‘Forest bathing’ is latest fitness trend to hit U.S. — ‘Where yoga was 30 years ago’

Over thousands of years of human history, we have effectively become an indoor species. Particularly for those of us trapped in the cubicle life, often the only times we regularly step foot outside is for our daily work commute or to run errands. In 2001, a survey sponsored by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency found that, on average, Americans spend 87 percent of their time indoors and 6 percent in an enclosed vehicle.

However, a number of scientific studies emphasize that reveling in the great outdoors promotes human health. Spending time in natural environments has been linked to lower stress levelsimproved working memory and feeling more alive, among other positive attributes.

In an effort to combat our indoor epidemic and reap these health benefits, a growing number of Americans have become followers of a Japanese practice called Shinrin-yoku. Coined by the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries in 1982, the word literally translates to “taking in the forest atmosphere” or “forest bathing” and refers to the process of soaking up the sights, smells and sounds of a natural setting to promote physiological and psychological health.

The increasing popularity of Shinrin-yoku, particularly in California, echoes the adoption of other east-to-west health trends, such as yoga and meditation. And like these activities, forest therapy can be a guided, paid-for experience or freely performed solo.

“I think about where yoga was 30 years ago and where it is today, and I realize that forest therapy is making the same journey toward cultural definition in a way that will mainstream the practice,” said Ben Page, a certified forest therapy guide who founded Shinrin Yoku Los Angeles. He recently returned to his home in Southern California after training a cohort of forest therapy guides toward certification in Sonoma County — a week-long program popular enough to have a waiting list.

Those that practice Shinrin-yoku explain that it differs from hiking or informative nature excursions because it centers on the therapeutic aspects of forest bathing.

“So whereas a nature walk’s objective is to provide informational content and a hike’s is to reach a destination, a Shinrin-yoku walk’s objective is to give participants an opportunity to slow down, appreciate things that can only be seen or heard when one is moving slowly, and take a break from the stress of their daily lives,” Page said.

For instance, a 2010 study using data from field experiments conducted in 24 forests across Japan found that subjects who participated in forest bathing had lower blood pressure, heart rate and concentrations of salivary cortisol — a stress hormone — when compared with those who walked through a city setting. Studies performed in other countries, such as Finland and the United States showed similar reductions in tension and anxiety.

“There have been studies comparing walking in nature with walking in an urban environment and testing people on their mood, different aspects of depression, and in some cases, brain scans,” said David Yaden, a research fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Positive Psychology Center. “In the natural setting, people are more relaxed and less stressed.”

People on nature walks also tend to engage in less rumination, or negative self-referential overthinking, which has been correlated with depression.

Other studies have found an association between Shinrin-yoku and a boost in immune function. Subjects took a 3-day/2-night trip to forest areas in Japan with researchers taking blood and urine samples before and after the excursion. The numbers of natural killer cells — a type of white blood cell that fights infected or tumor cells — and other immune system markers were significantly higher after forest bathing than before. Participants’ natural killer cell activity rose about 50 percent throughout the trip, while their urinary adrenaline concentration showed a decrease.

“In Japan, Shinrin-yoku trails are certified by a blood-sampling study to determine whether the natural killer cell count is raised enough for the trail to qualify,” Page said. “I should also note that in Japan and Korea, forest therapy modalities are integrated into their medical system and are covered by insurance.”

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Workout on the Beach >>

TWO YEAR LONG CASE STUDY DEMONSTRATING AN INCREASE IN ARCH HEIGHT FROM RUNNING IN MINIMALIST SHOES.

The debate is ongoing as to the use of minimalist shoes and running barefoot. Few studies have been done and there are so many variables to control which makes these existing studies practically irrelevant. To see the true effects of what happens to our foot by removing the external support from a traditional motion control running shoe, it takes time. Years actually. I would like to share an example of a runner who had abandoned her rigid orthotics and motion control ASICS running shoes and began wearing minimalist shoes. The New Balance Minimus with a zero drop to be exact.

She was 34 two and a half years ago and had flexible flat feet, a valgus position of the calcaneus ( the heel bone angles inward when observing from behind), and a valgus knee deformity (knock knees). Her symptoms consisted of knee pain as well as frequent lower back pain. She was wearing custom rigid orthotics which were implemented to realign her arch and heel bone. We had her follow my transition protocol of removing the orthotics for the first part of a run and then replacing them for the remainder. As an example, for a three mile run the orthotics would be removed for a half mile then placed back in for the remaining 2.5 miles. This was gradually increased each week until she was able to comfortably run without them. The same was done for the motion control shoes but in a slower manner. I advise using the 10% rule. Each week mileage is increased wearing the minimalist shoe by 10%. Again, the new shoe is worn first and the run is completed in the traditional shoe. This can sometimes take up to 6-8 weeks or more depending on the level of running a person is doing before the complete transition is made. Many times I tell the patient it takes 3 months to safely transition. Remember, three months can be a blink of an eye in the whole scheme of things as many patients present to me with years of pain.

