When it comes to wellness, there’s plenty of buzz about doing what you love, finding your tribe, mindfulness, and living in the moment. We hear endless facts about diet and nutrition. We compare notes on the merits of crossfit, yoga, pilates, and spinning.
What we rarely discuss is a simple walk in the woods.
Yet trees - and by extension, forests - are indeed critical to our emotional, physical, and even spiritual well being.
Their purpose in our lives goes well beyond their acknowledged role in keeping the earth’s atmosphere healthy. As it turns out, the benefits of forests begins on an individual scale.
The Japanese (forerunners in many things health and wellness) call a walk in the woods ‘forest bathing’.
On a primal level, trees sustain us, they nourish us, they add depth and value and vibrancy to our human existence.
What humans have innately known for millennia, science is beginning to back up with hard facts.
organic compounds released by trees have been found to be anti-carcinogenic, improve circulation, decrease blood pressure, and boost immunity
those same compounds have antibiotic and anti-fungal effects
aerosols produced by trees prompt the release of endorphins, making you feel calm and happy
We’re only beginning to scratch the surface of the essential part the natural world plays in our wellness. This speaks volumes for keeping that world healthy, and safeguarding the parts of it that are green. We’re a microcosm of the macrocosm.
“The forest is our lungs. It cleans the atmosphere. It recycles water. It is our collective medicine cabinet. It is the regulatory system for our climate and feeds our oceans. It is the cooling mantle of the planet. It is our salvation. The tapestry of life, worldwide, depends on trees”.
Diana Beresford-Kroeger
A walk in the woods offers a port in the storm of a busy, competitive, plugged in world. It’s the most simple of resets. The magic of trees is hidden in plain sight, available to every one of us. So open your door, walk down your street, and bathe in the beauty that is October.
For more inspiration on trees, and how they define our humanity,
The Giving Tree, Shel Silverstein
The Education of Little Tree, Forrest Carter
The Hidden Life of Trees, Peter Wohlleben
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