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Why spending time in the woods makes you feel calm · Silver FM 100.6

• 0:02
  Speaker 1: You're listening to Life Kit from NPR.
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: Hey, everybody, it's maryel Isn't the forest a magical place?
• 0:13
  Speaker 2: Like when you really venture into the woods and you
• 0:15
  Speaker 2: see these century old trees towering over you, sunlight twinkling
• 0:20
  Speaker 2: through them, and spiders weaving their elaborate webs. The smell
• 0:24
  Speaker 2: of pine needles is in the air, birds are tweeting you.
• 0:28
  Speaker 2: Hear a mysterious sound that you're not going to pay
• 0:30
  Speaker 2: too much attention to, but you really hope is not
• 0:32
  Speaker 2: a bear. There is a moment of awe that happens
• 0:35
  Speaker 2: when you step into a forest, and I think a
• 0:37
  Speaker 2: lot of us consents that forest bathing or taking in
• 0:40
  Speaker 2: the forest through your senses makes us feel better and calmer.
• 0:46
  Speaker 2: I was surprised to learn that there are decades of
• 0:49
  Speaker 2: scientific evidence backing that up. A lot of the evidence
• 0:52
  Speaker 2: comes from Japan, where the term forest bathing originated in
• 0:55
  Speaker 2: the nineteen eighties. Over many years, researchers have shown in
• 0:59
  Speaker 2: peer reviewed study is that time in the forest is
• 1:01
  Speaker 2: a kind of medicine. Forest beeding helps your immune system
• 1:05
  Speaker 2: by increasing your levels of anti cancer proteins and immune
• 1:08
  Speaker 2: cells that kill tumors. It's been shown to lower blood
• 1:11
  Speaker 2: pressure and stabilize blood sugar. It can help with depression,
• 1:16
  Speaker 2: it can lower adrenaline and turn down the dial on
• 1:18
  Speaker 2: your body's fight or flight response.
• 1:20
  Speaker 3: What we could see in the data was that as
• 1:23
  Speaker 3: soon as somebody came into proximity of a tree and
• 1:26
  Speaker 3: they were just present a mindful paying attention and appreciating
• 1:31
  Speaker 3: the tray that they're basically, their parasympathetic activity, which is
• 1:35
  Speaker 3: the relaxation response in the body, was increased.
• 1:40
  Speaker 1: I know all of that from spending time with trees.
• 1:43
  Speaker 2: On this episode of Life Kit, we will talk about
• 1:46
  Speaker 2: how to forest be, using the research as our guide
• 1:48
  Speaker 2: to what works, and we'll share some exercises to get
• 1:51
  Speaker 2: you started. Feel free to head outside to listen to
• 1:54
  Speaker 2: this one. If like me, you're wondering why forests are
• 2:03
  Speaker 2: so good for our health, there's an evolutionary hypothesis for this,
• 2:07
  Speaker 2: simply put from much of human history, we lived in nature.
• 2:10
  Speaker 1: So the thinking is because we evolved in nature.
• 2:13
  Speaker 4: We have a biological need to connect with the nature.
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  Speaker 2: So we love nature because we learned to love the
• 2:20
  Speaker 2: things that have helped us survive. That's doctor ching Lee,
• 2:23
  Speaker 2: by the way. He's a professor at Nipon Medical School
• 2:26
  Speaker 2: in Tokyo and the president of the Japanese Society of
• 2:29
  Speaker 2: Forest Medicine. He's designed and carried out a lot of
• 2:33
  Speaker 2: Japan's research on forest bathing. Another expert you'll hear from
• 2:37
  Speaker 2: in this episode is Gary Evans, director of the Forest
• 2:40
  Speaker 2: Bathing Institute in the UK, which was heavily inspired by
• 2:43
  Speaker 2: doctor Lee's work. Gary says, at this point, we can
• 2:46
  Speaker 2: survive without exposure to nature and forests specifically.
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  Speaker 3: But there's a difference between surviving and thriving.
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  Speaker 2: All right, let's get thriving. We're going to start with
• 2:56
  Speaker 2: some forest bathing basics. Gary says, a lot of the
• 2:59
  Speaker 2: time when we head to the woods or a hiking trail,
• 3:02
  Speaker 2: nature is a backdrop, you know, it's secondary.
• 3:05
  Speaker 3: So we might be walking and talking with a friend, running, cycling,
• 3:09
  Speaker 3: horse riding.
• 3:10
  Speaker 2: But he says, if you want to get all the
• 3:12
  Speaker 2: benefits of forest bathing, your primary focus should be connecting
• 3:16
  Speaker 2: with nature. So take away one really let yourself.
