Research - Grounding
Walk in the Forest: Shinrin'Yoku's Holistic Healing Effects
Margaret M. Hansen
The cost of healthcare in the United States has become exorbitant.1 The United States spent 17.8% of its gross domestic product on healthcare in 2016 and this cost reflects twice as much as other high-income countries, such as the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Australia, Japan, Sweden, France, Switzerland, Denmark, and the Netherlands.1 Moreover, in 2016, the United States demonstrated the poorest population health outcomes, the lowest life expectancy, as well as the lowest population older than 65 years.1
Complementary and alternative methods (CAMs) of healing, such as the Japanese practice of Shinrin’yoku (SY; ), literally translated as forest and bathing, are present in the literature for holistic health promotion; however, similar to other CAMs, it is not globally acknowledged and there is a call for more research.2,3
SY is the mindful practice of taking in the forest environment by actively allowing the five human senses to take in the beneficial effects of nature.4 The recent U.S. National Public Health Week (April 1–7, 2018) inspired me to look at other countries, such as Japan, and to reach out to my Congressman and share with him the SY positive health outcomes reported in the literature. One burning question the author posed to the Congressman’s assistant was: How might the tenets of SY be adopted by the U.S. government policy makers to support a national movement in creating a healthier nation? Based on the knowledge of SY’s reported positive physiologic and psychologic effects on individuals, the author aims in this commentary to introduce a review of some empirical studies and models supporting the holistic effects of SY for healthcare and environmental researchers, government public health policy makers, and interested individual citizens. In addition, the author makes a call for qualitative research regarding the potential spiritual effects.
Twenty-first century contemporary individuals live in urban, industrial, and crowded spaces with stressed natural environments ultimately affecting the human psyche. In 2014, 54% of the global population lived in urban areas and a projected 66% will live in such areas by 2050.5 Moreover, the global urbanized population is forecasted to be over six billion by 2045. Tokyo was ranked top in the United Nations’4 report with 38 million people living in the city; however, central to the largest metropolis in the world is a large lush garden for its citizens to find respite. This increase in the global populace will result in an even more stressed environment and increased individual challenges associated with housing, transportation, energy, climate regulation, mental health, and employment.5
Psychologically, researchers have conducted studies surrounding the amelioration of anxiety and overstressed human states by walking, sitting, hiking, or lying down in a forest and breathing in phytoncides (aromatic volatile compounds released by trees), such as the scent of cedar or hinoki cypress trees.6–8 Urban planning including increased green spaces, access to forests, and hiking/walking paths has empirically demonstrated human restorative effects, including relaxation and decreased mental and physical stress states.9
Source : Journal Alternative and Complementary Medicine
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Earthing (Grounding) the Human Body Reduces Blood Viscosity—a Major Factor in Cardiovascular Disease
Gaétan Chevalier, Stephen T. Sinatra, James L. Oschman, and Richard M. Delany.
1Developmental and Cell Biology Department, University of California at Irvine, Irvine, CA.
2Department of Medicine, University of Connecticut School of Medicine, Farmington, CT
.3Nature's Own Research Association, Dover, NH.4Personalized Preventive Medicine, Milton, MA.
Abstract
Objectives: Emerging research is revealing that direct physical contact of the human body with the surface of the earth (grounding or earthing) has intriguing effects on human physiology and health, including beneficial effects on various cardiovascular risk factors. This study examined effects of 2 hours of grounding on the electrical charge (zeta potential) on red blood cells (RBCs) and the effects on the extent of RBC clumping.
Design/interventions: Subjects were grounded with conductive patches on the soles of their feet and palms of their hands. Wires connected the patches to a stainless-steel rod inserted in the earth outdoors. Small fingertip pinprick blood samples were placed on microscope slides and an electric field was applied to them. Electrophoretic mobility of the RBCs was determined by measuring terminal velocities of the cells in video recordings taken through a microscope. RBC aggregation was measured by counting the numbers of clustered cells in each sample.
Settings/location: Each subject sat in a comfortable reclining chair in a soundproof experiment room with the lights dimmed or off.
Subjects: Ten (10) healthy adult subjects were recruited by word-of-mouth.
Results: Earthing or grounding increased zeta potentials in all samples by an average of 2.70 and significantly reduced RBC aggregation.
Conclusions: Grounding increases the surface charge on RBCs and thereby reduces blood viscosity and clumping. Grounding appears to be one of the simplest and yet most profound interventions for helping reduce cardiovascular risk and cardiovascular events.
Source : The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine. February 2013, 19(2): 102-110. doi:10.1089/acm.2011.0820.
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