Tai Chi, Nature and Wellbeing
Time immersed in nature just feels right and good.
“Rest is not idleness, and to lie sometimes on the grass under the trees on a summer’s day, listening to the murmur of water, or watching the clouds float across the blue sky, is by no means waste of time.”
— John Lubbock (b1894), The Use of Life.
We all, no doubt, have felt the need to get away from things or escape for a period of time to recharge our mental batteries. We seem to know that time spent in green space is just what the doctor ordered. A stroll in a park, pausing beside a river to watch its flow, or sitting against a favourite tree; each can help us feel at ease and clear our heads. Time immersed in nature just feels right and good.
Why Purposeful Time In Nature Is Good For Us
Research backs up our feelings that when we visit green spaces we move into a state of mind called effortless attention. Evidence from studies around the world show that time spent in nature leads to more relaxed brain wave activity.
Feelings of anxiety, frustration and depression reduce as we find relief from stress and mental fatigue. It would seem green spaces, even a view out of a hospital window onto a garden area, can all help people cope and manage better.¹
These studies support a theory called soft fascination proposed by Rachel and Steven Kaplan in their book, The Experience of Nature: A Psychological Perspective, they talk about the restorative experience of nature.²
They describe how time spent in nature’s soft fascination allows us to enter into a state of effortless attention. The restorative experience of effortless attention can leave us feeling refreshed and re-energized.
The Kaplan’s work and that of others echoes research into the benefits of a popular activity enjoyed by people in Japan called Shinrin-yoku or forest bathing.
What Is Forest Bathing?
You may have heard of forest bathing recently in the media on the importance of getting out into green spaces. We’ve probably all enjoyed something akin to forest bathing albeit without knowing it had a name. In Japan you will find people go to specially designated forest trails to ‘bathe or shower’ in the healing atmosphere of the trees. In Japan it literally is called forest bathing or Shinrin-yoku — 森林浴.
Researchers have found that regular strolls in these lush forest spaces can offer profound health benefits for people living with many different long term physical and mental health conditions.³
Forest bathing began in 1982, as part of a national health programme in Japan to encourage the mainly urban Japanese population to take slow, leisurely strolls following specially designed forest trails. The characters for forest (森林 shinrin) combined with the character for bath or bathing (浴 yoku) evoke a sense of deep immersion in the potent atmosphere of the Japan pine forests that cover over two thirds of Japan.
“I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had to teach, and not, when I came to die, discover that I had not lived.”
― Walden; or, Life in the Woods. Henry David Thoreau
When forest bathing we adopt a very different pace and way of being from the fast paced walks or rambles we might be more familiar with in the UK. Instead, we take our time to stop and pause often, we might sit down for a while to immerse ourselves in our surroundings and simply take notice of what’s going on.
At the time of those early studies in Japan, researchers had an interest in the health benefits of the heavily scented pine forests. They had a special interest in the phytoncides which the trees give off and suffuse the atmosphere. When forest bathing people breathe in these phytoncides, studies show that they appear to enhance the activity of natural killer cells that help our bodies to fight various diseases.
Since those early days research has continued into the benefits of regular forest bathing, or forest therapy as it has become called in other countries. When enjoyed regularly, time spent in forest settings reduces stress hormones, promotes feelings of wellbeing, stimulates creative ideas, lowers heart rate and blood pressure, boosts the immune system and accelerates recovery from illness.
Roots In China
“Heaven is under our feet as well as over our heads.”
― Walden; or, Life in the Woods. Henry David Thoreau.
China has a millennia long tradition of people travelling to mountains and forests for the very same reasons we do so today, to find some much needed breathing space, to clear our heads and take on new perspectives, or simply for the physical endeavour of travelling in remote landscapes.
If you delve a little deeper into the roots of tai chi as an exercise you soon find out that those roots spring from rich cultural and philosophical ideas. Those roots are are grounded in early Confucian and Taoist concepts of human beings living not separate from nature. Instead, human beings are seen as deeply embedded within the greater landscape, the earth, and the universe around us.
How Can I Enjoy Time In Green Space?
We encourage people who join our classes and workshops to find a little private space, a garden if they have one, or a quiet corner in a park, where they can spend some meaningful time.
We often receive feedback from participants saying their practice of tai chi takes on a new sense of purpose when they do get outside. They find that they take notice of what’s going on around them, and at the same time, become more mindful of what’s going on within themselves too.
Perhaps more importantly, as pointed out by Professor Miles Richardson in his blog, Moments, not minutes: The nature-wellbeing relationship:⁵
“What matters is how that time is spent — developing and being in a close relationship with nature.”
Miles reminds us that:
“We need to tune into nature and develop greater nature connectedness if we want to maximise the benefits to our own, and nature’s wellbeing.”
Even the tai chi and qigong movements we enjoy, more often than not, have their names grounded in nature, ‘Wave Hands In Clouds’, or ‘White Crane Exercises It’s Wings’. The movements all begin to make perfect sense when we get outside and enjoy our tai chi practise outdoors.
We hope you’ve enjoyed this short article and that it encourages you to get outdoors. You don’t have to practise any tai chi movements if you feel a little unsure. Simply taking a regular stroll, or sitting quietly for a while in a green space will offer important benefits for our physical health and sense of wellbeing.
We hope that helps inspire you to get going.
If you have a friend, a family member, or a colleague you think might enjoy this article please do share it with them.
All the best,
Phil & Helen
Books
- The Use of Life. Sir John Lubbock.
- Walden; or, Life in the Woods. Henry David Thoreau.
References
- Why Hospitals Are Planting Gardens. Forbes Magazine.
- Rachel Kaplan & Stephen Kaplan. The Experience of Nature: A Psychological Perspective. Cambridge University Press: 1989.
- Take Two Hours Of Pine Forest And Call Me In The Morning. Outside Magazine.
- Five Ways To Wellbeing. New Economics Foundation.
- Moments, Not Minutes: The Nature-Wellbeing Relationship. Prof. Miles Richardson.