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Chris Vlaun’s 3rd feature in the Wall Street Journal – A Run on the Beach Only Looks Easy

A Run on the Beach Only Looks Easy

Exercising barefoot on sand recruits more muscles and requires more energy than exercising in shoes on solid ground—making for a more demanding workout.

 

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Finding science in acupuncture

(NaturalNews) This article title is taken from a Wall Street Journal (WSJ) article by Belinda Beck, WSJ health writer. She turned in a good journalistic effort, undergoing treatments herself for chronic neck and back pain.

After two sessions, she felt better. Beck did her due journalistic diligence by interviewing various western physicians and scientists in the New York area who are familiar with acupuncture, some even practicing it.

But as Mike Adams says in a 2006 Natural News article explaining different medical modalities, the Western version of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM), which includes herbs as well as acupuncture, is not at the same level as the version practiced throughout Asia.

This has also been explained by more than one acupuncturist here in the United States. The length of time Asians can endure with needles and uncomfortable stimulation is a sensation that most Westerners can’t handle. Nevertheless, results are still achieved with “acupuncture light” in the U.S.

Adams also points out how TCM has been around, more advanced than Western medicine in many aspects, for over 4,000 years. Yet, Western “science-based” medicine tends to discount TCM’s energetic chi (qi) science because they must confirm and measure it with those expensive medical instruments. (http://www.naturalnews.com/019365_western_medicine_conventional.html)

The scientific proof dilemma

After Chicago Bear quarterback Jim McMahon’s back injury, pain was relieved by acupuncture just in time to lead the Bears to a lopsided victory in the 1986 Super Bowl, acupuncture went beyond its current acceptance, it became popular.

When asked about his acupuncture treatments, McMahon pointed out that it worked after nothing else did. That’s the point. It worked. Trying to explain how it works through Western medical science may be interesting academically, but the Western approach toward acupuncture is condescending and inappropriate.

It’s arrogantly condescending because by not understanding and accepting TCM’s 4,000-year-old science. Instead, a typical materialistic approach that has the theme “if we can’t prove it with our analytical tools it’s voodoo.”

This is inappropriate because the basic universal energy model and philosophy for TCM links a subtle energy that permeates all of life to the physical body. Conventional Western medical considers the body a machine containing tissue, blood, and chemicals without being immersed in a matrix of subtle energies.

Learning TCM through the Western medical paradigm is comparable to learning a language only well enough to be mentally interpreting into English constantly rather than fluently speaking and thinking in that other language.

The WSJ article contained graphics of MRI (magnetic resolution imagery) brain imagery showing clear evidence, before and after, of changes from acupuncture. TCM doesn’t require injecting toxic contrast resolution dyes to determine which needle points on what meridians (body chi channels) are to be stimulated to unblock or balance chi energies.

Chinese medicine practitioners diagnose without expensive equipment or invasive procedures. Lower overhead equals lower patient costs.

Beck’s article continues with some excerpts from Western research requiring expensive studies, that show how the needles affect tissue, blood, and nerves. Interesting, but that’s the wrong approach. Especially when the “scientific” conclusions are amended by “further research is necessary.”

One of the scientific “authorities,” Edzard Ernst, professor of complementary medicine at England’s Exeter University and co-author of Trick or Treatment asserts, “acupuncture clearly has a very strong placebo effect. Whether it does anything else, the jury is still out.”

Even those MRI images showing clear evidence of relief from pain were attributed to placebo effects. That’s odd. Thought-affecting health is accepted, but there’s no chi energy anywhere.

Beck’s article highlights a reader’s comment that is very appropriate: “My former spouse had shingles. Doctors told her that the terrible pain would probably last two or three years. She got acupuncture treatments, plus some Chinese herbs, and the pain was totally gone with [sic] six weeks.”

Sources for this article include:

http://www.naturalnews.com/019365_western_medicine_conventional.html

http://www.naturalnews.com/018240_Chinese_medicine.html

http://www.ehow.com/about_5104689_dangers-mri-scans.html

Learn more:  http://www.naturalnews.com/053946_acupuncture_scientific_evidence_alternative_medicine.html#ixzz48C6fByOM