Reportage“The Heralds of the Forests” (1/6). First breakaway in a European forest in the company of one of its defenders. In the East of France, Eric Brisbare, mid-mountain guide, initiates sylvotherapy. Awakening of the senses guaranteed.
Green, green, green. Penetrating into the beech-fir forest characteristic of the Vosges massif, the retinas take full view. The birds shout, a light wind rustles in the leaves. The sound of our footsteps crunching on wet bits of wood echoes along the path. In this early spring, the awakening of nature is at its peak.
The Longegoutte-Géhant biological reserve, in the Vosges, nestled at an altitude of 800 meters, is a preserved forest paradise known only to locals. “This is where I come to do the forest baths. Everything is perfect, immediately intense, and it helps the people I take to disconnect even more quickly from their daily lives »assures Eric Brisbare, mid-mountain guide and specialist in forest bathing.
Born in the Vosges Mountains just forty years ago, this mountain forest enthusiast has been interested in sylvotherapy for ten years. “We quickly associated this practice to hippies on the return who kiss the trees », regrets Eric Brisbare. Even if it has been damaged, the word does designate a practice, linked to naturopathy, which is based on the idea that being surrounded by trees has a beneficial effect on health. The phrase “forest bath” is, she, the literal translation of the Japanese word shinrin yoku. It refers to a secular Japanese tradition, officially recognized as a therapy by Japan since 1982. Since then, several researchers, like Professor Yoshifumi Miyazaki, from the University of Chiba, near Tokyo, or the immunologist Qing -Li, from the Nippon Medical School, Tokyo, have succeeded in scientifically proving its benefits.
“The expression ‘forest bathing’ makes me think of the gentleness of ‘sunbathing’, simple to perform and beneficial for morale” – Eric Brisbare, Vosgien, mid-mountain guide
Sylvotherapy would cause a drop in blood pressure, cortisol levels (stress hormone), adrenaline, and an improvement in immunity. In France, the first mentions of “forest cures in a sylvan climate” appeared in 1912 in the Review of waters and forests. But, as early as 1800, people were already interested in the beneficial effects of the Landes forests on the health of patients at the Arcachon sanatorium. “The expression ‘forest bath’ seems to me the most accurate, because it makes me think of the sweetness of ‘sunbathing’, so simple to perform and so beneficial also for morale”specifies the Vosges with a sporty and slender silhouette.
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