We have had our fill of airborne illness. It’s time for some airborne wellness. I sat in a small circle of hazel trees on the edge of the campus at UCD recently, breathing in the smells from the mushroomy forest floor. A squirrel had been busy when I stepped into his world and then he seemed to forget I was there. Somewhere on the path outside the glade someone laughed loudly, and the sound carried through the trees. The squirrel leaped on to a feathery birch branch that looked barely strong enough to take his weight before bouncing to a higher, safer place.
Our lives are full of doing, especially in the run-up to Christmas. Forest bathing is about being. Just sitting, with no aim but to let the environment feed us with sensations, sounds, smells and sights, a small step away from the human world and into another realm.
This session was led by a friend, Federico Saracini, who's training with the Forest Therapy Hub. The Japanese concept is based on reconnecting with the natural world to get powerful health benefits. Our stress hormone drops when we spend time in forests. A recent study found that Covid deaths were lower in the more forested parts of Italy. The scientists put the findings down to diet, proximity to the sea and the abundance of Mediterranean plants emitting immune system-boosting and antiviral compounds.
Slow movements
Federico encouraged us to smell things, to pick up handfuls of leaves and, if it was safe, to taste things we found, and then he sent us off to explore alone. I found a sprig of oniony chives for my forage. We were encouraged to make our movements slow and deliberate, like foxes, Federico explained, each footfall measured to be quiet and gentle.
It got me thinking about trying to buy food that doesn’t deplete forests. Our blanket of monoculture ryegrass fertilised with synthetic chemicals has destroyed healthy habitats on which our wildlife depends, not just for an occasional visit, like humans, but 24-7. Hedgerows were ripped out because they took away from productive land, wetlands were drained. And then there is the deforestation of far-away places to grow animal feed for overstocked Irish farms, the 3.5 million tonnes of imported animal feed that go into Irish meat and dairy production every year.
Our mental and physical health depends on these habitats. They are more precious than shareholder gain in the gigantic food companies that lobby for land use as usual. Eat like it matters because it does. Less but better meat, organic locally grown vegetables. And in the future let’s mainstream agroforestry food systems that can regenerate rather than deplete our shared world.
Catherine Cleary is the co-founder of Pocket Forests
