Why Everyone Should Try Forest Bathing | Vogue
Photo courtesy of Vogue.
Our lives are humming with a tantalizing array of technology and distractions, and the space between humans and nature has become a chasm. Alyssa Benjamin, my guide from the forest walk who is also the host of a podcast called Our Nature, reminds me, “It’s brave to step towards this type of work. It goes against the rhythms of society and culture.”
The tree is cooler to the touch than I was expecting. I bring my nose to the bark and inhale deeply, squeezing my eyes tight to focus my attention. The scent is toasty, familiar. I place my hands on the rough surface and, much to my surprise, find myself murmuring “hello.” Elsewhere in the park, others are inspecting leaves closely, some are sitting quietly beneath trees, and one woman is smiling wide, staring up at the birds slicing across the sky. A bell chimes and we say our goodbyes, coming together to form an informal circle. A hushed, contented sort of wonder is upon us.
The reason for this admittedly odd behavior — odd, at least, in a city like Los Angeles on a Saturday in February during prime brunch hour, no less — is a Forest Therapy walk organized by Usal Project, an organization offering nature-based workshops and retreats in LA. Once we are all settled, Alyssa Benjamin, our kind-eyed facilitator guiding this experience, poses a simple question to the group: “What are you noticing?”
In its simplest of definitions, forest therapy is a mindful nature practice. In Japan, it was dubbed shinrin-yoku, meaning forest bathing, in the early 1980s. Around this time, people were leaving behind rural communities and settling in densely populated cities where they worked with computers and other new technologies. The economy boomed, but the health of the people began to decline. Drawing from a rich cultural history of nature reverence, the Japanese government began studying the health impact of spending time in the forest. They looked at physiological markers like blood pressure and heart rate, stress hormone levels, immune system response, and general feelings of wellbeing. The results were so promising that more than five dozen nature trails were designated throughout Japan as forest therapy bases.
Since then, studies have found that strolling in a greener environment yields lowered levels of cortisol, a decrease in sympathetic nerve — aka fight-or-flight — activity, lower blood pressure, and a slowed rate, not to mention better moods and lower anxiety. One particularly magical finding is that phytoncides, the aromatic organic compounds that trees emit — a.k.a the stuff that makes a forest smell so very good — boost our immune system. Phytoncides help protect trees from pests and pathogens, and, it so happens, protect us, too: When we breathe them in through the forest air, they increase the number of Natural Killer (NK) cells in our body.