Where thought goes…energy flows. Hence, it would seem logical, or at a minimum plausible, to imagine that when being in a forest or by a river, the current of thoughts is calmer and potentially more nourishing, or even healing. As opposed to when being in a hurried, hectic, or unsettling environment.

The concept that humans have a biological need to connect with nature has been called biophilia, from the Greek, meaning ‘love of life and the living world’. Because we evolved in nature, we have an inherent biological need to connect with it. Humans love nature because they learned to love the things that helped them to survive. Humans are genetically determined to love the natural world. It is in their DNA, and this affinity for the natural world is fundamental to their health. Regular contact with nature is as vital to our well-being as regular exercise, healthy rest, healthy relationships, and a healthy diet. It supports our level of awareness.

This concept was made popular by the American Biologist E.O. Wilson in 1984. ‘Our existence depends on this propensity, our spirit is woven from it, hope rises on its currents,’ wrote Wilson. We are ‘hard-wired’ to affiliate with the natural world – and just as our health improves when we are in it, so our health suffers when we are divorced and separated from it. In the 1980’s, the Japanese coined a term for the ancient practice and called it shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing.

Growing number of people living in cities

Across the world, more people live in cities than do not. Since the year 2000, humanity has officially become an urban species. According to the United Nations Population Division, the urban population worldwide grew from just 746 million in 1950 to 3.9 billion in 2014. It is projected that by the year 2050, about 75 % of the world’s projected 9 billion population will live in cities. For many people living in a city can be very exciting. Cities are full of energy, hustle, bustle, distraction and innovation. Depending on one’s abilities, living in cities though can also be very stressful.

In addition we as a species are also increasingly becoming an indoor species. Picture that the average American now spends 93% of their time indoors according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. Of that time 6% is spent in cars. Consider that within one week this makes for about ½ day spent outdoors. Europeans fare slightly better with spending about 90 % of their time indoors. Guess what most of us are doing while indoors? Right on, you guessed it - looking at screens. According to recent studies people in the United States spend up to ten hours and thirty-nine minutes in a day consuming media in one form or another.

The word ‘technostress’ which was coined In 1984, describes unhealthy behavior around new technology. It can be prompted by all manner of everyday usage, like feeling that you need to be continually connected, checking your phone constantly, compulsively sharing updates etc. The resulting symptoms run from anxiety, headaches, depression, mental fatigue, eye and neck strain to insomnia, frustration, irritability, and loss of temper.

Anxiety and depression cost the US $210 billion and the EU about 170 billion euros a year. The World Health Organization (WHO) calls stress the health epidemic of the twenty-first century. And finding ways to manage stress – not just for our own health but for the health of our communities, at home and in the workplace – is the most significant health challenge of the future.

Healing natural environments

Natural environments provide powerful and effective remedies. The only prerequisite is for you to dedicate spending “quality” time in them. Spending as much time as possible and regularly in a park, forest or your own back yard helps to bring you to the present moment, the only space where life happens. It helps to “unplug” from technology and slow you down. It helps to de-stress and relax you. Connecting with nature through all of your five senses gets you underway to draw on the vast array of benefits the natural world provides.

There is plenty of scientific data which proves that spending extended periods of time in nature can:

• Lower stress

• Lower blood-sugar levels

• Reduce blood pressure

• Improve cardiovascular and metabolic health

• Improve concentration and memory

• Improve pain thresholds

• Improve energy

• Increase anti-cancer protein production

• Boost the immune system with an increase in the count of the body’s natural killer (NK) cells

• Lift depression

• Help you to lose weight

Furthermore, walking in nature alleviates feelings of anxiety as well as other negative emotions, and increases and supports positive thoughts. We find that a walk in nature can be very inspiring. On many occasions we have been able to innovate, “receive and download” new ideas during our nature walks over the years. Trees assist us in thinking more clearly and support creativity. Walking in a park or forest among trees clears our minds and helps our thinking. Nature has the power to help us solve problems and to break through creative blocks. Being in nature can be a very meditative process.

Research at the universities of Utah and Kansas looked at the effect on creative reasoning skills while being immersed in nature for a number of days. The researchers concluded that there ‘is a real, measurable cognitive advantage to be achieved if we spend time truly immersed in a natural setting’. They found that spending time in nature can boost problem-solving ability and creativity by 50%.

Aside from the encouraging factors mentioned, extensive time in nature will also help you sleep better and can furthermore lift your mood and make you less aggressive and hostile and generally less grumpy, if you have that tendency. Just by sitting in nature you naturally lower your heart rate and blood pressure and improve your cardiovascular and metabolic health.

