ABESAMIS

“Thousands of tired, nerve-shaken, over-civilized people are beginning to find out that going to
the mountains is going home. Wilderness is a necessity.”

-JOHN MUIR

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INTRODUCTION

The modern life, we cannot deny, is very highly urbanized. It is rare to see
untouched and virgin parts of mother earth. In most parts of the world, more or less 90% of
what you can see if you look around is concrete. People are living in a concrete jungle
coupled with pollution emitted by the different and fast evolving technologies. That is what
we call home. People are so far removed from the roots of humanity and gearing more
towards technological dependency.

[1]

Humans are made to adapt to nature. Mother earth is also made to adapt to human activity.
But due to the fact that modern life is so fast paced, both humans and environment cannot
keep up causing undue stress.2 Such stress is what causes poor well-being. This stress may
at some point be reflected by the positively growing number of people who are seeking
ways on how to improve their health and well-being. In a study, this stress is termed as
'technostress' and it indicates that artificialization, which is the process of society and our

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lives being intruded by technologies of different types, is occurring so rapidly that we now
experience stressful situations and are forced to deal with the resultant pressures.3

In order to give your body opportunity to recuperate and function properly, there is
a need to lower frequently high stress levels. Nature therapy is a good way to achieve this
goal. As the body approaches the “expected” natural state of well-being, immune functions
are enhanced and disease resistance improves.4 A lot of individuals have expressed their
intrigue with this forest therapy producing numerous researches backing up the idea of
nature therapy with scientific proof. The study started in Japan, then in Korea and is now
tickling curiosity in multiple parts of the world. In the studies, measured variables included
stress hormone, called cortisol, levels in saliva and autonomic nervous activity,
sympathetic and parasympathetic, monitored by heart rate fluctuation, blood pressure,
heart rate, natural killer cell activity and also prefrontal cortex activity in the brain.5

[6]

As Strayer has quoted, our brains, he says, aren’t tireless three-pound machines;
they’re easily fatigued. When we slow down, stop the busywork, and take in beautiful
natural surroundings, not only do we feel restored, but our mental performance improves
too.7 He also has proved through an experiment with Outward Bound participants that
after three days of wilderness backpacking, subjects were able to perform 50 percent better
on creative problem solving tasks. He also says that such three-day effect is a kind of

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cleaning of the mental windshield that occurs when one has been immersed in nature long
enough.

SHINRIN YOKU

Shinrin-yoku originated in Japan coined by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture,

Forestry, and Fisheries in the 1980s and promoted topiary as therapy. It is of general
knowledge that the Japanese has great appreciation and expresses great care and
connection to nature. Japanese culture and relationship with nature is commonly thought of
as “man one with nature” or sometimes “man harmonious with nature” and at times man in
nature. The Japanese festivals are also commonly driven by their love for nature. They
have festivals such as snow viewing, cherry blossom viewing, and moon viewing.

Sapporo Snow Festival

[8]

This is the snow viewing festival in Japan or the Sapporo Yuki Matsuri held for one
week every February of the year started in 1950 when some student built snow statues in
Odori Park. It got its name from the capital of Hokkaido where it is held, in Sapporo. The
festival is a show of impressive and spectacular ice sculptures and art work. There are three
sites where you may join the viewing of these snow sculptures: in Odori Park, Susukino,
and Tsu Dome.

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[9]

The photo above is the Odori Park, a 1.5 kilometer park in Sapporo, which is open
from 8:30 in the morning until 10 in the evening, which is where the main attractions for
the Sapporo Snow Festival are exhibited. The sculptures that may be found here varies in
sizes and may be as big as 15 meters in height.

[10]

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 The photo above is the Susukino, Sapporo’s largest entertainment district. It is
open until 11 in the evening, an hour longer than the Odori Park.

[11]

The photo above is the Tsu Dome. Tsu Dome is located outside the city where you
have to take a shuttle bus. Here people may do several activities such as riding snow
slides and admiring snow sculptures as well.

