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Letting Nature Be Your Doctor
380 Plays2 years ago
With spring fully upon most of us in the Northern Hemisphere, we long to get out in Nature. And thankfully, being out in Nature is one of the most beneficial things we can do for our physical, mental, and emotional health.
Nature therapy... eco-therapy... forest bathing... earthing... whatever you wish to call it, that's what this episode is all about. And here are some links that may be helpful to you, if you would like to read more about this fantastic way of making yourself healthier, simply by being outdoors.
Here is the link to the research work, found on the website of the National Institute of Health:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3265077/?msclkid=1a76f12cafce11ec8c08ddf4150f54c0
And here are some links about how medical professionals are making use of nature therapy of various kinds, to help their patients!
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/canada-doctors-can-prescribe-time-in-nature-with-free-admission-to-national-parks/?msclkid=9517bc1fafc611ec9a57f747ef70db48
https://www.globalwellnesssummit.com/2019-global-wellness-trends/prescribing-nature/?msclkid=9517ede8afc611ecaed075faa89b2d4f
Nature therapy... eco-therapy... forest bathing... earthing... whatever you wish to call it, that's what this episode is all about. And here are some links that may be helpful to you, if you would like to read more about this fantastic way of making yourself healthier, simply by being outdoors.
Here is the link to the research work, found on the website of the National Institute of Health:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3265077/?msclkid=1a76f12cafce11ec8c08ddf4150f54c0
And here are some links about how medical professionals are making use of nature therapy of various kinds, to help their patients!
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/canada-doctors-can-prescribe-time-in-nature-with-free-admission-to-national-parks/?msclkid=9517bc1fafc611ec9a57f747ef70db48
https://www.globalwellnesssummit.com/2019-global-wellness-trends/prescribing-nature/?msclkid=9517ede8afc611ecaed075faa89b2d4f
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Transcript
Podcast Introduction
00:00:03
Speaker
Hello and welcome to the Full Spectrum Holistic Health Podcast. This podcast is all about holistic health, what it is, various holistic and alternative health therapies, and how those may help you to be a healthier and happier person. Thanks for choosing to listen today. I know there are many podcasts out there for you to choose from, and I'm glad you are here.
Dr. Burton's Qualifications
00:00:26
Speaker
I'm the host for the podcast, Dr. Anthony Burton. I'm a Reiki master, EFT therapist,
00:00:32
Speaker
meditation teacher, and a shamanic practitioner. My goal is to help people be healthier in body, mind, and spirit, and that's why I'm here.
Podcast Content Overview
00:00:42
Speaker
A large part of what I do is educational in nature because so many people are unaware of the power and efficacy of various holistic and alternative therapies. In these podcasts, we'll hear stuff that will inform you, enlighten you, and help energize and balance you.
00:01:00
Speaker
Of course, it won't always be only my opinions and ideas because occasionally I will be interviewing knowledgeable and interesting guests from a variety of areas of holistic and complementary health practices. So kick back and relax, open your mind, and listen.
Location & Recording Context
00:01:19
Speaker
Spectrum Holistic is a complementary health and wellness business located in northwest Georgia, USA.
00:01:24
Speaker
Check out the website at www.spectrum-holistic.com for more information. Well, as you might have guessed from some of the background noise, um, I recorded this podcast episode outside, but there's a good reason for that. Um, and you'll find out soon if you listen to the episode.
00:01:53
Speaker
Now I don't know about where you live, but here in Georgia, in our part of the USA, spring is in pretty much full force, yet we have the occasional cool day, and today it is really windy, as you can tell, but the temperature is nice, and it is, for the most part, nice and sunny and warm, the occasional spring rain, but
00:02:20
Speaker
Spring is here, definitely.
Benefits of Nature on Health
00:02:23
Speaker
But whether it's spring or summer or autumn or winter, getting out in nature can be a real boon to our mental health, our emotional health and our physical health. Now, it's not to say that you need to get out and walk in a pouring rain or in a blowing blizzard or anything like that. But being out in nature or nature therapy, whether you're walking through
00:02:50
Speaker
feel the flowers or strolling on a long sandy beach or ambling along a mountain path or tripping your way gaily through a woody gland has been shown to be truly beneficial to human beings. Now the idea of nature therapy goes something like this. When a person feels stressed they go out into some natural location and walk in it. Now this does not mean hiking.
00:03:21
Speaker
hiking is generally purposeful. It's often strenuous. And usually there's a definite goal in mind, uh, climbing a particular mountain, uh, completing a particular distance within a certain time, getting some good sweaty exercise, you know, et cetera. That's not what this is. We're talking about relaxed, easy walking with you managed to cover.
