Remedy Your Nature Deficit With Forest Baths

The seasoned and usually stressed journalists have managed to turn off their cell phones, stop taking notes and taking photos, and little by little we have entered the rhythm of nature.

We enjoyed the “forest bathing” in the Sierra de Collserola, the great green lung of the city of Barcelona, ​​after the environmentalologist Marta Pahissa explained its benefits to us, backed by abundant scientific documentation.

Reconnecting with nature produces a series of effects on the body and mind that have been collected in the report “Forest baths, a health proposal”, carried out in collaboration with IS Global, a prestigious cluster of Barcelona research centers , and published by the Health and Environment Observatory of the DKV Institute for Healthy Living.

The health benefits of taking a forest bath

Walking slowly and in silence, we have opened our senses to the experience: we have felt the wind on our skin, touched the moss still damp from the dew, listened to the concert of the birds and allowed our gaze to get lost among the leaves with the colors of the autumn of holm oaks, oaks and pines.

“It is about reconnecting with nature and, above all, taking an inner journey ,” explains Alex, a guide certified by the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy (ANFT) and founder of Shinrin-yoku Barcelona, ​​who takes us through the forest and invites us to feel it.

“Each person interacts with the forest as he is. Most just relax. Many are grateful for the forest or feel that it cleanses them inside. Some may cry or have mystical experiences. But there is no objective, I just accompany ”, Alex tells us.

Most journalists feel that they have relaxed. Some even yawn or at least seem to have lost their rush. But, beyond the personal sensations, if we submitted to physical tests we could verify to what extent the forest bath has acted beneficially on our body and our mind.

The recognized effects of a forest bath are:

• Heart rate and blood pressure drop.
• The nervous system relaxes.
• Stress hormones decrease.
• Blood glucose levels drop.
• The number of defensive cells increases and inflammation markers are mitigated.
• If we suffered from stress, anxiety, insomnia, anger or depression, we feel better, more positive and vital.
• Our brain requires less oxygen to function.

If we regularly enjoyed contact with nature, all these effects would translate into a lower risk of suffering emotional and psychological disorders, cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, neurological, mental and respiratory diseases, obesity, diabetes and cancer, among other health problems.

Correct the lack of nature

The “nature deficit disorder” is not yet a disease recognized by the scientific community, but it describes very much what is happening to a good part of industrialized societies.

According to Richard Louv, author of The Last Boy in the Woods and Back to Nature (Editorial RBA), human beings, especially children, spend less and less time outdoors and more in indoor spaces, surrounded by technology, what which is causing us a wide variety of health, physical and mental problems. As long as we do not develop a lifestyle more harmonious with nature, forest baths are practically a necessity for urbanites.

Marta Pahissa affirms that the health improvements are evident, although there are still no studies that describe all the factors that generate the benefits. For example, in the case of cancer (in green environments its incidence is lower), it has been pointed to the volatile compounds released by trees, which would stimulate immunity, but much research remains to be done.

A study carried out within the framework of IS Global’s Inma (Childhood and Environment) project draws attention to the positive action of nature, especially to children.

The research, directed by Payam Dadvand, which has had the participation of 1,500 children in Valencia and Sabadell, shows that the more green spaces there are in the environment of the home, the better the attention capacity of children develops .

The benefits are apparently due to the fact that noise and pollution are replaced by stimuli such as birdsong or the “appeased vision” of natural elements.

Forest baths spread across the world

The well-known effects of immersion in nature justify that forest bathing is a common practice in Japan. The Shinrin-yoku, as there is known, is inspired by ancient Shinto and Buddhist practices, and is promoted by the government as a therapy that counteracts stress experienced by urban populations.

Similar initiatives exist in other countries.

• In South Korea, “Forest Cure” (sanlimyok in Korean) has been launched as a plan to improve people’s health and quality of life. It includes the training of forest healing instructors, the establishment of 34 healing forests and two national forest healing centers.
• In Germany, a team from the University of Munich has designed a series of criteria for the implementation of therapeutic activities in forests and the state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommemrn has already implemented it in six cities and in a forest on the island of Usedom .
• In the United States, the initiatives of the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy stand out, which through the training of certified guides, such as Alex Gesse, is becoming the most powerful worldwide movement in favor of forest baths.
• In Spain there are initiatives like the Sèlvans project, which takes its name from an Etruscan deity who protected the forests. In this project, the University of Girona, the Provincial Council and the Josep Trueta Hospital collaborate with the aim of promoting the protection of mature forests and reaching agreements with their owners to take advantage of their therapeutic properties.

Find your route to take a nature bath

The DKV Institute for Healthy Living, in addition to publishing the report “Forest baths, a health proposal”, aims to bring the idea to everyone by facilitating routes in different natural parks, which can be known and traveled with the help of the popular Wikiloc mobile application. This project is being developed with Europarc Spain, an organization that brings together the managers of the country’s protected natural areas.

In this application you can find more itineraries by searching for “shinrin-yoku” or “forest baths”. With some basic notions on how to take a forest bath, anyone can dare to enjoy it without further help. But it is a good idea to do it at least once with a certified guide. In Spain there are three guides certified by the ANFT and initiatives related to forest bathing by companies and associations such as Shinrin-Yoku Terapia de Bosque, the Sèlvans Association, Rural Salut, Biotop Natura and Ports Experience.

As pleasant as it may be, the forest bath is not just a way to spend your free time. In the medium and long term, the objective is, as Marta Pahissa explains, to get it prescribed in medical consultations, as one more preventive measure – such as dietary advice or advice related to physical activity – or even as part of the treatments. .