Mid-Autumn Festival

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[12]

The mid autumn festival in Japan is named Tsukimi or Otsukimi which means
moon viewing. This usually takes place on the 15th of August when it is believed that the
moon is at its brightest and most beautiful. The participants of the festival celebrate in the
comforts of their home. This is usually done by displaying susuki or pampas grass as it is
at its tallest during this time of the year and also by serving food traditionally symbolizes
the moon and also serves as an offering. The food that is an essential to this festival is the
tsukimi dango. It is a plain white dumpling made of rice shaped into small balls and
stacked beautifully. Kuri (chestnuts) and Sato Itomo (taro) are also usually served.

Cherry Blossom Festival

[13]

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 Hanami, which is commonly known as the Cherry Blossom Festival, translates to
viewing flowers in Japanese. It started a thousand years ago and was started by their
ancient people who appreciated the beauty of cherry blossoms, the sakura, and expressed
these through poems. Since then, people have become more and more attracted to the
festival. They are usually held from March to May in different parts of Japan. This is not
only celebrated in Japan as other neighboring countries such as Korea also celebrate this
festival as a welcome to the spring season.

With their exceptional love and respect for nature, it is not impossible for them to
have first sought healing from mother nature and discovered its power. Shinrin-yoku
literally translates to "taking in the forest atmosphere" or "forest bathing." Doing
Shinrin-yoku is basically simple. All you need to do is go to an area where you can have a
good interaction with nature and walk in a relaxed manner or just even sit while taking in
the beauty of nature. With just that, you will experience calming, rejuvinative, and
restorative effects. Some of the scientifically-proven benefits of this are boosted immune
system functioning, with an increase in the count of the body's Natural Killer (NK) cells,
reduced blood pressure, reduced stress, improved mood, increased ability to focus, even in

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children with ADHD, accelerated recovery from surgery or illness, increased energy level,
and improved sleep.

THEORIES BEHIND SHINRIN-YOKU

There are several theories hypothesizing about the effects of natural effects of
contact between humans with nature. One of them being the biophilia hypothesis first
introduced by Wilson. According to him, biophilia is defined as the love of nature and
living things. Basically, this states that human nature has natural inclination to nature since
human existence and that these close links have rooted from the hard-wiring of human’s
affinity with nature through the evolutionary process.14 Another scientist has stated that
nature has nine values which may have been linked to its therapeutic and fatigue reduction
effect such as its aesthetic value, dominionistic value, humanistic value, moralistic value,
naturalistic value, negativistic value, scientific value, symbolic value, and utilitarian
value.15

Another theory is the attention restoration theory, as explained by Kaplan, stating

that human brain has a limited capacity to focus on specific stimulus and overworking such
causes what they call directed attention fatigue. According to this theory, being exposed to
natural environment allows for more effortless brain function and thus by effect
replenishing the capacity of the brain for yet another set of a task. This theory also states
that there are four properties that must be embodied by an environment in order to restore
one’s directed attention capacity and these are extent or the scope to feel immersed in the
environment, being away as this provides a break for habitual activities, soft fascination or
the aspects of nature that captures one’s attention immediately, and compatibility as the
subject must have a liking, inclination, or at least appreciated to what he is presented for it
to have an effect.

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 Third theory is the stress reduction theory or otherwise known as
psycho-evolutionary theory which explains that natural environments promote recovery
from stress. Stress, as defined in this theory, is a set of physiological responses to any
situation which threatens well-being.16 Negative emotions and physiological indicators,
embodied by fear, anger, sadness, and increased blood pressure and heart rate, are the usual
response by the body to these kinds of threats.17 According to this theory, during the early
times, savannas and places in abundance of water helped to ease stress levels and helped in
increasing energy levels of early humans thereby contributing to positive human evolution.
As explained further, humans have evolved in natural environments. Therefore, the change
from natural environment to urban environment produces high levels of stress especially
those with high stimulants such as places with high levels of visual complexity, noise,
intensity and movement.18 Stress levels not only affect our emotions but may also lead to
chronic cardiovascular and endocrine responses that would adversely affect health.19

