Fresh air, rich soil, bustling wildlife, and trees, trees, and more trees. Being in a forest environment can have us feeling one with nature and miles away from the concrete jungles in which many of us live. To be more exact, currently, over 4 billion people across the world call cities home – a stark change from the smaller community-based living that was dominant throughout much of our history (1).
Urban living comes with many pros, like job opportunities and greater access to diverse recreational activities, modes of transportation, cultures, and health care services. But, like anything, urban living also has its cons. These cons, such as exposure to stressful triggers like noise pollution and air pollution, have implications for our physical and psychological health and well-being (2-4). For example, some research points to an increased risk of high blood pressure (aka “the silent killer”) and mental health issues in urban-dwelling folks compared to their rural counterparts (2;5-8).
The question then becomes: can seeking out experiences in nature help fight back against the potential pains and pitfalls of city life? Enter forest therapy—a practice that involves fully immersing oneself and one’s senses in an experience within nature. These experiences can include actively walking through and/or sitting within a forest and viewing the environment around you (2;9-11). For more answers, let’s look at a systematic review aiming to build on the presently mixed evidence base on forest therapy (2).
What the research tells us
While more high-quality research is needed, the review further supports forest therapy. More specifically, it found that this strategy may help lower both systolic and diastolic blood pressure in adult urbanites. People that start out with higher blood pressure could see more benefits than those with lower baseline blood pressure levels. Additionally, forest therapy may also work to alleviate stress, measured through a marker for stress known as salivary cortisol concentration. However, it’s important to note that the results for stress reduction are more limited and should be interpreted cautiously. In terms of program characteristics, engaging in forest therapy for longer durations of 20 minutes or more appears to be more effective for reducing systolic blood pressure and stress vs. shorter durations.
Future research will help us come to more definitive conclusions and identify the most effective forest therapy program characteristics, like what program length, session duration, activities, and level of professional guidance (vs. self-guidance) is best (2).
If you’re concerned about your blood pressure and stress levels, be sure to consult your healthcare team. Together you can discuss prevention and treatment options, including forest therapy! Remember, while nature is a beautiful thing, always interact with it safely. Seeking reputable, structured forest therapy programs with professional guides is one way to do this.
