Forest Bathing summary

Think back to all the times you’ve responded to stress by stepping out for some fresh air. Like many who do this, you were likely motivated by instinct. Similarly, Japanese forest bathing in the eighties was driven by an intuitive belief in the positive effects of nature. At the time, and for many years after, there wasn’t much hard research on the benefits of forest bathing.

But this started to change in 2004 when the author collaborated with Japanese government agencies and academics to establish the Forest Therapy Study Group. The group aimed to understand the connection between trees and human health, and they conducted the very first forest-bathing experiment in 2005. Since then, various studies have demonstrated that forest bathing not only improves your mood and quality of sleep but also strengthens your immune system.

Now that you know exactly how and why forest bathing is good for your health, you’re probably wondering how to reap the benefits.

The great news is that you don’t need acres of forest in your backyard. You can forest bathe anywhere there are trees, from a nature reserve to a city park, and even your garden. The trick is to choose the environment you find most relaxing. If you enjoy the sound of running water, or the scent of damp soil, seek that out.

Think about this scenario for a moment: you order something from a restaurant menu, and when your meal arrives, it looks and smells incredible! You can see that a lot of thought went into presenting it and the aroma is mouthwatering. But, of course, to really enjoy the meal, you have to dig in and savor the textures and flavors.

What does this have to do with forest bathing? Well, a similar approach is necessary to enjoy the full benefits of being in nature. Listening, inhaling the scents, and looking isn’t enough. You have to get up close and personal.

In an ideal world, you could spend an hour or two forest bathing whenever you feel like it. However, the reality of work, family commitments, and life in general can make it difficult to head to a forest or park on a whim.

But this doesn’t mean that you have to miss out completely on the benefits. There are several things you can do to ensure that you’re always around nature and its healing and relaxing power. To paraphrase a well known saying: if you can’t go to the forest, make the forest come to you.

There are some fascinating statistics about the world’s forests! About 30 percent of the earth’s land is covered in forests, and 300 million people call forests home. A further 1.6 billion people rely on forests to survive.

Now, keeping these numbers in mind, consider this sobering fact: the world loses over 32 million acres of forest each year.