FOREST BATHING, FRILUFSLIV & GROUNDING
Forest therapy, known by many names, is such simple concept that it’s almost silly to give a name at all, and yet there is great power in its sheer simplicity.
Norway has an ancient concept called friluftsliv which translates to "free air life" — describing a lifestyle of exploring and appreciating nature. Its fundamental place in Norwegian culture is associated with another old Norwegian concept, allemannsretten, which is law of the land, quite literally, meaning "freedom to roam." This law allows anyone to explore undeveloped private property as certain rules are abided, “an ancient tradition encoded into Norwegian law with the 1957 Outdoor Recreation Act.”
“Outdoor Journal reports that friluftsliv goes beyond just getting outside for a jog (though that’s great, too). It’s rooted in mindfulness, a feeling of being connected to a larger whole, and a sense of communing with nature.” - Lorenzo for Bustle
Other names that have become popular recently have originated from Alaska and Japan. Alaskan naturalist and filmmaker Steve Kroschel recently popularized the terms “earthing” and “grounding” after his personal discovery of the benefits of connecting directly with the earth, often barefoot in soil and mud, after seeing how it affected him and others in the small town of Haines in Alaska’s rural wilderness, seeming to shorten illness, reduce pain, and contribute to overall healing. Grounding is essentially the practice of putting your bare skin in contact with the earth to reduce pain and improve immune function, like taking a half hour every day to walk barefoot in the grass. This may also sounds too simple to be effective, but it has some incredible implications for health.
In the 1980s the Japanese Forestry Agency coined a phrase for a similar concept to encourage citizens, many suffering from skyrocketing stress levels in the economic boom, to spend more time in nature. They called it shinrin-yoku, which translates to "forest bathing."
Forest bathing doesn't mean taking a bath in the woods (unless you find a hot spring, I suppose, which is forest bathing on another level), but immersing yourself in the forest and allowing your senses to soak it in. Practicing it means spending time in the forest without an agenda outside of consciously slowing and taking in your surroundings — fresh air, sunlight, sights, smells, sounds — and making contact with the soil, the trees, the plants and yourself.
From there it’s been called by many other names, from forest therapy to horticultural therapy (which also applies more to gardens, another of favorite places for healing). But a rose is a rose, and forest therapy by any name is magic. And what’s beautiful about these practices, when practiced ethically, is that there’s is an important, reciprocal element to it that is fundamental to its design. As the Association for Nature and Forest Therapy writes, “There is a long tradition of this in cultures throughout the world. It’s not just about healing people; it includes healing for the forest.”
a rose is a rose, and forest therapy by any name is magic
In any case, there's a lot of power in giving something a name, or many names. This is a common tool with anxiety and other mood/mental health complaints, like this shero who named her anxiety Clive. On top of that, giving something a name allows it to become a concepts that can be more easily talked about and appreciated — and that can be studied by researchers and proven as beneficial to human wellness, for folks who appreciate studies which I have to say I kinda do. Science is magic and it helps give credence to a practice that has the power to help many humans non-invasively and affordably.
EVIDENCE OF FOREST THERAPY’S HEALTH BENEFITS
In studies, forest therapy has shown incredible effectiveness for lowering heart rate, lowering stress hormones (cortisol, adrenaline, and noradrenaline), strengthening the immune system, boosting NK (natural killer) cell activity, improving mood, and reducing chronic stress. Some of these beneficial effects have be found to last up to 7 days. And interestingly, some are attributed to natural essential oils emitted by trees, called phytoncides, meaning that breathing in trees is actually healing. Tree huggers, rejoice.
The physiological effects of Shinrin-yoku (taking in the forest atmosphere of forest bathing): evidence from field experiments in 24 forests across Japan (2010): “...results show that forest environments promote lower concentrations of cortisol, lower pulse rate, lower blood pressure, greater parasympathetic nerve activity, and lower sympathetic nerve activity than do city environments. These results will contribute to the development of a research field dedicated to forest medicine, which may be used as a strategy for preventive medicine.”
Psychological effects of forest environments on healthy adults: Shinrin-yoku (forest-air bathing, walking) as a possible method of stress reduction (2007): “...forest environments are advantageous with respect to acute emotions, especially among those experiencing chronic stress. Accordingly, shinrin-yoku may be employed as a stress reduction method, and forest environments can be viewed as therapeutic landscapes. Therefore, customary shinrin-yoku may help to decrease the risk of psychosocial stress-related diseases, and evaluation of the long-term effects of shinrin-yoku is warranted.”
Effect of phytoncide from trees on human natural killer cell function (2009) “We previously reported that the forest environment enhanced human natural killer (NK) cell activity, the number of NK cells, and intracellular anti-cancer proteins in lymphocytes, and that the increased NK activity lasted for more than 7 days after trips to forests both in male and female subjects. To explore the factors in the forest environment that activated human NK cells, in the present study we investigate the effect of essential oils from trees on human immune function...Phytoncide exposure significantly increased NK activity and the percentages of NK, perforin, granulysin, and granzyme A/B-expressing cells, and significantly decreased the percentage of T cells, and the concentrations of adrenaline and noradrenaline in urine. Phytoncides, such as alpha-pinene and beta-pinene, were detected in the hotel room air. These findings indicate that phytoncide exposure and decreased stress hormone levels may partially contribute to increased NK activity."
Articles on forest therapy:
Outside Magazine: Take Two Hours of Pine Forest and Call Me in the Morning
Quartz: The Japanese practice of ‘forest bathing’ is scientifically proven to improve your health
EVIDENCE OF EARTHING'S HEALTH BENEFITS
The effects of grounding (earthing) on inflammation, the immune response, wound healing, and prevention and treatment of chronic inflammatory and autoimmune diseases (2015): "Accumulating experiences and research on earthing, or grounding, point to the emergence of a simple, natural, and accessible health strategy against chronic inflammation, warranting the serious attention of clinicians and researchers. The living matrix (or ground regulation or tissue tensegrity-matrix system), the very fabric of the body, appears to serve as one of our primary antioxidant defense systems. As this report explains, it is a system requiring occasional recharging by conductive contact with the Earth’s surface – the “battery” for all planetary life – to be optimally effective."
Articles on earthing:
New York Times: Take Two Aspirin, Then Roll in the Mud