Why I'm Spending More Time Amongst the Trees
What My Dog Already Knew
On nice mornings and evenings, I like to spend time on my back deck with my dog, Greta.
In the morning, I usually write my daily journal entry.
At night, I’ll read a book or watch the Cincinnati Reds game on my laptop, all while Greta does stuff like this:
I’ve noticed a trend. Sitting outside relaxes me. I feel more grounded. I feel like I can breathe deeper. The world moves a little slower.
I’ve never stopped to think about this, although I have read plenty of times that being in nature is healthy for us.
Sure, a lot of things are healthy for us. How can you keep track of it all?
It wasn’t until, ironically, I was sitting on my deck one night and saw an Instagram post about the benefits of “forest bathing” that I started to get really curious.
How in the world would spending time in nature amongst the plants and trees actually make us feel better?
As one does now, I naturally turned to my AI minions to inquire about the legitimacy of what I’d read in the IG post.
And shockingly enough, there is hard science behind the benefits.
Trees give off essential oils called phytoncides. It’s part of how they defend themselves against bacteria and insects.
Turns out, when we breathe them in, our bodies respond too.
Research from Dr. Qing Li at Nippon Medical School1 found that phytoncide exposure lowers cortisol (the stress hormone) and blood pressure. It also increases the body’s production of Natural Killer cells, the ones responsible for hunting down virus-infected and tumor cells.
There are very similar benefits for dogs as well.
What?
As I was reading summaries of the research, it got me thinking about how I spend my time. The vast majority of it is spent indoors in artificial lighting, breathing stale air and looking at the blue light of TVs, phones, and laptop screens.
I made a decision that night on the deck that I’m going to spend more time outside amongst the trees.
They’re another tool in my mental health toolkit, even if I’m not quite at the hugging phase yet.
A few nights later, I was back on the couch, stressed about something, and caught myself wondering if I’d actually followed through. Had I been outside at all that day?
I hadn’t.
So I grabbed my laptop and went and sat on the deck instead.
Greta followed me out, like she always does, and got comfortable in about four seconds.
She figured this out a long time before I read an Instagram post about it.
Being out in nature whether on a dirt trail or even a paved bike path is great for clearing your head or concentrating on just about anything. When you stumble onto a new plant or creature it is pretty special.
We would go camping as a child and one of my favorite things was to lay under the pine trees and listen to the breeze through the pine needles. I didn’t understand until later why I loved this so much - and still do. It’s instant zen for me. Oh! And the fragrance mmmmmmmm. 🌳☮️