Get Your Dose of Trees
Get Your Dose of TREES
I regularly need a dose of Trees! Last week, I look a little vacation, a short cruise along the coast of California. While in San Francisco, we took an excursion to Muir Woods National Monument, about an hour outside of the city, over the Golden Gate Bridge near Sausalito. This is one of my favorite places to get a dose of trees, in this case Coastal Redwoods. I wandered through the forest the earthy smell filling my nostrils, the rich green from the trees and ferns drawing my eyes, and the wonderful redwood bark bringing joy to my heart. I was so filled with joy, the sights, the sounds, the smells, the sacred feeling of these old trees, that I was almost skipping down the trail. But, I was also stopping every few feet in an effort to capture the amazing ambiance of the place with photos (see some above.) Along the Redwood Creek trail you pass through "Cathedral Grove" where you are invited with signage to enter quietly, and so I did, almost reverently, and felt a deep sense of peace there among the majestic trees. I had a lovely 2 mile loop hike through the park, ending with a trip to the visitor center and gift shop. I was able to capture the sights in photos and can refer to them often—but that smell, the aroma candles in the shop just didn't quite do it justice.
The health benefits of being in the forest can readily be felt. John Muir, an environmentalist who explored the area and became an activist for conservation of places of natural beauty like Yosemite and Muir Woods, felt that time spent in nature with trees was healing and that these places should be protected for future generations.
Scientists are studying the beneficial effects of time spent in nature. Studies in Japan and Germany are calling it "Forest Bathing" or "Forest Therapy." A meta-analysis of several of these studies concludes: "The results suggest that forest-based interventions have a positive impact on the cardiovascular system; some immunological and/or inflammatory parameters; and mental health in the areas of stress, depression, anxiety, and negative emotions." https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/18/4/1770
Having grown up mostly in San Diego, I think of being out in Nature as being surrounded by chaparral; and going for a walk in the park as grass and a few trees, as the forests here are sparse. The feeling is still connection with nature, but oh so different than the dense forests of Northern California and the Pacific Northwest.
When I was in college and for years after, my brother and his family lived in Seattle, and that is where I went a few times a year for my dose of trees. I remember the first time my sister-in-law, Terri, invited me to go for a "walk in the park" to walk the dogs with her. An image of Balboa Park (in San Diego) with green grass and scattered trees popped in my head and I eagerly agreed. Where she took me was so far from that image that I am still flabbergasted with the memory.
At the time they lived on Mercer Island. We parked on the side of the road on some very green grass and took a barely visible path through an opening between the trees that lined the road, and I found myself in the woods! I was not in a park as I expected—I was immersed in a dense forest, of rich browns and deep greens, of giant ferns growing beneath towering trees. I was in awe and irrevocably in love. It was spectacular, and it shifted me energetically at a deep, visceral level. I kept needing more; I was hooked. It became my favorite way to cleanse and replenish myself after a semester at school, after the stresses of work, after being away from those trees. I used to go jogging through those woods when I visited there. Though my niece lives there and my sister-in-law recently moved back, my visits to Seattle have been fewer and fewer and it has sometimes been years in between. Thankfully, I was there earlier this year and got my dose of trees.
I am so grateful for other forests that I get to visit. The forests of Lake Tahoe, the San Bernardino Mountains, Yosemite, and last week to Muir Woods. Holding on to the feelings evoked from my visit, and often looking at my photos, helps to sustain me until the next time that I can do a little Forrest Bathing. I highly recommend it. See if you can find some time to commune with the trees and immerse yourself in nature's beauty.