Forest Therapy for Stress, Anxiety and Depression

It sounds amazing but it seems to really work, at least on my account! I first read about this a few years ago in the news - apparently in Japan some doctors order forest therapy for their depressed patients.

Dr Fumio Hirano-Takemura is one of the professionals who believe in this. He’s traveled to Finland on many occasion, as we have lots of forests and countryside. 71.6 per cent of Finland’s surface area is covered with forest (compared to Japan’s 68.1%). There’s also another good reason for projects such as this one over here as well: according to National Health and Welfare Institute about 20% of Finns will suffer depression at some point in their lifetime. People with depression usually have about 2-3 fold risk of coronary heart disease, as well as other conditions that may come if the person starts to become socially excluded because of their condition.

According to studies, walking or hiking in the woods is extremely efficient to ailments such as stress, blood pressure, depression, insomnia and neck and shoulder conditions. Already 20 minutes will help lift moods, after two hours the body’s defence mechanisms will start to build. According to a Japanese research, spending time in the nature will help body produce white blood cells, which means that your body will fight stronger against bacteria and infections (I remember reading something similar about gardening as well). In Japanese medicine this ‘forest bathing’ is called shirin yoku.

You need to experience the surroundings comprehensively: all the sights, smells, sounds, how things feel to the touch, underneath your feet etc. work in the healing process. It’s about being aware and enjoying the nature’s ambience (without your mobile or other intrusive sounds); finding a nice spot and having a breather or laying down and pondering about “why I like this certain place”.

Photographing in the nature is also about learning to read what goes on around you. When you actually stop for a while, look around and listen - and the woods will come alive! I’d say it’s very same as shooting street style pictures or urban landscape in a city.

Dear readers, I'd like to hear your take on the matter - how do you feel about the idea of hiking in the nature; if you do this, what kind of an impact does it have on you?

The idea for this post came from @old-guy-photos #treetuesday contest as well as @mundaneart competition for moss etc. I found this picture on my hard drive and remembered the feeling from that trip to the forest and decided to write a little longer story.

Thanks for visiting, if you like this post or picture, have a look at these as well!