to forest bathing, using the research as our guide to what works, and we'll share some exercises to get you started. Feel free to head outside to listen to this one.

If, like me, you're wondering why forests are so good for our health. There's an evolutionary hypothesis for this. Simply put, for much of human history, we lived in nature. So the thinking is, because we evolved in nature, so we love nature, because we learn to love the things that have helped us survive. That's Dr. Ching Lee, by the way. He's a professor at Neepon Medical School in Tokyo, and the president of the Japanese Society of Forest

Medicine. He's designed and carried out a lot of Japan's research on forest bathing. Another expert you'll hear from in this episode is Gary Evans, director of the Forest Bating Institute in the UK, which was heavily inspired by Dr. Lee's work. Gary says at this point, we can survive without exposure to nature and forests specifically. But there's a difference between surviving and thriving.

Alright, let's get thriving. We're going to start with some forest bathing basics. Gary says a lot of the time when we head to the woods or a hiking trail, nature is a backdrop, you know, it's a secondary. So we might be walking and talking with a friend, running, cycling,

“horse riding. But he says, if you want to get all the benefits of forest bathing, your”

primary focus should be connecting with nature. So take away one, really let yourself be in the forest. It's kind of like bathing in your tub. You're there to relax and dwell in the experience. If you say I'm going to go to the park, I'm going to go to the forest and I'm going to

appreciate the natural beauty. So that's the first thing, set the intention. Ideally,

you can also set aside an entire morning or afternoon for this, because the important thing for people listening to remember is that relaxation is not like an on-off switch. That's for how much time, Dr. Lee suggests two to six hours. The longer is the better. The longer is it more impact. His research shows that the health benefits can last for as long as 30 days. So aim to

do this once a month or maybe more often if your sessions are short. So you can build up the dose. Now let's talk for a minute about location. A nice patch of forest or woods is best, but if you don't have one nearby, you could get some of the same benefits from a city park. If it has a lot of trees and quiet spaces. So if you have one day to visit a city park,

you also can get the beneficial effect. But he says the effects will be smaller. Lastly, before you enter the forest, do some basic wilderness prep. This is not an exhaustive list, but that can include sunscreen, which you should be wearing every day anyway. Also, bug spray and long pants to protect you from ticks and plants that will give you a rash and check the weather ahead of time. Make sure

“it's safe to venture out. Also, remember to stay on the marked trails and check yourself”

for ticks after or two if those are a problem in your area. All right. So we're into the woods. Next up, take away two, slow down and disconnect.

tai chi. It's not the time to squeeze in your hardcore cardio for the week.

So the next difference between normal activities and forest bathing is a week and a move very slowly and forest bathing. And we want to reduce the harm, right? Also, Dr. Lisa, if you tire yourself out physically. You're trying this, we'll, you study facts that are forbidden. So when you get to the forest or the park, maybe walk a little bit and then find a spot that speaks to you. It could be a clearing in the woods

around you by a bunch of tall trees or a spot where a tree has grown into a curved sheet that looks suspiciously like a seat. If it feels beautiful and resonant to you, that's

“what matters. Now sit down and then just be present with the environment and leave the”

phone alone. We'll have more life kit after the break. All right. Your settled in. Your phone is turned off at least put away. It's time to engage your senses. We're going to start with smell and inhalation because Dr. Lisa has based on his research many of the benefits of forest bathing come when we inhale the chemicals that trees release into the air. They're called fight on sides. And when we breathe them in,

they on their own can do things like reduce our stress hormones and increase our levels of anti-cancer proteins. Dr. Lisa has done experiments on this. His team ordered these special

concentrated essential oils made from Japanese site post trees and then pumped them into the

hotel rooms of test subjects using a diffuser. The people staying in those rooms saw many of the same health benefits as the ones who did a forest bathing session just to a lesser extent. So, as a side note, if you can't make it to a forest, Dr. Lisa, as you could get some of the

“benefits by diffusing tree-based essential oils at home. But yeah, take away three is to breathe”

it all in and ask yourself, what do I smell? Behind each smell in the forest is an exquisite, wondrous fact. For instance, the flowers on trees emit a fragrance so they can attract bees with the promise of food that's packed with energy. According to researchers at the University of

Tel Aviv, plant called the evening primrose will actually pump up the concentration of sugar in

its nectar when bees are buzzing nearby. I learned that from a book called Forest Walkin, discovering the trees and woodlands of North America. Written by Peter Volubine and translated by Jean Billinghurst. I also learned that the earthy smell underfoot in the forest, the one that makes you feel like, hell yeah, I'm in nature. That comes from insects, bacteria, and fungi breaking down leaves and rotten wood. And that process will enrich the soil with nutrients.