• 3:20
  Speaker 1: Bathe in the forest.
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  Speaker 2: It's kind of like bathing in your tub. You're there
• 3:23
  Speaker 2: to relax and dwell in the experience.
• 3:26
  Speaker 3: I'm going to go to the path, I'm going to
• 3:28
  Speaker 3: go to the forest, and I'm going to appreciate the
• 3:31
  Speaker 3: natural beauty, So that's the first thing set the intention.
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  Speaker 2: Ideally, you can also set aside an entire morning or
• 3:39
  Speaker 2: afternoon for this, because.
• 3:41
  Speaker 3: The important thing for people listening to remember is that
• 3:43
  Speaker 3: relaxation is not like an on off switch.
• 3:45
  Speaker 2: As for how much time, doctor Lee suggests two to
• 3:48
  Speaker 2: six hours.
• 3:50
  Speaker 4: The loger is the better, the locker is more.
• 3:54
  Speaker 2: In fact, his research shows that the health benefits can
• 3:57
  Speaker 2: last for as long as thirty days, so aim to
• 3:59
  Speaker 2: do this once a month, or maybe more often if
• 4:02
  Speaker 2: your sessions are.
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  Speaker 3: Short, so you can build up the dice.
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  Speaker 2: Now, let's talk for a minute about location. A nice
• 4:07
  Speaker 2: patch of forest or woods is best, but if you
• 4:10
  Speaker 2: don't have one nearby, you could get some of the
• 4:12
  Speaker 2: same benefits from a city park if it has a
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  Speaker 2: lot of trees and quiet spaces.
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  Speaker 3: So if you'll have one day to reach the safety park,
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  Speaker 3: you also can get to beny face are effect.
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  Speaker 2: But he says the effects will be smaller. Lastly, before
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  Speaker 2: you enter the forest, do some basic wilderness prep. This
• 4:32
  Speaker 2: is not an exhaustive list, but that can include sunscreen,
• 4:35
  Speaker 2: which you should be wearing every day anyway. Also, bug
• 4:38
  Speaker 2: spray and long pants to protect you from ticks and
• 4:41
  Speaker 2: plants that'll give you a rash, and check the weather
• 4:44
  Speaker 2: ahead of time make sure it's safe to venture out. Also,
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  Speaker 2: remember to stay on the marked trails and check yourself
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  Speaker 2: for ticks after too, if those are a problem in
• 4:52
  Speaker 2: your area. All right, so we're into the woods. Next up,
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  Speaker 2: take away too, slow down and disconnect. Your forest bathing
• 5:00
  Speaker 2: session is a good time to sit, or to walk,
• 5:04
  Speaker 2: or to do some gentle yoga or tie chi. It's
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  Speaker 2: not the time to squeeze in your hardcore cardio for
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  Speaker 2: the week.
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  Speaker 3: So the next difference between normal activities and forest bathing
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  Speaker 3: is that we're going to move very slowly in forest bathing,
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  Speaker 3: and we want to reduce the heart right.
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  Speaker 2: Also, doctor Lie says if you tire yourself out physically.
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  Speaker 4: Your tying this.
• 5:25
  Speaker 3: To you fucked up for a pating.
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  Speaker 2: So when you get to the forest or the park,
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  Speaker 2: maybe you walk a little bit and then find a
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  Speaker 2: spot that speaks to you. Could be a clearing in
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  Speaker 2: the woods surrounded by a bunch of tall trees, or
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  Speaker 2: a spot where a tree has grown into a curved
• 5:37
  Speaker 2: sheep that looks suspiciously like a seat. If it feels
• 5:41
  Speaker 2: beautiful and resonant to you. That's what matters. Now sit down.
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  Speaker 3: And then just be present with the environment and leave
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  Speaker 3: the phone alone.
• 5:49
  Speaker 2: We'll have more life kit after the break. All right,
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  Speaker 2: you're settled in, your phone is turned off or at
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  Speaker 2: least put away.
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  Speaker 1: It's time to engage your senses.
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  Speaker 3: The site here, smell, I've touched.
