Shinrin-yoku Therapy for Anxiety and Depression…
Thursday, January 11, 2024.
Forest therapy, also known as forest bathing or shinrin-yoku in Japanese, is a deliberate practice that involves immersing oneself into a forest setting, for the directed purpose of improving one’s emotional, physical, and mental well-being.
Let’s clarify what Forest therapy is and isn’t.
While not exclusive of physical exercise or hiking in the woods; shinrin-yoku is not satisfied by mere exertion.
Forest bathing is an intentional practice essentially focused on immersion into the healing essence of nature.
It’s more than wishful thinking that mother nature transcends the purely physical, and provides a deep and abiding connection to a larger natural world.
We’ve also got 10 years worth of research that tells us that a walk in the woods will benefits your anxiety and depression.
It is based on the idea that spending time in natural surroundings and mindfully engaging with the environment can have positive effects on health.
Dr. Simone Grassini, the study’s author, said:
“These walks are an effective and simple method for something that a lot of people struggle with.”
Although the exact mechanism is unclear, nature exposure has been shown to reduce activity in the brain’s fear center, supporting the potential therapeutic effects of immersing yourself in a forest...
Dr. Grassini said:
“Studies carried out outdoors have shown that even short exposure to a forest environment leads to less activity in the in the brain’s fear center.”
Exposure to nature is consistently linked to mental health benefits.
How this meta-study from Norway was conducted
Dr Grassini conducted an extensive meta-analysis (a study of studies) over the last decade.
He focused on the studies in which study subjects grappling with anxiety and depression took woodland walks. They were carefully compared with control groups that did not do so.
6 studies met this meta-criteria, and all 6 studies reliably affirmed the therapeutic benefits of forest bathing in reducing anxiety and depression symptoms.
Why is shinrin-yoku effective?
Here’s what’s even more interesting. We know for sure there’s something to forest bathing…but we have no idea how it works… LOL.. perhaps we need to take a second look at the research that we do have on awe?
In other words, The precise pathway by which woodland walks are effective at reducing depression and anxiety is not yet understood:
Is it merely the activating principle of physical exercise?
Is there a soothing function that promotes tranquillity while forest bathing?
Could sitting under a tree, as opposed to walking through the trees convey similar benefits?
Or is some sacred synergy combined with the influence of exercise, novelty, and natural surroundings that yields these documented results?
As yet, we have not a clue…
However, being amidst nature can offer solace, reminding us of our place in a larger, meaningful framework, said philosopher Professor Solveig Bøe, commenting on the study:
“If we go back far enough in our biological evolutionary history, we’re related to everything that lives and has lived.
A philosopher that I’ve worked with for a while, Merleau-Ponty, argues that wherever there is life in nature, there is meaning.
This meaning resonates with us.”
Immersing ourselves in natural settings fosters a sense of connection and belonging to something larger, said Professor Bøe:
“Out in green spaces, surrounded by birdsong, the sound of running water, the smell of vegetation, we understand that we are part of something bigger.
It can do us good and help us to forget ourselves for a while.”
Amen to that… that’s why I live in the Berkshires.
Be well, stay kind and Godspeed.
REFERENCES:
Grassini S. A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of Nature Walk as an Intervention for Anxiety and Depression. Journal of Clinical Medicine. 2022; 11(6):1731. https://doi.org/10.3390/jcm11061731