So the advice here, notice what you smell, and maybe later follow your curiosity to learn more. You can also try some breathing exercises, because there's a big mindfulness component to forest bathing. In addition to being a forest bathing researcher, Gary is a yoga and mindfulness teacher. And he says the practice of meditation started outdoors. Buddha had his awakening underneath a tree. Now come incidents that were trees were there right at the start of this. So here's an exercise

to try as you're sitting among the trees. So if you inhale for count of one, two, and then you exhale for double the length of time. So it's one, two, three, four. And so you keep that going, inhaling for two, exhaling for four. When the exhale is slower than the inhale, it sends a physiological message to your body. I'm safe. I can relax. It's okay. This breathing exercise has been shown to have benefits on its own outside of the forest environment. The reason to do it in

the forest is to allow yourself to relax. What happens on a physiological level is when a parasympathetic fires up and we slow down, nature comes into sharp a focus. So there's a change of perception. And it gets easier to notice things, sounds, colors, textures. And that's takeaway for, engage your other senses. Listen for the rustling of chipmunks, the gurgling of a creek, the groin of branches in the wind. And notice the colors, bright red leaves exploding from trees,

light green ferns, creating a canopy cover for the ground. When you observe nature, that can slow down your fight or flight response and lower the levels of stress hormones in your body. You can also take this moment to touch some stuff. And I'm not the poison ivy. You know what? Why don't we start with the tree? Go ahead and feel its bark. Is it rough or smooth? Does it have any scars

“from old branches? Another sense you can use in the forest is taste. I mean, you have to be careful.”

Don't just pick up a mushroom and start eating it. But if you learn about plants and foraging, you can add that to your forest bathing practice. You can also buy teas and tangsures from

Lucretia Van Dyke is an herbalist, a ceremonialist, an author of the book,

“African American herbalism, a practical guide to healing plants and folk traditions.”

I always laugh. I'm like at this point in my life, I'm so into herbalism that if you can't talk

about plants, I don't really know what to talk about anymore. One of her favorite trees is the memosa tree. What has these doctors soos like pink flowers on it? Also herbalists use the flowers to help people work through grief. So sometimes she'll take a couple drops of a memosa tincture in her mouth. And then I go sit with the plant and I hold the flowers and I'm like laying there with the plant and staring at it and all it becomes like this full circle thing.

That brings us to take away five. Go deeper. Work with the forest to process what you're going through. Gary says you can see nature as a mirror. So depending on what's happening in your

emotional world, quite often when we look at nature or the forest, it sends something back to us

“to help us make sense of what's going on in our life. The forest bathing institute, which he runs,”

leads group trips to forests in the UK and around the world. And people have told him that forest bathing helped them work through grief. Actually a number of them that come on our sessions are found that it's been very helpful to go into the forest and see the natural cycle of life, somehow it's enabled them to reconcile what's happened. In the forest, dead trees provide homes for woodpeppers and owls. And when they fall down, they become hiding spots for frogs and other

creatures. And they provide a space for mushrooms and moss to grow. In death, they support life. Another metaphor. Think about how trees communicate with each other through their network of roots underground. It's a stark contrast with how isolated many of us feel these days. Lucrecia shared this exercise. So a beautiful practice I feel like is imagine how all these roots are touching and watering each other. And if we need to like imagine even energetically like my

family lives in North Carolina and I'm in Louisiana. So energetically like, you know, when I imagine that tree and touching that tree, I can imagine myself and my spirit being at home with them.

“And if you want to try something a little more spiritual while you sit in the forest,”

ask a tree or a plant to tell you about what medicine it holds. Let me feel, you know, your medicine. Let me understand your medicine because it's a lot how the original people did it. It's not like they had a book way, way, way back in the day that told them this plant does this,

this plant does that. And then you can always compare what you imagine to a book.

When you spend time in nature and around trees, that can also be an opportunity to think about the folks who came before you, whether that's deep in the forest or even in your neighborhood. Lucrecia told me about the Tramay district of New Orleans known for being among the oldest African-American neighborhoods in the country. And it has been, you know, cut in half by a highway. And it's also been, you know, very gentrified. She likes to look at the neighborhoods oak trees draped with Spanish

moss. And imagine what have they seen? I tried to imagine like the old Creole neighborhoods and how, you know, people of color came together and watched each other's children and built what is now revered today as the birthplace of jazz. Like those trees have heard some of the original jazz greats ever. She thinks of generations of kids playing and family sprawled out under the trees. It puts me in old New Orleans and in those old community moments that, you know, don't

exist or they exist in a new way. I'm sensing a parallel here, right? Trees bring people together. We sit under them in the shade and picnic. We gather around them and harvest their fruit. But they're in community with each other, too. The young and the old, propping each other up and sending each other nutrients through their networks of roots. There's just so much wisdom that trees and plants hold for us when we pay attention.

All right, time for a recap. If you want a forest bath, go to a place that has a lot of trees with the intention of appreciating and focusing on nature. The trees shouldn't just be a backdrop to some other activity. Go slowly. Take it easy. This isn't about doing heavy cardio. It's about slowing down your heart rate and getting to a complex where you can start to see the wisdom that nature offers. You can also try some simple breathing exercises, slow yoga or tai chi

or do meditation exercises that use the metaphor as the forest provides. On that note,

Settle down next to a tree and take some deep belly breaths.

“I like for people to imagine your legs being like old tree trunk roots that roots”

you deep in the ground like the tree. So when I take a deep breath, I imagine the energy

from our and love from our ancestors or from other nature coming up those large roots into your legs

“into your abdomen, belly expanding and then as you exhale, sometimes I do a practice of”

shedding the things that no longer serve me, shaking off the day.

And then she exhales and says a prayer of gratitude to mother nature.

“This episode of LifeKit was produced by Claire Marie Schneider. Our digital editor”

is Malica Greb and our visuals editor is CJ Reeflon. Megan Kane is our senior supervising editor and Beth Donovan is our executive producer. Our production team also includes Andy Tagel, Margaret Serino, and Sylvie Douglas. Engineering support comes from Tiffany Bader Castro and Becky Brown. I'm Mary El Sigada. Thanks for listening.