Do you suffer from hypertension and muscular tension?
Or are you just a bit stressed up?
Then TREE THERAPY might be something for you!
International studies from Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences conclude, that subjects exposed to the sight of a green and friendly woodland scenery will relax more easily and have fewer muscular tensions as well as a lower pulse and blood pressure.
The effect is not the same if people are exposed to fields, buildings or a naked winter landscape.
Yes, sure, yes - I love spending time sitting on a tree stump alone in wildish nature (as long as my stomach is full, I am not soaking wet and no wolves, brown bears, bugs or maniacs are bothering me) - but I wonder if it applies to all - I have noticed that many young urbans don't seem to appreciate nature the same way. On contrary they seem to get bored and stressed out at once when being exposed to nature out there for REAL. I wonder if these kind of young people are included in the studies ....
And I recall passages from Eating, What we eat and why it matters by Peter Singer addressing how we are getting more and more used to artificial meat, artificial vegetables etc. - which means we can no longer distinguish properly between "nature" and nature - in fact the majority prefer "nature" to nature nowadays.
Danish author Keld Hansen is similarly writing about how we are getting more and more accustomed to "forests", which in fact does not deserve the title "forest" but should rather be called "intensively cultivated plantations".
So I personally question the deeper values, when we go green to beat the blues and are opting for nature therapy, eco therapy, wilderness therapy, healing gardens, green therapy or you name it ......
In a way we have still chosen the artificial in favour of the natural.
But no doubt, the longing for the lost wilderness is present and has to be taken seriously - the most simple step is to go out there in the nearest woody thing, called a forest or not, and find one's own NATURAL place ...while it's still there and for free... and start d r e a m i n g.