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  Speaker 2: We're going to start with smell and inhalation because doctor
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  Speaker 2: Lee says, based on his research, many of the benefits
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  Speaker 2: of forest bathing come when we inhale the chemicals that
• 6:13
  Speaker 2: trees release into the air. They're called phyton sides, and
• 6:17
  Speaker 2: when we breathe them in they on their own can
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: do things like reduce our stress hormones and increase our
• 6:22
  Speaker 2: levels of anti cancer proteins. Doctor Lee has done experiments
• 6:26
  Speaker 2: on this. His team ordered these special concentrated essential oils
• 6:30
  Speaker 2: made from Japanese cypress trees and then pumped them into
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  Speaker 2: the hotel rooms of test subjects using a diffuser. The
• 6:36
  Speaker 2: people staying in those rooms saw many of the same
• 6:39
  Speaker 2: health benefits as the ones who did a forest bathing session,
• 6:41
  Speaker 2: just to a lesser extent. So as a side note,
• 6:44
  Speaker 2: if you can't make it to a forest. Doctor Lee
• 6:47
  Speaker 2: says you could get some of the benefits by diffusing
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  Speaker 2: tree based essential oils at home.
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  Speaker 1: But yeah, take away three is to breathe.
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  Speaker 2: It all in and ask yourself, what do I smell behind?
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  Speaker 2: Each smell in the forest is an exquisite, wondrous fact.
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  Speaker 2: For instance, the flowers on trees emit a fragrance so
• 7:07
  Speaker 2: they can attract bees with the promise of food.
• 7:09
  Speaker 1: That's packed with energy.
• 7:11
  Speaker 2: According to researchers at the University of Tel Aviv, a
• 7:14
  Speaker 2: plant called the evening primrose will actually pump up the
• 7:17
  Speaker 2: concentration of sugar in its nectar when bees are buzzing nearby.
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  Speaker 1: I learned that from a.
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  Speaker 2: Book called Forest Walking Discovering the Trees and Woodlands of
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  Speaker 2: North America, written by Peter Vohdebein and translated by Jane Billinghurst.
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  Speaker 2: I also learned that the earthy smell underfoot in the forest,
• 7:34
  Speaker 2: the one that makes you feel like, hell, yeah, I'm
• 7:36
  Speaker 2: in nature, That comes from insects, bacteria, and fungi breaking
• 7:40
  Speaker 2: down leaves and rotten wood, and that process.
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  Speaker 1: Will enrich the soil with nutrients.
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  Speaker 2: So the advice here notice what you smell and maybe
• 7:50
  Speaker 2: later follow your curiosity to learn more. You can also
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  Speaker 2: try some breathing exercises because there's a big mindfulness component
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  Speaker 2: to forest bathing in addition to be a forest bathing
• 8:00
  Speaker 2: researcher Gary is a yoga and mindfulness teacher, and he
• 8:04
  Speaker 2: says the practice of meditation started outdoors.
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  Speaker 3: Buddha had his awakening underneath a tree. No come incidents
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  Speaker 3: that the trees were there right at the start of this.
• 8:15
  Speaker 2: So here's an exercise to try as you're sitting among
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  Speaker 2: the trees.
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  Speaker 3: So if you inhale for count of one, two, and
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  Speaker 3: then you exhale for double the length of time, so
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  Speaker 3: it's one, two, three, four, and so you keep that going,
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  Speaker 3: inhiling for two, exhiling for four. When the exhale is
• 8:36
  Speaker 3: slower than the inhale, it sends a physiological message to
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  Speaker 3: your body, I'm safe, I can relax, it's okay.
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  Speaker 2: This breathing exercise has been shown to have benefits on
• 8:48
  Speaker 2: its own outside of the forest environment. The reason to
• 8:51
  Speaker 2: do it in the forest is to allow yourself to relax.
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  Speaker 3: What happens on the physiological level is when a parasympathetic
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  Speaker 3: fires up and we slow down. Nature comes into sharper focus.
• 9:04
  Speaker 3: So there's a change of perception and.
• 9:06
  Speaker 2: It gets easier to notice things sounds, colors, textures, And
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  Speaker 2: that's takeaway four. Engage your other senses. Listen for the
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  Speaker 2: rustling of chipmunks, the gurgling of a creek, the groan
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  Speaker 2: of branches in the wind. And notice the colors. Bright
• 9:22
  Speaker 2: red leaves exploding from trees, light green ferns creating a
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  Speaker 2: canopy cover for the ground. When you observe nature, that
• 9:31
  Speaker 2: can slow down your fight or flight response and lower
• 9:34
  Speaker 2: the levels of stress hormones in your body.
• 9:36
  Speaker 1: You can also take this moment to touch some stuff.
