Stress, health and the case for nature ‘baths’

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What is it about being surrounded by the elements and growing things that makes us feel better?
Stressed? Scientists suggest nature bathing. And no, it doesn’t involve sitting in a bathtub outside — although that might work, too!

Nature bathing is an activity developed in the 1980s, originally in Japan, but increasingly promoted around the world. Called “Shinrinyoku” in Japanese, nature bathing is the practice of spending time outdoors with the goal of relaxing. While it may seem like common sense that spending time out in the fresh air improves one’s mood, there’s also been surprisingly extensive research on the topic showing just how beneficial nature can be.

In 2007, a research team spread across the world from Osaka, Japan, to Palo Alto, California, studied the effects of spending a couple hours a day in a forest or field. People in the study slowly walked around outside, taking in the sights, sounds and scents of the plants and wildlife around them. There were some pretty incredible results: Everyone’s levels of adrenaline and cortisol — hormones linked to stress — decreased dramatically over the three-day study. It was also discovered that the time in nature improved everyone’s immune systems, too. An important type of white blood cell, called the natural killer cell, which stops viruses from attacking our bodies and even stops tumors from growing, increased in number over the three days as well. Not only were the participants less stressed, but also they were a lot healthier, simply from being in the great outdoors.