Wild dendrophile

Plants heal without needing to be turned into teas, compounds, salves, or pills. A forest is no different. As someone that has taken up the habit to disappear into my nearby forest and wilderness areas after a long week at work – or even during the week sometimes – I can attest to this anectdotally. Hiking for miles in the woods may not be everyone’s cup of tea, but it brings a sense of ease and relief that I have a difficult time explaining. However, perhaps my drive to flee into the woods when stressed is not so spiritual as it is an evolutionary drive.

Science is starting to understand that our immune systems, like an antenna, pick up the chemical signals from plants – which in turn trigger our immune system. Our endocrine system is also indirectly impacted. What is it that our immune system is picking up? Terpenes. These invisible, molecular, chemical signals are one of the largest sets of “vocabulary” that plants use to communicate with each other. The smell of a forest is, in essence, the multitude of terpenes being released from the “fresh” air to the earthy smell of the decomposing leaf litter under your shoes. Entire conversations are being held between the trees, moss, mycelium, and other plants in this way. A conversation that your immune system and that reptilian brain are able to unconsciously interpret as you walk through a forest.

Have you ever walked in to a forest and taken a deep breath? In that breath are terpenes entering your body, telling your immune system to create killer blood cells and your reptilian brain to relax. It’s pretty incredible to think about. Studies have shown that even just imagining a forest can reduce cortisol levels and help patients heal from depression. What is most fascinating to me though is that by visiting an actual forest, for just 4 hours, can increase your immune system’s white blood cells by 40%. And this effect lasts for 7 days.

You don’t even have to hike or exercise at all – just be present and breathe in.