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  Speaker 2: No, no, no, not the poison ivy. You know what, Why
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  Speaker 2: don't we start with the tree? Go ahead and feel
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  Speaker 2: its bark. Is it rough or smooth? Does it have
• 9:46
  Speaker 2: any scars from old branches. Another sense you can use
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  Speaker 2: in the forest is taste. I mean, you have to
• 9:53
  Speaker 2: be careful, don't just pick up a mushroom and start
• 9:55
  Speaker 2: eating it. But if you learn about plants and foraging,
• 9:58
  Speaker 2: you can add that to your or bathing practice. You
• 10:01
  Speaker 2: can also buy teas and tinctures from trained herbalists in
• 10:04
  Speaker 2: your community and then bring them to the forest with you.
• 10:08
  Speaker 2: Lucretia van Dyke is an herbalist, a ceremonialist, an author
• 10:11
  Speaker 2: of the book African American Herbalism, A Practical Guide to
• 10:15
  Speaker 2: Healing Plants and Folk Traditions.
• 10:17
  Speaker 4: I always laugh, I'm like, at this point in my life,
• 10:19
  Speaker 4: I'm so into erbalism that if you can't talk about plants,
• 10:22
  Speaker 4: I don't really know what to talk about anymore.
• 10:24
  Speaker 1: One of her favorite trees is the mimosa tree, what.
• 10:27
  Speaker 4: Has these Doctor Seuss like pink flowers on it.
• 10:31
  Speaker 2: Also, herbalists use the flowers to help people work through grief.
• 10:35
  Speaker 2: So sometimes she'll take a couple drops of a mimosa
• 10:38
  Speaker 2: tincture in her mouth.
• 10:39
  Speaker 4: And then I go sit with the plant and I
• 10:41
  Speaker 4: hold the flowers, and I'm like laying there with the
• 10:44
  Speaker 4: plant and staring at it and all it becomes like
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  Speaker 4: this full circle.
• 10:49
  Speaker 2: Thing that brings us to take away five, go deeper,
• 10:53
  Speaker 2: work with the forest to process what you're going through.
• 10:56
  Speaker 2: Gary says, you can see nature as a mirror.
• 11:00
  Speaker 3: Depending on what's happening in your emotional world. Quite often
• 11:03
  Speaker 3: when we look at nature, the forest, it sends something
• 11:08
  Speaker 3: back to us to help us make sense of what's
• 11:11
  Speaker 3: going on in their life.
• 11:13
  Speaker 2: The forest Bathing Institute, which he runs, leads group trips
• 11:16
  Speaker 2: to forests in the UK and around the world, and
• 11:19
  Speaker 2: people have told him that forest bathing helped them work
• 11:22
  Speaker 2: through grief.
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  Speaker 3: Actually, a number of them that come on our sessions
• 11:26
  Speaker 3: have found that it's been very helpful to go into
• 11:28
  Speaker 3: the forest and see the natural cycle of life. Somehow
• 11:32
  Speaker 3: it's enabled them to reconcile what's happened in the forest.
• 11:37
  Speaker 2: Dead trees provide homes for woodpeckers and owls, and when
• 11:41
  Speaker 2: they fall down they become hiding spots for frogs and
• 11:44
  Speaker 2: other creatures, and they provide a space for mushrooms and
• 11:47
  Speaker 2: moss to grow. In death, they support life. Another metaphor,
• 11:53
  Speaker 2: think about how trees communicate with each other through their
• 11:55
  Speaker 2: network of roots underground. It's a stark contrast with how
• 11:59
  Speaker 2: isolated many of.
• 12:00
  Speaker 1: Us feel these days. Lucretia shared this exercise.
• 12:03
  Speaker 4: So a beautiful practice, I feel like is imagine how
• 12:07
  Speaker 4: all these roots are touching and watering each other. And
• 12:11
  Speaker 4: if we need to to, like imagine, you know, even
• 12:14
  Speaker 4: energetically like my family lives in North Carolina and I'm
• 12:17
  Speaker 4: in Louisiana, so energetically like, you know, when I imagine
• 12:23
  Speaker 4: that tree and touching that tree, I can imagine myself
• 12:27
  Speaker 4: and my spirit being at home with them.
• 12:30
  Speaker 2: And if you want to try something a little more
• 12:31
  Speaker 2: spiritual while you sit in the forest, ask a tree
• 12:35
  Speaker 2: or a plant to tell you about what medicine it holds.
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  Speaker 4: You know, let me feel you know your medicine. Let
• 12:42
  Speaker 4: me understand your medicine, because it's a lot how the
• 12:46
  Speaker 4: original people did it. It's not like they had a
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  Speaker 4: book way way way back in the day that told
• 12:52
  Speaker 4: them this plant does this, this plant does that.
