How Nature Supports Our Mental and physical Health
Trees provide breathable air, timber, fuel, food, shelter, medicine and beauty. Without trees, we could not live. They can help us think better — Plato and Aristotle did their best thinking in the olive groves around Athens, Buddha found enlightenment beneath a bodhi tree, and Isaac Newton realised his theory of gravity when an apple fell from the tree under which he was sitting — and they can help us feel better.
I often take long walks in nature and I particularly like walking among trees. I went on an amazing walk the other day where there were some very large and very old Jew trees. I imagined putting my arms around the tree trunk of one of them, which of course would have been impossible because they must have been several metres in diameter. These trees were so incredibly tall, steady and strong and must have seen many people walk under their branches through the years. So, let’s go for a walk in the forest.
Tap into natures “heart chakra” – that green energy pulsating through the eco- system right now.
Put your shoes on, turn your phone off and head out there. Maybe even hug a tree! Did you know that hugging trees are really good for your health? Even if you don’t feel like hugging a tree, just take a moment and stand under a tree and touch the bark. I did just that on my walk the other day.
For thousands of years trees have been revered and appreciated for their powerful healing abilities, medicinal properties and their spiritual messages.
Trees have many lessons to teach us:
- The deeper our “roots” go, the more we are able to handle the challenges that come our way. Healthy, mature trees have roots that travel in all directions seeking water and nutrients.
- Don’t be afraid to let things go. Just as the tree sheds the leaves, we should also let go when we need to.
- Patience and adaptability are qualities that will take us far.
- Trees naturally seek light. We can follow their example and seek the Light of the world.
- Enjoy your unique natural beauty.
- Bend before you break.
During thousands of years, humans would have lived, worked and played in the forest, but with our urban lifestyle we have abandoned this beautiful connection, resulting causing a vast number of people’s physical and mental health to deteriorate.
Urban living can cause the sympathetic branch of the nervous system, which controls the well-known ‘fight or flight’ response, to be on constant high alert. Continuously high volumes of the stress hormone, cortisol, leads to physical problems such as high blood pressure and heart disease, as well as anxiety and depression.
The good news is that our nervous and immune systems can be calmed and restored by reconnecting with nature. Walking in the woods and observing the things around you and bringing awareness to the senses and simply just breathing in the clean, oxygen- infused air can do wonders for body, mind and soul.
Did you know?
Trees are actually filtering the air from toxins, leaving it especially clean and fresh, whilst also releasing chemicals known as phytoncides, which increase human NK (natural killer) cells, helping to fight off infection, viruses and tumours.
Forest Bathing
As you walk in the forest, be mindful about the landscape… Walk slowly, allow your eyes time to take in the colour palette, notice the different smells… Observe the patterns and shapes, even feel the textures… the rough bark… the soft green moss…There is no rush in the forest. Just calmness. Listen to the sweet sounds of the birds or the wind in the trees. We so often move through a landscape caught up in conversation or our own thoughts and hardly take stock of what’s around us, but if we bring awareness to the experience, we enter into the magical world of nature.
Natural healing and energy
Trees hold vast amounts of Earth energy (prana in yoga) that we can tap into and that can transform us. The vibration of trees resonates with a feeling of security, stability, and safety and is wonderful if we ever need a little pick me up or just to feel the connection with nature.
How to do Forest Bathing
• Turn off your devices to give yourself the best chance of relaxing, being mindful and enjoying a sensory forest-based experience.
• Slow down. Move through the forest slowly so you can see and feel more.
• Take long breaths deep into the abdomen. Extending the exhalation of air to twice the length of the inhalation sends a message to the body that it can relax.
• Stop, stand or sit, smell what’s around you, what can you smell?
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Take in your surroundings using all of your senses. How does the forest environment make you feel? Be observant, look at nature’s small details.
• Sit quietly using mindful observation; try to avoid thinking about your to-do list or issues related to daily life. You might be surprised by the number of wild forest inhabitants you see using this process.
• Keep your eyes open. The colours of nature are soothing, and studies have shown that people relax best while seeing greens and blues.
• Stay as long as you can, start with a comfortable time limit and build up to the recommended two hours for a complete forest bathing experience.