Shirin-yoku, literally translated to “forest bathing” refers to a practice where one “bathes” in the atmosphere of the forest. The sensory connection one forms with nature through sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch bridges the gap between humans and the natural world (Li, 2018). With the increase of urbanisation, and the tendency to stay indoors more, practicing forest bathing is studied to have beneficial effects of health. A study concluded that those who practiced forest bathing generally had lower pulse rates and had significantly improved scores in vigor, and decreased scores related to depression, anxiety, fatigue and confusion, based on a profile of mood states (POMS) test (Li et al., 2016). Plants in the forest also releases phytoncides, a molecule that reduces the level of stress when breathed in. Forest thus provide an important cultural service (remember ecosystem services?) that can be an escape from the busy urban life.
A comparative study of urban and forest environments have also shown that forests generally contain lower concentrations of gaseous air pollutants like NO, NO2, NOx, SO2, CO and O3 (Tsao et al., 2018). As such, a link can be drawn between forests environments and human health, whereby ambient air pollution carries negative effects to health. Whilst forest environments are found to be less exposed to pollutants, in recent times, the transport of such pollutants like ozone (as mentioned in previous posts) poses the threat of destroying plant life. If such trends were to continue, not only could forest environments gradually become equally as polluted as urban areas, its cultural services like forest bathing would also be affected. Thus it is important to understand and prevent further disruption and pollution of our natural environments.
References:
Li, Q. (2018, May 01). The Benefits of ‘Forest Bathing’. Retrieved October 29, 2020, from https://time.com/5259602/japanese-forest-bathing/
Li, Q., Kobayashi, M., Kumeda, S., Ochiai, T., Miura, T., Kagawa, T., . . . Kawada, T. (2016). Effects of forest bathing on cardiovascular and metabolic parameters in middle-aged males. Evidence-Based Complementary and Alternative Medicine, 2016, 2587381-7. doi:10.1155/2016/2587381
Tsao, T., Tsai, M., Hwang, J., Cheng, W., Wu, C., Chou, C. K., & Su, T. (2018). Health effects of a forest environment on natural killer cells in humans: An observational pilot study. Oncotarget, 9(23), 16501-16511. doi:10.18632/oncotarget.24741