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 Meanwhile, environmental self-regulation hypothesis introduced in the 1990’s by
Vuorinen states that humans have the capability to adapt in environments that arouse the
emotions in different levels through physical, social, mental, and environmental strategies.
Kuorpela in 2001 stated that one’s environment has a great contribution to his or her
capacity to self-regulate and that spending time in a natural environment setting especially
when coupled with some physical activity is the optimum way to achieve the best positive
emotional state.

The bio-ecoogical model introduced by Gottlieb and Cairns in 1990’s states that
when a person is born, his genetic material does not indicate his finished trait. His
development relies largely on his interactions with the environment he is provided with.
This interaction between a person and its immediate environment is referred to as the
proximal process which includes problem solving, acquiring new knowledge, active
involvement in a group, and performing complex tasks -- the primary engines of effective
development.20

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 As the natural habitat is the proximate venue for the prime development of a child,
the lack of a child’s contact with nature, according to Louv in 20018, is closely linked to
his developmental defects called termed as nature deficit disorder.

The relaxation response, introduced by Katcher et. al. in 1983, enumerates the four
elements needed in order to create in a person a state of relaxation similar to that of
meditation. These are: quiet environment, closing off internal and external distractions;
something to focus on which may be a word, object, or sound; a passive mind or being in
reverie; and the availability of comfort.

“It is the inherent combination within natural objects of beauty, novelty,

monotony, constancy, and sudden beauty (such as the movement of brightly
colored fish in a tropical reef, the passing of birds through a forest, the pattern
of clouds, the sea or a glowing fire which momentarily attract a human’s
gaze, but descend again into an essential constancy) that induce such a
response.21”

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HEALTH BENEFITS

In 2004, Japan launched the Association of Therapeutic Effects of the Forests. In

2007, Finland established the International Union of Forest Research Organizations
(IUFRO), a team dedicated to the study of forests in relation to human health. Also in
2007, the Japanese Society for Hygiene formed the Japanese Society of Forest Medicine.
The foregoing associations have created platforms for scientists to conduct research and
scientific tests concerning forest bathing and its effect on mental and physical health. The
result of such studies reveal that forest bathing benefits the human body in more ways
than mere relaxation. Immune System Forest trees and plants have been found to excrete
phytoncides, an organic compound which increases the growth of NK cells. They are
essential oils from the wood of trees and plants emit a fragrance which likewise boosts
NK cell activity. Up until the present times, researchers are conducting continuous study
about Shinrin Yoku in order to give a more solid basis of its therapeutic effects with every
discovery and findings.

PHYSIOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF SHINRIN-YOKU

In order to analyze the physiological effects of Shinrin-yoku to one's body,

Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute, Chiba Prefectural Forestry Research
Center, Ministry of the Environment, and Nagasaki Junior College have come together to
perform an experiment. They executed this by having 12 normal male college students
having no reported physiological or psychological disorders as subjects. All of them were
provided with the same single room accommodation and served the same meals everyday.
The groups were divided in two groups. One group was sent to the forest area and the other
was sent to the city area. In the morning, the subjects were made to walk for 20 minutes and
20 minutes in the afternoon to watch the landscapes in their given area. Several cortisol and
hemoglobin concentration measurements were made specifically in the morning at the
accommodation, then before and after the walking activity, before and after the watching
activity, and lastly upon arrival at the accommodation. Cortisol is a chemical which can be
found in saliva which may indicate the stress level of a subject. The subjects were
alternated the next day to compare the results.