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  Speaker 2: And then you can always compare what you imagine to
• 12:57
  Speaker 2: a book. When you spend time in nature and around trees,
• 13:01
  Speaker 2: that can also be an opportunity to think about the
• 13:03
  Speaker 2: folks who came before you, whether that's deep in the
• 13:06
  Speaker 2: forest or even in your neighborhood. Lucretia told me about
• 13:09
  Speaker 2: the Tremee district of New Orleans, known for being among
• 13:12
  Speaker 2: the oldest African American neighborhoods in the country.
• 13:15
  Speaker 4: And it has been you know, cut in half by
• 13:18
  Speaker 4: a highway, and it's also been you know, very gentrified.
• 13:23
  Speaker 2: She likes to look at the neighborhood's oak trees draped
• 13:26
  Speaker 2: with Spanish moss and imagine what have they seen.
• 13:30
  Speaker 4: I tried to imagine, like the old creole neighborhoods, and
• 13:35
  Speaker 4: how you know, people of color came together and watched
• 13:40
  Speaker 4: each other's children and built what is now revered today
• 13:44
  Speaker 4: as the birthplace of jazz. Like those trees. Have heard
• 13:48
  Speaker 4: some of the original jazz grats.
• 13:50
  Speaker 2: Ever, she thinks of generations of kids playing and families
• 13:54
  Speaker 2: sprawled out under the trees.
• 13:56
  Speaker 4: It puts me in old New Orleans and in those
• 14:01
  Speaker 4: old community moments that don't exist, or they exist in
• 14:05
  Speaker 4: a new way.
• 14:07
  Speaker 2: I'm sensing a parallel here, right. Trees bring people together.
• 14:11
  Speaker 2: We sit under them in the shade and picnic. We
• 14:13
  Speaker 2: gather around them and harvest their fruit. But they're in
• 14:16
  Speaker 2: community with each other too, the young and the old,
• 14:19
  Speaker 2: propping each other up and sending each other nutrients through
• 14:22
  Speaker 2: their networks of roots. There's just so much wisdom that
• 14:26
  Speaker 2: trees and plants hold for us.
• 14:28
  Speaker 1: When we pay attention all right time for a recap.
• 14:34
  Speaker 2: If you want a forest bathe go to a place
• 14:36
  Speaker 2: that has a lot of trees with the intention of
• 14:38
  Speaker 2: appreciating and focusing on nature.
• 14:40
  Speaker 1: The trees shouldn't just be a.
• 14:41
  Speaker 2: Backdrop to some other activity. Go slowly, take it easy.
• 14:46
  Speaker 2: This isn't about doing heavy cardio. It's about slowing down
• 14:49
  Speaker 2: your heart rate and getting to a calm place where
• 14:51
  Speaker 2: you can start to see the wisdom that nature offers.
• 14:54
  Speaker 2: You can also try some simple breathing exercises, slow yoga
• 14:58
  Speaker 2: or tai chi, or do meditation exercises that use the
• 15:02
  Speaker 2: metaphors the forest provides. On that note, Lucretia is going
• 15:06
  Speaker 2: to walk us through one more forest meditation. Settle down
• 15:10
  Speaker 2: next to a tree and take some deep belly breaths.
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  Speaker 4: I like for people to imagine your legs being like
• 15:20
  Speaker 4: old tree trunk roots that root you deep in the
• 15:24
  Speaker 4: ground like the tree. So when I take a deep breath,
• 15:27
  Speaker 4: I imagine the energy and love from our ancestors or from
• 15:32
  Speaker 4: Mother Nature, coming up those large roots into your legs,
• 15:37
  Speaker 4: into your abdomen, belly expanding. And then as you exhale,
• 15:42
  Speaker 4: sometimes I do a practice of shedding the things that
• 15:46
  Speaker 4: no longer serve me, shaking off the day.
• 15:52
  Speaker 2: And then she exhales and says a prayer of gratitude
• 15:55
  Speaker 2: to Mother Nature. This episode of Life Kit was produced
• 15:59
  Speaker 2: by Marie Schneider. Our digital editor is Malica Garib and
• 16:03
  Speaker 2: Our visuals editor is c. J. Riklan, Megan Kane is
• 16:06
  Speaker 2: our senior supervising editor, and Beth Donovan is our executive producer.
• 16:10
  Speaker 2: Our production team also includes Andy Tagle, Margaret Serino, and
• 16:13
  Speaker 2: Sylvie Douglas. Engineering support comes from Tiffany Barcastro and Becky Brown.
• 16:18
  Speaker 1: I'm Mariel Sagarra. Thanks for listening.