Boost for your immune system

Now, especially in the prevailing times it is noteworthy that spending time in nature boosts the immune system. Which should not come as a surprise. The immune system fills an important role in building your defenses against viruses, bacteria, and tumors. It has been well established by the medical community that stress inhibits your immune function. If your immune system is suppressed, or stressed, you have a much higher tendency to be ill. Stressed people have a higher propensity toward being ill more frequently.

And speaking of defense system, phytoncides are the natural oils within a plant. They are part of a tree’s defense system and are released to protect them from fungi, insects, and bacteria. Phyton is Greek for ‘plant’, and cide is ‘to kill’. But there is more, phytoncides are also part of the communication pathway between trees…that is, the way trees talk or communicate with each other. The concentration of phytoncides in the air depends on the temperature and other factors that occur throughout the year. Generally speaking, the warmer it is, the more phytoncides there are in the air. The concentration of phytoncides is at its highest at temperatures of around 30 degrees Celsius (approx. 86 F).

So imagine, what is good for trees, after all the native American Indians refer to trees as “Standing People”, ought to be good for humans, right? Scientific studies showed that exposure to phytoncides:

• Significantly increased the numbers of NK cells and NK activity, and furthermore enhanced the activity of the anti-cancer proteins

• Significantly decreased the levels of stress hormones

• Increased the hours of sleep

• Decreased the scores for tension/anxiety, anger/hostility, and fatigue/confusion.

Voluntary and involuntary attention

One idea for why the natural landscape has such a powerful effect on us is the theory that we pay attention differently when we are in nature. The great nineteenth-century thinker William James explained that there are two ways of paying attention. The first is ‘voluntary’, or directed, which is used for tasks that demand effort and concentration. This is being used at work, or driving, or even just navigating our way along busy streets. All sorts of things demand our directed attention: people, storefronts, advertising displays of all sorts, traffic and traffic lights. As a result, being exposed to all the above activity, even just for a short time in a city street can bring on a sort of mental fatigue.

The second is ‘involuntary’, sometimes called ‘soft fascination’. Involuntary attention requires no mental effort as it comes naturally. This sort of attention is used when we are in nature. In a natural setting our minds are captured effortlessly by all sorts of vegetation, clouds, sunsets, the movement of leaves in the breeze, by waterfalls and streams, or the sound of birds, crickets and other creatures, or the just the soft whisper of the wind. These soothing sounds and sights provide our mental resources a well-deserved and needed break. They allow for a re-boot of our mental capacities.

To unlock the power of nature lies ones’ five senses. Invite and allow nature to enter your system through your ability to see, hear, feel and touch (with your hands and feet), smell and taste.

Here are a few seemingly obvious reminders to heighten your awareness:

• Listen to the birds singing, the crickets and other insects chirping

• Become aware of the breeze rustling in the leaves of the trees

• Look at the different greens and colors of the trees or flowers around you

• Observe the sunlight filtering through the branches and see also what shadows or patterns it generates

• Taste the freshness of the air as you take deep breaths. Smell the fragrance of the forest and breathe in the natural aromatherapy of phytoncides

• Place your hands on the trunk of a tree, and yes, embrace it. Comb through grasses as you walk near them. Dip your fingers or toes in a stream. Lie on the ground and feel the earth underneath you.

• Drink in the flavor of nature and embrace and release your sense of joy and calm.

Trees are powerful pollutant filters

So, in contrast to that, and with the above mentioned facts about more and more people living in cities, here are some important facts about the powerful contributions of trees, and their vital part in keeping our cities clean. They help cool the air, reducing the urban ‘heat island’ effect, and are excellent filters for pollutant gases like carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, ozone, and sulfur oxides.

Another thing that trees are very good at is removing particulate matter from the air, especially if there is frequent rain. Over time particulates settle on the leaves of trees, like dust on a bookshelf. Rain then washes the matter away. Particulate matter is made up of the microscopic particles of dust, pollen, soot and smoke we breathe into our lungs. Cars are heavy producers of particulate matter, and naturally, people in cities are exposed to a lot more of it than those in the countryside.

The World Health Organization (WHO) states that, of all the air pollutants, fine particulate matter has the greatest negative effect on our health, contributing to a higher incidence of asthma, lung disease, heart attacks, cancer, and strokes. About 90% of people living in cities are exposed to particulate matter in concentrations that are higher than those allowed in the air-quality guidelines set by the WHO. It was estimated that air pollution caused 3 million premature deaths in 2012 and that pollution from particulate matter will claim 6.2 million lives a year by 2050, when so many more of us will be living in cities and megacities.

