49 Results Found

Background: Current literature supports the comprehensive health benefits of exposure to nature and green environments on human systems. The aim of this state-of-the-art review is to elucidate empirical research conducted on the physiological and psy...

Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a group of disorders of the heart and blood vessels and include coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, rheumatic heart disease, and other conditions, which are leading causes of global morbidity and mortal...

This study investigated the physiological and psychological therapeutic effects of a digital Shinrin-yoku environment constructed indoors in an urban facility as well as the characteristics of the environment that contribute to restorativeness (resto...

Professional healthcare worker burnout is a crisis in the United States healthcare system. This crisis can be viewed at any level, from the national to local communities, but ultimately, must be understood at the level of the individual who is caring...

Since a single forest walk (Shinrin-yoku or forest bathing) session is reported to improve sleep temporarily, occasional forest walks may have a positive effect on daily sleep. Therefore, this study aimed to examine whether more frequent forest walki...

Mindfulness and Shinrin-yoku (SY) translated as forest bathing, is potentially effective to alleviate mental health issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond. The purpose of this article is to provide a translational and pragmatic approach t...

Cancer can have a significant impact on one’s life situation, with many patients reporting psychosocial discomfort, worry, anxiety, fear of recurrence, depression, tiredness/fatigue, sleep problems, pain and numerous other problems even long af...

Background: It has been reported that forest bathing significantly reduced negative emotions and increased the positive feelings in both healthy males and females, as well as increasing blood serotonin in healthy males, indicating the potential for a...

This paper evaluates the impact of the forest environment on aggressive manifestations in adolescents. A remedial educative programme was performed with 68 teenagers from institutions with substitute social care with diagnoses F 30.0 (affective disor...

Background: Shinrin-yoku, forest bathing, has been shown to improve the pain experience in arthritis patients and the immune system in normal healthy patients. Yet, a simulated forest immersion therapy (SFIT) experience has not been tested in these t...

Shinrin-yoku, forest bathing, may provide relief from chronic and breakthrough pain in patients with axial spondyloarthritis and improve immune function through increasing NK cell numbers and activity and their downstream effectors, perforin and gran...

This study aimed to investigate the effects of dynamic and static forest bathing (Shinrin-yoku) on the physiological and psychological health of males and females. Dynamic pre-test and post-test forest bathing was performed on 11 participants (5 male...

The current study analyses the evolution of different human stress markers during an 8 h exposure to a Mediterranean Holm oak forest. We conducted a pre-post study with thirty-one subjects in which saliva samples were collected before the exposure (b...

Recent research underscores the positive effects of nature exposure on health and well-being. Growing evidence also links biodiversity within these environments to enhanced health outcomes, as diverse ecosystems may offer a broader range of multi-sen...

Open habitats in forests perform several important functions. In addition to enriching biodiversity, they have an impact on the diversification of the forest landscape, and through complex processes and trophic relationships, they provide greater sus...

Background/Objectives: The main objective of the present study is to assess the short-term effects of Forest Bathing (FB) conducted in a Mediterranean forest on individuals with fibromyalgia (FM) and/or chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgia encephalomyeli...

Background: The aim of this systematic review of systematic reviews was to identify, summarise, and synthesise the available evidence of systematic reviews (SRs) and meta-analyses (MAs) on the preventative and therapeutic psychological and physical e...

Numerous medical studies have shown the positive effects of forests on different aspects of human health. This study deals with the content of major terpenes in dominant coniferous species in Tara National Park, Serbia, in order to explore the potent...

The potential of forests as a source of health has been addressed by the scientific community and is now being considered in national forest strategies, management plans and policies. Studies identifying the mechanisms by which forest characteristics...

The positive effect of forest bathing on the mental health and wellbeing of those suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder or experiencing stress has been proven. It is not known, however, how ‘forest therapy’ affects the mental heal...

Research Highlights: This review gives an overview of existing literature on the emerging topic of human wellbeing-forest contact nexus and provides a preliminary framework linking forests to wellbeing by highlighting key variables affecting this rel...

The number of people addicted to gambling has increased worldwide. They often suffer from debilitating medical conditions associated with stress or depression. This study examined the physiological and psychological reactions of gambling disorder (GD...

Research is increasingly focusing on the health-promoting effects of forest healing programs. A number of different health indicators are in use, necessitating the establishment of standardized health measurement tools and protocols for forest healin...

In the mid-1980s, forest bathing was established in Japan to improve citizens’ physical and mental health. In the literature, many studies have investigated the role of forest bathing in decreasing people’s stress and anxiety as well as i...

The study aims to evaluate the demand for forest bathing in northern Italy’s regions, underlining the willingness to pay and the potential tourists’ habits and flows on attending alpine contexts. Several studies have analyzed the psychoph...

