森林浴
A
bit of a change from my usual posts here.
But
I really liked this concept and it is about staying healthy and ways to
reclaim good health, so I think, in the end it is appropriate here.
The
above calligraphy is Japanese for Forest Bath. At least I hope it
is... I found it using websites that hopefully translates English into
calligraphy correctly. :) If someone out there can read Japanese and
know it's wrong please contact me, hopefully with the right
characters and I'll change it.
Forest
Bath is the translation of Shinrin-yoku
into English.
What
is a Forest Bath? It's simply walking in Nature. I ran across the
concept surfing the web one night and I just loved the name and
concept.
Back
in the 1980s there was a study in Japan on a group of Woman who
walked in the woods 2 – 4 hours a day for two consecutive days.
They were tested before and after these walks. It was found that
there were some amazing changes in their physiology including a 50%
increase in cancer fighting White Blood Cells.
Shinrin-yoku
has since become a national pastime and people are encouraged to walk
in Nature as often as they can as part of their lifestyle.
Something
we should encourage those of us living elsewhere in the World.
I
confess though I live in the mountains and literally in a forest I
don't go out there as much as I should. My excuse now is the Winter
but in warm weather I have no excuse. Well.. maybe the Tick epidemic
but that's preventable and one can't allow one's self to become a
martyr to it. And, of course, there is the whole LMS with surgeries and treatments but still there are times when I could go for even a little walk.
 |
| Bloodroot covered rock in the forest behind me. |
It's
so easy to get tied up in one's inside life or even have going
outside be just to do yard work. Or sit around relaxing.
As
enjoyable as the latter is, it isn't the same as just walking in the
woods and simply enjoying the sights, sounds and smells of Nature as you stroll along.
I'm
going to promise myself I'll walk out my door and just keep going as
often as possible on at least, a weekly basis.
If
you're not as lucky and live in the woods or country setting: find a
park or Arboretum and stroll around.
The
point isn't to Hike, Jog or Power Walk. It's to walk and relax and
enjoy your surroundings and the Nature that is around you. (I was
raised in a large city so yes: I know there is a lot of Nature in the
City. Stroll out your door and start looking :) )
Here
are some links about Shinrin-yoku, including some of the results of
studies:
Thank you so much for your blog. My husband is fighting leiomyosarcoma. His started in his arm 10 years ago. Seven surgeries later (including two liver and two brain) it now has multiple metastasis sites.
ReplyDeletePlease tell us how you are doing. Eleven years is a great victory with this beast. My love and prayers go out to you.
My prayers are with you and your husband too. Ten years is a long time too :)
ReplyDeleteI'm doing all right. I'll be updating the blog soon to catch things up.
Thank you for you kind words.
Thank you so much for this blog. My husband was recently (like yesterday) diagnosed with this and I'm just trying to get as much info as possible. This entire process has been such a whirlwind, so it's been very hard to wrap our heads around this. I wish you all the best and it's very encouraging that I'm finding people surviving this 10+ years later. He was diagnosed with leiomyosarcoma in his liver with no evidence of its presence anywhere else. He had a liver resection so we are hopeful for a positive outcome. Thank you again!
ReplyDelete