More than relaxation
Why just five minutes in the forest is so healthy
© Petar Paunchev/shutterstock
Many people are drawn to the forest to clear their heads. However, a walk in the forest is so much more than pure relaxation – it has a positive effect on our entire body.
Numerous poets have already dedicated their poems to the beauty of the forest, some of which can still be found in shelters today. Why the forest? Because there is hardly a better place to switch off and rearrange your thoughts. A walk through the trees invigorates, refreshes and is much more than pure relaxation. Studies and books show that nature offers great health benefits. In fact, a walk in the woods can relieve stress, boost the immune system, and boost self-esteem—all in no time.
Refuel in five minutes
When you go for a walk, your heart beats measurably slower, your blood pressure drops and your muscles relax. Stress and exhaustion fall away from us and the positive feelings come to the fore. To achieve this result, you don’t need an hour in the forest, just five minutes. That’s what researchers at the University of Essex have in one study found out.
According to the analysis, forest walks increase self-esteem, lift mood and reduce stress. This effect is said to increase when there is a lake on the path or a brook is babbling along. Mood and self-esteem are key indicators of our physical and mental health. After all, they affect our ability to deal with stressful situations. And give us a momentary feeling of happiness.
Forest walks affect the immune system
As the biologist Clemens G. Arvay writes in his book “The Biophilia Effect – Healing from the Forest”, walks in the forest – especially in winter – strengthen the immune system. Reason: The forest has a positive effect on the parasympathetic system, the “nerve of calm” that counteracts chronic stress and lifts the spirits. “At the same time, we breathe in terpenes released by the trees in the forest, which strengthen our immune system and increase our defense cells against dangerous or diseased cells,” says Arvay.
Terpenes are messenger substances that increase the number and activity of natural killer cells in the human body. These killer cells then act against viruses, such as cold viruses, but also against potential cancer cells. “Anyone who spends a lot in the forest will definitely get through the winter healthier,” the biologist is certain.
By the way: According to a study at the Center for Health, around 3,000 steps a day are enough to reduce the risk of hardening of the arteries – and thus the risk of a heart attack or stroke. And those 3000 steps are better done in the fresh forest air than in the city.
Personality decides on positive effect
Of course, the forest does not have the same positive influence on mood and self-esteem for everyone. A beautiful landscape can be a wide field or a dune or desert landscape for one person, for the other it is the sea or the mountains. Not all places have the same effect, personality plays a decisive role here.
As US researchers have found out, introverts feel most comfortable in the mountains, while extroverts love the sea. Why it is like that? The experts suggest that extroverts are drawn to beaches because they reflect their inner openness. Introverts can withdraw better in mountainous landscapes, which suits their character better.
Whether that’s true remains to be seen. We tend to stick with the words of the painter Vincent van Gogh: “If you truly love nature, you will find beauty everywhere.”