Forest bathing was proposed in Japan in 1982 for the purpose of reducing stress and health management, and research on the health promotion and disease prevention effects of forest bathing began in Japan in 2004. Since then, the author’s resear...

The present study investigated the well-being effects of short-term forest walking and viewing (“forest bathing”). The hypothesis in our study was that both environment (forest vs. urban) and activity (walking and viewing) would influence psychologic...

Forest bathing practices benefit individuals’ physical and mental health. A growing number of published studies provide evidence of such effects in diverse populations and contexts. However, no literature has been found that evaluates the effec...

Environmental health research has recently started to study the health effects of well-being-promoting practices based on forest exposure. This narrative review aims to understand whether forest exposure can directly improve respiratory function. Pub...

Research suggests that stays in a forest promote relaxation and reduce stress compared to spending time in a city. The aim of this study was to compare stays in a forest with another natural environment, a cultivated field. Healthy, highly sensitive...

Research on forest therapy and health outcomes is insufficient and involves the limited unification of various health indicators. Information on the natural therapeutic elements of forests and forest-therapy programs is insufficient. We investigated...

(1) Background: Although interest in the health-promoting effects of forest therapy is increasing, few researchers have investigated the mid-long-term impact of such therapy on health indicators or exercise behaviors. We explored changes in physical...

This scoping review aims to outline key discoveries, gaps in knowledge, and potential future directions in the field of forest therapy research in Europe. Clinical studies investigating the effects of forest therapy sessions in Europe were systematic...

Research Highlights: This study demonstrated that viewing forest landscapes induced physical and mental health benefits on young women. Background and Objectives: The health-promoting effects of spending time in forests have received increasing atten...

Forest recreation can be successfully conducted for the purpose of psychological relaxation, as has been proven in previous scientific studies. During the winter in many countries, when snow cover occurs frequently, forest recreation (walking, relax...

This study was aimed to clarify the physiological effects of visual stimulation using forest imagery on activity of the brain and autonomic nervous system. Seventeen female university students (mean age, 21.1 ± 1.0 years) participated in the study. A...

We investigated the influence of forest management on landscape appreciation and psychological restoration in on-site settings by exposing respondents to an unmanaged, dense coniferous (crowding) forest and a managed (thinned) coniferous forest; we s...

Humans have evolved into what they are today after the passage of 6–7 million years. If we define the beginning of urbanization as the rise of the industrial revolution, less than 0.01% of our species’ history has been spent in modern surroundings. H...

The effects of forest activities on health promotion have received increasing attention. The aim of this study was to evaluate the physiological and psychological effects of brief walks in forests on young women. The experiments were conducted in 6 f...

Forest recreation is an activity that could be successfully used to alleviate negative symptoms of stress in individuals. Multiple positive psychological and physiological effects have been described in the literature, especially regarding works desc...

This study aimed to clarify the psychological benefits of brief walks through forest areas. In addition, we aimed to examine the associations between psychological responses and trait anxiety levels. Five-hundred-and-eighty-five participants (mean ag...

Previous research has mainly dealt with the physiological and psychological restorative effects of the forest environment. However, comparatively few studies have focused on how the traits and attributes of individuals (individual traits) affect the...

Forest bathing (Shinrin-Yoku in Japanese) is used as an intervention for improving mental health, with VR being used to create virtual forests for relaxation. Background/Objectives: In this research, we added therapeutic intent to a virtual forest wi...

The boundary between mindfulness and forest bathing, two conceptually related therapies, is unclear. Accordingly, this study reports the strengths and challenges, similarities and differences, and barriers and facilitators for both. Semi-structured i...

In the face of the limitations in pharmacological and surgical interventions for neurological conditions such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease, patients are increasingly turning to non-pharmacological and alternative therapies to ma...

Forest frequentation is associated with benefits for human health, warranting the importance of forest-based health practices. These practices can be classified into four categories: connection with nature (e.g., Shinrin-Yoku, yoga, and meditation);...

Forest bathing is based upon a Japanese practice known as Shinrin–Yoku and is a nature-based therapy involving mindful walks through ancient woodland to reduce stress and anxiety. One proposed mechanism behind the effectiveness of Forest bathin...

Amidst rapid societal changes and increasing urbanization, human connectivity with nature has declined, exacerbating public health concerns. This study assesses the efficacy of Shinrin-yoku, or ‘forest bathing’, in Wuyishan National Park...

A recent study (FIBROWALK) has supported the effectiveness of a multicomponent treatment based on pain neuroscience education (PNE), exercise therapy (TE), cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), and mindfulness in patients with fibromyalgia. The aim of...