'Forest bathing' recognizes health benefits of nature

NEBRASKA CITY – As a former nurse, the coordinator of a  non-profit supporting the Prairie Pines Nature Preserve in northeast Lincoln was drawn to research showing that people healed faster and took less medicine when they had a room with a view of nature or there was naturalized art on the wall.

Sue Kohles told an audience at Grimm’s Gardens in Nebraska  City Wednesday that biologists have long proposed that humans developed genetically based on a need to experience the natural world. Interactions with nature are shown to decrease heart rates and negative feelings, while increasing socialization and emotional health.

 

She said the forest air contains compounds exuded by trees and soil bacteria and inhaling it is proven to boost the body’s immune system.   Mental health, cognitive function of children and stress reduction are all linked to encounters with nature.

Forest bathing, a termed coined by the Japanese Ministry of Ag, Forestry and Fisheries in 1982, is about purposeful and attentive time in a natural setting. She said it's about taking in nature with all your senses.

Kohles: “A simple practice of spending time in nature and being there and not outside of nature and being all busy and wrapped up in the busy world."

Kohles: “With time and learning more about the topic and following some of the related research about simple contact with nature, I truly do believe it’s part of … I say it’s another tool in the toolbox for healthy living.”

It's not just in woodlands. Natural settings like the NRD’s 39-acre Prairie Owl park near Dunbar can provide a respite for people in need of escape from the constructed world of streets, concrete sidewalks, buildings and technology.

 

Kohles: “Just the whole health of the community to have those kind of places of respite is incredibly important. They provide all kinds of services that may not be those that we can buy and sell, but that are far more important.”

Kohles: “Neighborhoods that are green have far less violence. Businesses that have green space out front, research shows, do better business. All of those economic benefits as well as those that are beneficial to the biodiversity that needs them.”

She said Prairie Pines is a natural place that provides benefits to all its inhabitants, including humans.

Kohles: “145-acres from the perspective of wildlife populations is minimal. We are still in more of a farm area, but will soon be swallowed by development on all sides. It still should be able to maintain somewhat of a population and it kind of underscores the importance of protecting those kinds of spaces. With urbanization and increased stress in everyone’s life, we need to maintain those spots.”