Ancaster: A Remarkable Place in Which to Connect to Nature
Just as the Japanese practice of “forest bathing” is becoming part of international vernacular and practice, and business people have started removing their shoes in Central Park in order to get “grounded” the modern world is beginning to awaken to the healing power of nature.
Nature, it appears, restores in profound ways. It not only eases physical ailments but also psychological stressors, which modern medicine has also learned are inextricably linked.
But that wasn’t always the case. For generations, men sought to tame the natural world and build skyscrapers within concrete jungles, blighting the stars with light pollution in their wake and limiting the ability of the soil and grass to absorb water. Every step to conquer instead created yet another challenge for modern living, temperatures began to rise in cities as the heat-reducing shade of trees was eliminated, as the grass disappeared and asphalt absorbed the sun’s rays.
So, the impacts of the natural world on our modern lives can’t be downplayed or discounted, but how exactly does nature heal? How should people reconnect? What are the psychological/health benefits?
Health benefits of nature
Shinrin-yoku or forest bathing became a health recommendation by the Forest Agency of Japan in the early 1980s, with the scientifically unsubstantiated belief that strolls in the woods would improve health by lowering stress. In the decades since then, scientific evidence has begun to bolster that early theory, according to a Time Magazine article, in fact, “spending time in nature is responsible for many measurable beneficial changes in the body.”
“In one early study, Yoshifumi Miyazaki, a forest-therapy expert and researcher at Chiba University in Japan, found that people who spent 40 minutes walking in a cedar forest had lower levels of the stress hormone cortisol, which is involved in blood pressure and immune-system function, compared with when they spent 40 minutes walking in a lab,” according to the article. Miyazaki expressed surprise at the findings and told Time, “Spending time in the forest induces a state of physiological relaxation.”
Psychological/health benefits go even further
Trees and plants emit aromatic compounds known as phytoncides, which, when inhaled, instigate biological reactions akin to aromatherapy, which has been widely studied for its therapeutic benefits, according to recent research from Dr. Quing Li, a professor at the Nippon Medical School in Tokyo.
“In his studies, Li has shown that when people walk through or stay overnight in forests, they often exhibit changes in the blood that are associated with protection against cancer, better immunity and lower blood pressure,” according to the article.
Other studies show that nature provides relief for an assortment of other health issues like heart disease, depression, cancer, anxiety and attention disorders.
“The quiet atmosphere, beautiful scenery, good smells and fresh, clean air in forests all contribute to the effects,” Li told Time.
Ancaster is special
The Carolina Forest of Southern Ontario, so much a part of the heritage of Ancaster and Hamilton, should be celebrated for its many contributions to the lives of local Canadians. There are places in the world where people in far more urban environments or in areas that did not have exceptional foresight with city planning have to seek out trees and patches of grass simply to feel a small, brief connection to the natural world. In Ancaster, nature is all around. We are so very lucky.
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