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[22]

The results have shown that both areas were evaluated almost equivalently as
“slightly comfortable” in the morning. The scores of “comfort” in the forest area were
“moderately comfortable” after walking and watching. However, the scores of “comfort”
in the city were “indifferent” and “slightly uncomfortable” after walking and watching.
After walking and watching, the scores of “comfort” in the forest area were significantly
higher than those for the city area. In the evening, the scores of “comfort” of the forest area
tend to be higher than those for the city area. The results show that the city area was not so
uncomfortable. However, the forest area was significantly more comfortable than the city
area.23 Overall, the results have shown that the subjects felt calm and were able to relax in
the forest while the subjects who walked and watched in the city were uncomfortable. The
study was able to prove that Shinrin-yoku can relax people who live in the urban areas
effectively.

In another experiment spearheaded by Bum-Jin Park, Yuko Tsunetsugu, Tamami

Kasetani, Takeshi Morikawa, Takahide Kagawa and Yoshifumi Miyazaki, they included
the measurement of diastolic blood pressure, pulse rate, and heart rate variability as factors
in ascertaining the effectiveness of Shinrin-yoku. The results have shown that diastolic
blood pressure was significantly lower in the forest area before walking, after walking and
after viewing than in the city area; at the stage before viewing, diastolic blood pressure in
the forest area tended to be lower than in the city area.24 Pulse rate was significantly lower

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in the forest area after walking, before viewing and after viewing; at the stage before
walking, pulse rate in the forest area tended to be lower than in the city area.25 Finally, the
high frequency tend to be higher and low frequency readings of the heart rate variability of
the subjects have shown lower results for those subjects in the forest than in the city. Under
the same research, it had been shown that there is also a relationship between the length of
one's stay in the forest and the recovery. Accordingly, a 3 days and 2 nights stay can aid the
recovery of immune function.

NATURAL KILLER CELL ACTIVITY DURING SHINRIN-YOKU

Mentioned several times in this research that Shinrin-yoku can aid in the recovery
of immune function. This is because there is a significant increase in the natural killer cell
activity after a 3 days and 2 nights stay of the subjects in a forested area. Natural Killer
Cells or NK Cells are cells that belong to the innate immune system and form a first line of
defense against a wide variety of pathological challenges; they provide protection against
viral and bacterial infections and they help to detect and limit the development of cancer.26
Furthermore, they express inhibitory receptors which causes them to detect healthy cells
from bad cells. This is because healthy cells emit MHC I molecules which repels NK cells.
Tumor cells and infected cells often down-regulate MHC class I molecules and sometimes
increase the expression of molecules that are recognized by activating NK cell receptors.27
Therefore, they will not attack healthy cells. This prevents unwanted attack.

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CONCLUSION

In view of the foregoing premises, while the growth of industry is indispensable

for the development of human society, we must likewise remain mindful of our
responsibility to future generations and strike a balance between economic progress and
natural preservation. It is our shared responsibility to safeguard the natural harmony of
nature and to ensure that future generations.

According to Healthy nature healthy people: contact with nature as an upstream

health promotion intervention for populations, a research paper written by Cecily Maller,
Mardie Townsend, Anita Pryor, Peter Brown and Lawrence St Leger, nature plays a key
role in human health and well-being. The paper even suggests that contact with nature
might play a role in preventing mental illness. Also, people with access to nearby natural
settings have been found to be healthier overall than other individuals. The longer-term,
indirect impacts (of ‘nearby nature’) also include increased levels of satisfaction with one's
home, one's job and with life in general.’

We are all blessed by just seeing a sunrise or sunset in nature. We can enjoy the
beautiful beaches that we walk upon and the flowers that we see blooming. We are
immersed in the nature that it provides for all the animals that live there. Just these few
aspects given raises our vibrations and gives us joy and happiness. We are blessed with
the air that we breathe for us to live our daily lives. All the beautiful trees assist us to give
us the oxygen we need.

Teaching not only our children but others too on how valuable Mother Earth is to
us! The more you can teach the conservation and value of Mother Earth to others the
more we are helping to save the environment. Remember it only takes one person to
change others perspectives. Lastly, by taking action and also teaching others the

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importance of saving Mother Earth we are indeed making a small contribution to help
save her.

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