“I only went out for a walk and finally concluded to stay out till sundown, for going out, I found, was really going in.”
— John Muir, “John of the Mountains: The Unpublished Journals of John Muir”; Edited by Linnie Marsh Wolfe (University of Wisconsin Press, 1938, republished 1979)*
Dozens of scientific studies, mostly conducted in Japan, have returned hard evidence to suggest that spending time in greenspace is good for your physical and mental health. The practice known as Shinrin Yoku or “forest bathing” reduces cortisol levels and also seems to boost immune system.
Although scientists attribute the psychological, physiological and immunological benefits of forest bathing to breathing in volatile substances, called phytoncides (wood essential oils), which are antimicrobial volatile organic compounds derived from trees, such as a-pinene and limonene, (Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forest_bathing) PeapodLife has an alternative explanation.
“There is a pleasure in the pathless woods,
There is a rapture on the lonely shore,
There is society, where none intrudes,
By the deep sea, and music in its roar:
I love not man the less, but Nature more.”
— George Gordon, Lord Byron, “Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage”*
The connection between Shinrin-yoku and aromatherapy is not without merit, but here again, a materialist scientific approach to both erroneously assumes that it is exposure to the physical substances compounds themselves which confers benefits.
In many traditions of herbal and esoteric medicine, oils must be activated through the application of heat; incense, for example, must be burned—more accurately expressed and effectively activated as smoldered. In other words, there is an energetic quality at work play.
It is this energy, the stress-relieving, life-giving, immune-system-boosting and mood enhancing power of nature that emanates from all natural environments; but particularly from ecosystems. The higher-order the ecosystem, the greater the benefits—physical and psychological.
Unfortunately, until materialist science is trapped within the confines of lower-order intelligence, it will not likely accept nor endorse either the high-order intelligentsia of ecosystems or their high-order energetic benefits, shackled as they are to the paradigm of “physical evidence.” Perhaps said scientists have spent too much time studying nature in cold, heartless laboratories…
“Man’s heart away from nature becomes hard.”— Standing Bear*
One thing is certain: it takes only a moment or two in the company of a PeapodLife ecosystem to feel said energy and know something intelligent is working to make you feel better…it’s a knowing you feel in your heart.
*All Quotes Sourced from: nscblog.com: Nathan S. Collier BLOG: Shinrin-yoku
No comments:
Post a Comment