A single tree, however, can absorb 4.5kg (about 10 lbs.) of air pollutants per year. In 2014, the ‘largest tree survey of its kind’ calculated that London’s trees remove 2,241 tons of pollution, store 2,367,000 tons of carbon, provide 77,200 tons of carbon sequestration, and capture 3,414,000 cubic meters of storm water run-off annually. So imagine, there are about 3.04 trillion trees on the planet, roughly 400 per person…however, 12,000 years ago, before the advent of agriculture, there were about twice as many trees on the planet. Plant trees.

The effects of sound on your health

We mentioned sound a little earlier. As you read this, what do you hear? An airplane, traffic noise, sirens, a jack hammer, a lawn mower, the wash machine or dryer, the refrigerator, the A/C, someone’s cell phone ringing or an overly loud conversation? You get the idea; it is increasingly difficult to find peace and quiet in today’s world. We recently returned from a few days in the desert of the Southwest and on a number of occasions remarked how absolutely quiet it was. When is the last time you heard nothing?

Excessive noise isn’t just annoying. It can increase blood pressure, interfere with concentration and sleep and lead to forgetfulness. It has been found to retard the development of reading and verbal skills in children. Chronic noise is stressful. And we know by now that stress prompts a sizeable number of health problems.

More than half the world’s population now lives in a noisy city. Around 80 million Europeans live with noise levels that are judged too high. More than 11 million Americans are exposed to traffic noise so high they risk hearing loss. And although Japan may seem to be the land of serenity, peace and quiet, it is in fact a nation of noise.

According to a study by the WHO, Japan is the noisiest nation in the world. From early in the morning to late evening, all week long there are announcements, warnings and reminders, bells, chimes, sirens and loudspeakers in train stations and carriages and talking escalators. Between street vendors who shout through megaphones and shop employees who welcome you in the loudest voice they can manage, add garbage trucks and junk collectors who make loud announcements of their coming. The level of outdoor noise is often in excess of the 70-decibel limit. Perhaps we are addicted to noise. Restaurants pipe out music, the radio blares in elevators, shops and supermarkets. Think how many of us keep the television on all day or listen to music constantly through earphones. And we all know people who feel they have to talk all the time, seemingly so afraid of silence that they have to fill it. So, being empowered with that knowledge now...allow yourself some quietude out in nature.

Soothing sounds of nature

The sounds of nature link us to the environment and to ourselves. When out in nature, and by tuning into the natural world, we can reconnect and tune in or resonate with the environment we were designed to hear. Nature offers a whole new dimension, a restorative and rejuvenating sonic landscape.

Studies have repeatedly shown that humans prefer the sounds of nature over the sounds of urban noise. Researchers at Brighton and Sussex Medical School (UK) investigating the connection between the brain, the body and background noise, looked at what happened in people’s brains while they listened to a series of sounds from either natural or man-made environments. While they listened, the participants had to perform a cognitive task. Their heart rates as well as their nervous systems, blood pressure, metabolism, and digestion were monitored as they listened.

The results showed that when the participants listened to artificial sounds, their attention was focused inwards. Inward-focused attention is associated with worry and brooding. When they listened to the sounds of nature, they turned their attention outwards. In addition, participants did less well on their tests when they were listening to man-made noise. The nature sounds decreased the functioning of the body’s sympathetic nervous system (‘fight or flight’) and increased the parasympathetic system (‘rest and recover’), indicating that we are more relaxed when we listen to nature.

Humans are most sensitive to sounds between the frequencies of 2,500 and 3,500 hertz, which happens to be the range that birds sing in. Perhaps that is why birdsong sounds like music to many of us. 

You may ask, what does the sound of gongs or singing bowls have to do with all of this…? Well, for one, some of the sound frequency ranges that we find in nature are also found when creating the different layers of sound with gongs, rattles, singing bowls, flutes, didgeridoos and drums.

In addition, many of the positive aspects that spending time in nature evoke in us have all to do with a mindful way of traversing life. A mindfully produced soundscape, especially when it is combined with a guided meditation, raises ones’ awareness and tendency toward being more mindful. These contribute to being aware of the healing elements so easily and readily available to us just by stepping away and unplugging from the screens and other technological devices for a time of mindful reflection. All this becomes ever more important during the time of unprecedented and rapid changes we are all experiencing during the present segment of time, all over the world.

There is much, much more to say about the wondrous benefits that nature provides to us humans. However, if nothing else, it is our hope that this entry may prompt you to go for a walk in nature, today, right now.

Aside from our own personal experience of all the above, and general ‘common sense’, research for this article was derived from the excellent book “Forest Bathing” authored by Dr. Li Qing