Experts tell how to overcome this disease.
This method of dealing with stress and depression came to us from Japan, where it is called Shinrin-yoku (shinrin-yoku).
Many of us complain about stress, which seems to be omnipresent and ineradicable. How to deal with it? Recently in developed Western countries it is effectively to confront the “forest bath”. This method of dealing with stress and depression came to us from Japan, where it is called Shinrin-yoku (shinrin-yoku).
Modern people are rarely in nature. A large part of their life they spend in the room. For example, Americans 87% of their time in an enclosed space, and another 6% of the time – in cars, buses or subway. If we consider heavy loads at work, it is not surprising that almost all people in one way or another under stress.
There are many methods of dealing with stress. One of them was created by the Japanese. It’s called the “forest bath”.
That nature has a positive effect on the individual’s psychological state known for a very long time. No wonder that after many of the resorts surrounded by parks and forests. When you walk among the trees, feel how you recover your power as a new energy, and again want to do what you love. Such is the power of nature.
But only the Japanese managed to officially recognize a beneficial effect on the human tree. They came up with medical therapy is Shinrin-yoku, which means “forest bath” or “bathing in the woods.” For “bathing in the forest” will need soap and a towel. Just need to walk through the woods, to feel the unity with nature and to enjoy it.
The term “Shinrin-yoku” has appeared relatively recently. In 1982 generated the Ministry of agriculture, lands, forestry and fisheries of Japan to describe the practice of improving physiological and psychological health of a person using sounds, smells and images of nature. In 2004, Japan has its Association of therapeutic effects of forest, and in 2007 the Japanese society of forest medicine. Similar organizations were later established in Europe, for example, in Finland, where in General much attention is paid to the interaction of man with nature.
Western countries, including European countries, already took a lot from the medical traditions of the Far East and Asia. Think about yoga and meditation that we came from the East. Now it is the turn of Shinrin-yoku.
Shinrin-yoku is different from the usual hikes or excursions into the woods. This practice focuses on the therapeutic aspects of nature. And its effects have been officially confirmed.
According to the research of Japanese scientists from the University of Chiba, which was conducted in 24 forests across Japan, 20-minute “forest bath”, i.e. a short walk through the woods, greatly reduces the human body’s level of cortisol (stress hormone) by 15%, and also reduces blood pressure by 1.9% and pulse rate of 3.9%. This experiment was conducted in 2005-2006. It was attended by more than 1 million people, whose average age was 21 years.
In the United States and Finland (e.g. University of Pennsylvania) also studied how the nature and the forest in particular, improves psychological health. The results showed that, indeed, the “forest bath” reduce anxiety and depression.
For example, according to the study by researchers from Stanford University, a 90-minute walk through the woods reduces neural activity in the prefrontal cortex of the brain responsible for negative emotions. This means that the man in the woods experiencing positive emotions, he lifted the mood. Perhaps this is the explanation of why urbanization leads to an increase in mental illness.
A unique wonder of nature: the mysterious crooked forest (Photo)
The use of “forest bath” is not only to improve psychological health. Scientists from the Japanese medical school in Tokyo proved that Shinrin-yoku has a positive effect on the human immune system. In particular, a 3-day trip to the forest by 50% increases the activity of leukocytes (immune system cells).
In 1998, Japanese scientists found that the “forest bath” effectively lower glucose levels in people with diabetes. This experiment involved several dozen volunteers with diabetes. They made regular trips through the woods, which lasted approximately one hour.
In these countries there are specially prepared routes for walks in the forest. Doctors refer to these walks of patients in need of Shinrin-yoku. By the way, the methods of “forest therapy” is not only integrated into the Japanese and South Korean medicine, but also covered by insurance.
Scientists are trying to explain this positive effect of “forest bath”, but has not yet come to a consensus. Thus, some scientists believe that the beneficial effects of walking in forest occurs because of the volatile. These anti-microbial organic matter produce plants. When a person breathes in the forest, his body is filled with volatile, because of what he relaxes and feels calm and peaceful. The theory, of course, interesting, but it is in our opinion hardly true. Why? The fact that the concentration of volatile in nature are very small, it is clearly insufficient to have that effect.
Another theory is that in front of nature and space a person experiences awe and even fear, that makes him a calming effect. This theory is supported by several scientific studies, but personally we do not really believe.
The exact mechanisms of the effects of Shinrin-yoku in human is still not known. However, this practice gets more and more popular all over the world. In the US, for example, there is the Association of nature and forest therapy which offers special routes for “forest bath”. Participants on these trips are collected in groups of 6-15 people, and then walk for three hours through the forest, passing through approximately one kilometer. The main thing – to enjoy nature!
The same psychological rehabilitation offered in Europe and also in New Zealand, South Africa and Canada. It is possible that soon the practice of Shinrin-yoku will appear in Ukraine. In the meantime, without any of the Japanese techniques for stress we can at the weekend just to go camping, or after work to go for a walk in the Park.
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