Nature, with its healing properties to the mind and body, is gaining new momentum in recent years through the trending practice of the so-called forest bathing or forest therapy.
Although the habit of spending time in nature to heal from mental and physical ailments has been recorded by ancient writers and traditions in various cultures across the globe, latest scientific research has ratified it by attributing specific healing properties to forest ecosystems.
While the movement of forest bathing, originally named Shinrin-yoku, started as a response to the increasing urbanization in the 1980s, it seems that there is actually more to it than just a wellness trend.
Is forest bathing the new yoga?
The English term forest bathing was chosen to describe an immersion in nature; not just spending time in a forest environment, but also observing and consciously engaging within its ecosystem using all the senses.
Often likened to yoga and meditation for its mindful ways and grounding results, forest bathing produces results that extend beyond anti-stress and relaxation. Besides the long proven soothing effects of nature’s sounds and sights in general, the healing outcome of forest therapy in particular is also owed to the action of natural-deriving pharmacological compounds of the forest environment.
Now popular in the U.S. and some of the most nature-loving parts of Europe, such as Finland and Scotland, forest bathing was started by a government official in Japan in 1982 before it would spread to the rest of the world as a wellness movement.
Tomohide Akiyama, director of the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries at the time, put forward shinrin-yoku as a recognized practice, promoting its benefits to the public and establishing guidelines for its implementation.
Later critics argued that he had essentially intended to inspire the recently industrialized Japanese society to reconnect with nature and protect the forests, but Akiyama reportedly did base this new practice on several studies which suggested that forest bathing was therapeutically effective on humans.
Some forest air compounds, such as the volatile phytoncides, and essential oils that certain trees and plants emit, had already been associated with important beneficial health effects, which were again validated by more in-depth studies in recent years.
Forest therapy from antiquity to today
In a 1999 journal, the French Society of Human Ecology quotes the ancient Roman writer Pliny the Elderly with one of the first recorded attributions of physical healing properties to forest ecosystems.
Known as one of the first naturalists in human history, Pliny the Elderly was convinced that “the smell of the forest where peach and resin are collected [coniferous forests] is extremely salutary to the phthitics and to those who, after a long illness, have difficulty recovering.”
This ancient observation that the air of the forest can drastically improve physical health was eventually put in use almost two millennia later, when, in the early 20th century, dozens of hospitals for tuberculosis patients, known as sanatoria, were built in forestland across Europe.
In Germany, a complementary and alternative medicine practice was introduced by the visionary naturopath Sebastian Kneipp, which included exercise in the forest as a preventative and curative routine.
Though the mechanisms through which the forest environment has a positive impact on patients was not yet entirely understood, research has intensified since the emergence of shinrin-yoku.
Scientists have been trying to decipher how trees, and conifers in specific, promote human health on even more levels, thanks to the array of powerful molecules that they emit.
Healing properties of conifers scientifically validated
According to the U.S. Forest Service, forest bathing is today known to decrease stress, improve mood, benefit mental health, restore attention and reduce fatigue. Many of these effects are believed to be mainly due to the calming effect of the natural stimuli to the brain, from fractal visual patterns to scents and noises.
A 2022 umbrella review of studies on forest bathing observed an emotional, cognitive, and behavioral therapeutic interaction, thought to be rooted in the evolutionary history of mankind, as supported by the Biophilia Hypothesis.
Looking into the more tangible aspects of forest bathing in preventative medicine, a 2017 study confirmed that the forest environment “has a larger effect on lowering systolic blood pressure in people with high blood pressure and in middle-aged or older people compared with the non-forest environment,” thus lowering their mortality risk from cerebrovascular or ischemic heart disease.
It suggested, however, that repeated exposure to the forest environment may be needed to obtain long-term benefits.
In recent years, scientists have also started to focus their attention on the biological effects of terpenes and terpenoids, a major category of naturally occurring chemical compounds of conifer trees that present anti-inflammatory, anti-tumorigenic, and neuro-protective qualities.
Terpenes are among the major components of forest aerosols but their bioactive action is not yet fully explored.
A 2020 research concluded that terpenoids “are underestimated in their potential activities as geroprotectors,” or anti-ageing factors, and that they have “a great prospect to become a new class of anti-ageing drugs.”
In the meantime, and while immoderate interaction with large quantities of terpenoids – e.g. through lab-created essential oils – can prove toxic, spending often time in forests to allow our bodies to naturally soak up the compounds emitted by the plants around us is considered a safe way to benefit from them.
How to enjoy the benefits of forest therapy
The rise of forest therapy as a wellness trend beyond shinrin-yoku’s homeland of Japan created a need for a new sector of practitioners; certified forest bathing tour guides have emerged in the U.S. and Europe, and are often organized in official associations to facilitate public outreach and ensure safety.
This has caused some critics to complain about an alleged commercialization of nature connection, however having a forest bathing guide can provide significant reassurance to individuals who are not used to, or may feel uneasy in an unfamiliar natural environment.
“Get out to experience your national forests by slowing down and focusing on your sensory connections,” the Forest Service notes in an article. “It can unite you with your forests in profound ways that can’t be measured, and the experience can also drive a desire to lend a hand in caring for these lands.”
The Service advises anyone interested to try forest bathing to visit its volunteer page and find such opportunities, or call the nearest forest or grassland facilities to learn how to connect to your national forests.