What is Forest Bathing and how can it help decrease pain?

Happy Earth Day!

What's your favorite aspect of nature?

You may know that I love the beach, but I truly appreciate being surrounded by greenery and recent research has been shedding light on why this is.

"Forest Bathing" is a term regarding immersing yourself in nature and the powerful, positive effects this can have on our bodies.

The positive physiological effects include:

• blood pressure reduction,

• improvement of autonomic functions,

• boosting immunity

• remarkably improving inflammatory indexes,

• increasing antioxidant indexes, and

• improving electrophysiological indexes

The psychological effects include:

• alleviating anxiety and depression

• improving mental health.

• significantly enhancing people’s emotional state, attitude, and feelings towards things,

• physical and psychological recovery, and adaptive behaviors

Basically, we are "rebooting" the brain when we get out into nature. Decreasing stress hormones and increasing happy (feel good) hormones. This has the effect of "calming" the nervous system allowing for the reduction of chronic pain.

Pretty powerful stuff and it doesn't require a prescription or copay!

Get out into nature today and FEEL better!

Here's the latest nature pic I took. I absolutely love me a big sky!!