Skogluft (Forest Air). Jorn Viumdal

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СКАЧАТЬ and breathe fresh air every time the air indoors becomes too dry or stuffy. We soldier on and carry out the everyday tasks demanded of us. Because we feel we must.

      Please, I am not suggesting that we don’t use willpower. Don’t ever just sit down and give up (or fall asleep under your desk—that would not do). But imagine that the first thing you felt when you entered a room at work or at home was not “Oh no, not another day in this place,” but instead “I really look forward to getting started!”

      Did you notice that? I wrote about what you felt when you entered a room. Whether your energy arrow points up or down is not a matter of personal choice. Even before you start consciously thinking, “Hmmm, the lighting is rather dim here,” or “The air is so stuffy,” or even that it’s too crowded or sparse, your body has already been paying attention and has made up its mind.

      SPACE DRAIN

      Your body is wise. Evolution has honed your senses into a razor-sharp analytical tool that needs just a fraction of a second to deliver an assessment of a situation. The forceful assessment “Get out of here” is still useful after millions of years of dodging predators and environmental hazards, but this course of action might not be a realistic alternative if the assessment comes in the middle of, say, delivering a PowerPoint presentation, negotiating a contract, or working through the umpteenth pile of laundry as a caregiver. But the fact that there are no obvious dangers present doesn’t mean that your body isn’t sensing something detrimental to your health. When the “fight or flight” response kicks in, being responsible bosses and coworkers and caregivers, we suck it up and pull on our energy reserves. Whether we want to or not, whether we feel “right” about being in whatever kind of environment is triggering the body’s response, we have to summon our last resources. Day in and day out.

      Suppose we didn’t have to pay this price. Suppose we were spared from making this kind of effort (just to accomplish mundane tasks at home or at work, much less to do what we dearly would like to do). Imagine feeling that your workplace or your home rejuvenates you. Imagine that your senses are reassuring you that you are in a safe, healthy place. You would have plenty of energy for living the life you want to lead. For your interests. Your job. Your children. Your friends.

      FACT: THE ENERGIZER BUNNY IS NOT A REAL PERSON

      There must be a better analogy for our energy levels than rechargeable batteries. When I hear people talk about “recharging” themselves, I’m reminded of the old joke about the miser who kept running in and out of his house carrying an empty sack. Why? To save money he had built his house without windows, and now he had to gather enough sunlight for the evening! As any schoolchild knows, you can’t store sunlight in a sack. Likewise, you also can’t run out and gather up some energy from nature, store it, and portion it out to suit your needs—especially not if you find yourself in surroundings that drain you of energy.

      We just have to admit that the term “recharging” isn’t accurate. Worse, it’s misleading. People don’t have anything like batteries for storing energy, so when we use that expression we’re actually making unreasonable demands of ourselves. The energizing, healthful effect we get from walking out in nature doesn’t last very long, and it cannot be stored in the form of a sort of dividend that can be paid out later. But are there positive effects to be gained from taking regular walks in nature—and, specifically, the forest?

      I’ve been in the business of improving workplaces and homes for thirty years; time and again, I’ve seen that we need to “top up” our supply of nature every day, 24/7, in order to give our best, and, most of all, to feel healthy. And there is scientific research to prove this, as you will see. Scientists and researchers have documented a score of specific and measurable physical and mental health benefits from being out in nature. Walking along forest paths, breathing in forest air, and seeing the dappled play of light among the leaves definitely does a body good. However, the problem—which led me to develop the Forest Air method—is that this restorative energy cannot be stored and used later.

      Because our bodies don’t act like a battery, we tend to be like the miser, scurrying in and out of our homes and workplaces hoping to capture some life-giving rays.

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      A DEEP DIVE INTO FOREST BATHING

      For years, Japan’s national health service has been encouraging people to indulge in shinrin-yoku, “forest bathing.” I love how the word evokes humans diving into the bushes and splashing about among the leaves, but shinrin-yoku simply means going for a walk in the woods (just as many Norwegians do!). The purpose of shinrin-yoku is not to lose weight or to get a stamp in your passport or to rack up steps on your Fitbit. (Although all of these, of course, can be part of a bath in the forest.) Instead, the walk should be short and leisurely; exercise is not the main aim. The ancient Romans instinctively turned to nature to feel better. The Norwegians have made a national pastime out of walking in nature. Immersing oneself in the atmosphere of the forest has become an integral part of preventive care and healing in Japanese medicine. What is it the Japanese know that the rest of the world doesn’t?

      The unmistakable fragrance of a stand of evergreen trees is representative of the fact that all plants exude fleeting organic compounds called phytoncides, which are used not only as a defense against enemies, but also as a way to communicate with other plants of the same species. These compounds, such as the pinenes and limonenes of evergreens, form an aromatic cocktail that is regarded by the Japanese as highly beneficial for health. Immersing oneself in a forest doesn’t just feel calming and restorative; since 2004, researchers in Japan have investigated the effect plants have on health and well-being. Lower blood pressure and anxiety, less irritation and anger, and a strengthening of the immune system were found to be, literally, a walk in the park.¹

      Even in the sterile environment of a research lab, far from a forest, health benefits were noted. Experiments showed that just a photograph of a restful nature scene conveying shinrin-yoku was enough to cause a drop in blood pressure. Just the scent of certain ethereal oils from forest plants caused a greater drop in blood pressure than other smells. And just touching a natural material like an oak plank had the same effect—an effect that was not demonstrated when this same material was coated with a layer of paint.

      Experiments were also conducted in the open air. In Chiba, Japan, a control group took a bracing stroll around the city’s railway station, while another group walked for twenty minutes in an oak forest in one of the city’s parks. The physiological and mental responses of both groups were then tested. The forest group not only showed clear signs of heightened cerebral activity but exhibited improved concentration. The forest group also had a lower count of cortisol compared to the control group. Cortisol is known as the “stress hormone” for good reason, as a high level of cortisol is one of the signatures of elevated stress. A short walk among the trees was all that was required to lower the concentration of this hormone—to de-stress.

      Another of these experiments, carried out in 2010, tested the nervous systems of participants who were split into two groups, one walking in the forest and one walking through a built-up urban environment. The forest group had lower levels of cortisol, lower pulse rates, reduced blood pressure, an increase in the activity of the parasympathetic nervous system, and a reduction in the activity of the sympathetic nervous system. These last two results were particularly exciting for me to see.

      Remember learning about the nervous system in biology class? The sympathetic nervous system is the part of the autonomic nervous system that enables us to react swiftly to dangerous situations (the “fight or flight” response), while the parasympathetic nervous system is what calms us down when the danger has passed. So elevated levels of activity in the sympathetic nervous system means that you are prepared and ready for conflict. Our ancestors had to deal СКАЧАТЬ