Today more than ever, people want to know what they can do to keep healthy. Here are some important lessons I have learned from physicians, research, and history.
Hippocrates, a Greek physician whose name has survived the ages, advised us more than two thousand years ago, “Nature itself is the best physician.”
Dr. Suzanne Bartlett Hackenmiller, an American physician today in 2020, agrees. She suggests we “Grab a Tree and Hold On” if the Coronavirus is headed our way.
Four reasons Dr. Bartlett Hackenmiller gives for heading outdoors, especially among trees, to stay healthy during this pandemic are:
- Vitamin D absorbed by your skin from the sun when outdoors helps boost the immune system.
- Phytoncides, organic compounds released into the air by trees, and which keep the trees healthy, also boost our immune system when we breathe them in.
- Micro-organisms located in the soil are also dispersed into the forest air, and these help boost our immune systems when we spend time in the forest.
- Our mental health system is improved when exposed to nature. Time in forests decreases stress hormones and boosts the parasympathetic nervous system. This calming effect helps keep the immune system strong.
According to Richard Hobday, an independent researcher and author of The Healing Sun, when the influenza pandemic hit the world in 1918, fresh air, sunlight, and improvised masks made a huge difference.
Hobday writes, “Put simply, medics found that severely ill flu patients
nursed outdoors recovered better than those treated indoors. A combination of fresh air and sunlight seems to have prevented deaths among patients, and infections among medical staff. There is scientific support for this. Research shows that outdoor air is a natural disinfectant. Fresh air can kill the flu virus and other harmful germs. Equally, sunlight is germicidal and can kill the flu virus.”
Reading these articles helps me understand my own experience. As British Columbia’s first Certified Forest Therapy Guide with the Association of Nature and Forest Therapy, I began a deeper sensory connection to the forest four years ago. Before that, I worked in a hospital kitchen where I often got influenza or a cold that would last for three weeks. Since connecting with the forest more than three hours per week, I no longer get sick. There was a transition period when I would occasionally get mild flu symptoms for one to three days. I attribute my improved immune system to my forest therapy lifestyle and am deeply grateful to the forest for the medicine it gives me in this and many other ways.
Whereas forest air is highly beneficial, it is not accessible to everyone. Even getting outside among city trees is more advisable than staying indoors twenty-four hours a day.
How will I stay healthy among the crazy times of the pandemic? Social distance, wash my hands, and meander forests regularly. I will take Dr. Suzanne’s advice and “Grab a tree and hold on,” while respecting Hippocrates’ wisdom that “Nature is the best physician.” Not only will this keep me healthy, it will keep me happy too.
Words | Haida Bolton
Haida Bolton is British Columbia’s first Certified Forest Therapy Guide and lives in Pender Harbour on the beautiful Sunshine Coast. She is also a reflexologist, author, and public speaker. For more information, visit NatureWithHaida.ca.
