NATURE, FOREST BATHING & THE ART OF RASAYANA AS WISE HORMONAL SUPPORT
I am standing at the foot of a great redwood. Craning my neck to look up, I have the felt sense of awe. Branches, gently swaying. I am reminded of some sage advice given many years ago by my Ayurvedic doctor, Vaidya Yash Mannur: “best to have you feet grounded to the Earth so your heart and limbs can reach towards the heavens-like a great redwood tree.
Yes, indeed. That is best.
As I walk, the smell of this dense habitat of great redwoods, ferns and shade dwellers are sharing their immense gifts with me. I can feel my senses taking in every bit. My nose drawing in the aromas, my eyes receiving the lush. My ears hearing the song of the forest. My skin feeling the dew-like, oxygen bath from a pure source. I can taste it all too. A dopamine den. My whole being is getting an important treatment that has a lasting impact on my health.
In Ayurveda this type of “treatment” is called a Rasayana. Simply put, a rasayana is a rejuvenation that restores the body/mind/spirit vitality. It can be received many ways. One of my most favorite is what I like to call an enviromental rasayana. A full mind, body, spirit immersion into nature, all the senses receiving nourishment and support, possibly increasing longevity. I believe this type of experience to be an important hormone regulator as well. In more recent times there has been some amazing research that actually shows the science to support it.
In the 80’s the term shinrin-yoku or “forest bathing” was birthed in Japan. And while this brilliant practice is as old as the forest herself, the distinction of intentionally walking in a forest that is densley populated with trees, particularly conifers including doug firs, pine, juniper, hinoki, cypress and redwoods to name a few, to bathe became part of the modern consciousness. Since then, contuned study and documentation has revealed what ancient wise people have known for a very long time. The forest has A LOT to share with us: our minds, our bodies and our connections to something so much greater than what we are on this Earth exists wrapped in leaves, bark and birds . Dr. Qing Li who is considered one of the world’s foremost experts on forest bathing and the holistic benefits of the forest, has been studying, documenting and writing about his findings for some time. In his book “Forest Bathing: How Tress Can Help you Find Health and Happiness” he shares his findings and the science behind the benefits. He explains:
Phytoncides (emitted from evergreens like pine, cedar, spruces and other conifers are the largest producers emitted through trees help positively influence our health.
The main component of phytocides are terpenes which is what you smell when you go into a forest that has a lot of trees. Studies have been done which show that exposure to phytocides do amazing things:
*significantly increase numbers of NK (natural killer) cells and NK activity. Natural killer cells are white blood cells that destroy infected and diseased cells. In early stages they can help prevent virus and cancer cells from spreading.
*forest bathing 1x a month is enough to maintain a higher level of natural killer cell activity when done after 2-3 days in the forest (like camping)
*Significantly decrease the levels of stress hormones
*Forest air also contains compounds naturally released by trees, such as D-limonene, which can help reduce inflammation in our lungs.
*Increase hours of sleep by 15% or more
*Decrease the scores of stress/tension/anxiety/anger/fatigue and confusion
Researchers have also found phytoncides can:
-Stimulate a pleasant mood
-Significantly lower blood pressure
-Increase heart-rate variability
-suppress sympathetic nervous activity and increase parasympathetic nervous activity-bringing your system into greater balance
When spending time in the slow and quiet communion of Nature, many experience internal and innate wisdom become more clear. It’s like our insides talking to the outsides: a conversation I feel is increased during times of high hormonal shift. I think hormones to be the subtle whispers of a deepening, a call, a revolution at times..an invocation towards the transition that is coming. Accessing this on many levels is the wisdom of using tools that deliver the message on the frequency it is being spoken. Transitions can be subtle, unseen but not unfelt and like the ethers they expand and hold incredible space. Using the tools that speak these languages and help us translate them into integrated health is a positive and multi faceted benefit.
Using forest bathing as wise and important rasayana feels like a percipient life skill and a gift from the forest to us, especially during times of hormonal transition like postpartum, peri into menopause and other big transitions like retirement, and choices and decisions that arise in the natural ebb and flow of our life. Consider this art as an important tool in the kit of your life. Turn off electronics. Start with a few breaths to bring presence. Open your senses to the environment around you. Walk with awareness and intention to the natural world around you. Keep a soft gaze and take your time. Enjoy!
I could not do any better than to end these musings from a person who wrote so beautifully on the healing, the mystery, the sad, the real, the magical and fantastical of Nature in the most supreme way.
Sleeping In The Forest
By Mary Oliver
I thought the earth remembered me, she
took me back so tenderly, arranging
her dark skirts, her pockets
full of lichens and seeds. I slept
as never before, a stone
on the riverbed, nothing
between me and the white fire of the stars
but my thoughts, and they floated
light as moths among the branches
of the perfect trees. All night
I heard the small kingdoms breathing
around me, the insects, and the birds
who do their work in the darkness. All night
I rose and fell, as if in water, grappling
with a luminous doom. By morning
I had vanished at least a dozen times
into something better.