00:03:47
Speaker
a thousand yards or two months and whether you walk uphill or downhill. It has nothing to do with achieving a particular heart rate either so while you're doing this you don't keep checking your Fitbit or your other health monitor whether you're looking at your heartbeat or how many steps you attained. Now if you want to check at the beginning see what your step count is and then when everything's over
00:04:17
Speaker
Check it at the end. That's different, but you should not be focused on your steps while you're doing this walking.
Physical Health Benefits
00:04:26
Speaker
Because, you see, being out in nature, at least for people who do not have an irrational fear of nature, which is known as biophobia, has a calming and soothing effect on the psyche. Whether that is from the flowers, the beauty and the scent of the flowers,
00:04:46
Speaker
The trees, the breeze, gently sighing through the branches. Of course, we can tell it's not really gently sighing here today or whatever. It has a physiological effect. Research has shown that people with blood pressure regulation issues. Now, that doesn't always mean high blood pressure. Some people have a problem with low blood pressure. It drops too low and they tend to fall over.
00:05:15
Speaker
But whether that blood pressure is too high or too low, people who are out in that nice, natural environment tend to return to a safe, healthy level of blood pressure, whether it was originally too high or originally too low, especially when you measure it over time. And because of this, there is one really great advantage to this.
Immune System Boost
00:05:43
Speaker
It self-regulates to the individual whether your original blood pressure was too high or too low. There's no need for a blood pressure lowering medication or a blood pressure increasing medication.
00:05:59
Speaker
Now, there's another discovered benefit that they found, especially when being out in nature in forests. Now, this forest in particular is the boosting of immune function. People with immune deficiency can really gain benefits to their immune function by spending time in nature, both from exposure to chemicals called phytosins, which are found widely in forest air, and from reducing stress, because reducing that stress
00:06:28
Speaker
boost your immune function. Of course, a combination of these two, the healthy blood pressure regulation and boosting the immune response, makes for a generally healthier person. So you've got illness prevention and also quicker and easier recovery from illness.
Health Systems & Society Benefits
00:06:48
Speaker
Of course, now this is great for the individual, but an even larger advantage to society. And sometimes we don't think about the advantages to society, we're just thinking about
00:06:58
Speaker
our own health right now, but there is an advantage to society. And that is a reduced strain on health services. ICUs and ERs are often stretched to the limit, especially now in the pandemic and for the last couple of years. And anytime hospitalization can reasonably be avoided, it's a boon to everyone. Now I know that earlier I said,
00:07:26
Speaker
When a person feels stressed, they get out in nature and yeah, that's good. But honestly, it's even better if you can make a regular practice of getting out in nature before you get stressed. Now we know as Americans and as human beings, maybe in general, we like to do things on an as needed basis. You know, Oh, I've got that, uh, I got that physical fitness test coming up next week.
00:07:54
Speaker
I better get out and run five miles every day. I haven't been running up to now, but I better get out and run and do a little practice. And that's just stupid. You're gonna have a heart attack. The best thing for you today to do is to get out in nature before you get stressed. It's something I preach all the time to my clients, illness prevention, as opposed to treating illness. It was Benjamin Franklin in 1736 who said in the poor Richard's Almanac,
00:08:24
Speaker
An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure. Now, even though Ben said that nearly 300 years ago, that statement is still true. Now, if you don't believe me, well, ask any smoker who has emphysema or COPD or lung cancer if they wish they had just stopped smoking a long time ago instead of being forced to do so by their illness.
Understanding Shinrin Yoku
00:08:53
Speaker
Now, one of my favorite terms for this being out in the woods and being out in nature comes from Japan, where it is called shinrin yoku, which translates as bathing in the forest or forest bathing. Of course, it really doesn't mean carrying your towel and your soap and bucket of water out into the woods to get cleaned up. Rather, it is in the sense of bathing like swimming is bathing.
00:09:20
Speaker
Immerse yourself in the sights and sounds and smells and sensations of being in the forest. Now I know, not everyone has access to pristine wilderness, and that's unfortunate. My wife and I are truly blessed in that we live out in the country. We have some acreage around us. We can go walking in the woods around here, out on the grass, wherever we wish.
00:09:47
Speaker
And we also live just maybe three quarters of a mile from a really nice county park. So we've got that covered, but not everyone has that. And I also know that not everyone is fond of being out of doors. Oh man, these bugs. Oh, why don't they trim back these vines and things and the briars and is that a skunk I smell and so forth.
00:10:18
Speaker
But even getting out of your house, your apartment, or your condo for a while to walk in nature can be a benefit. Almost everyone is close to a park of some sort. I mean, my younger son lives in Brooklyn in an apartment, a city apartment in New York City, and he and his girlfriend go for walks in Central Park, Prospect Park, the Brooklyn Botanic Gardens,
00:10:44
Speaker
And of course, there have been many times camping in the Catskills and other more remote places. When I lived in the middle of Lincoln, Nebraska, there were three parks with an easy bike riding distance from me, and one was only just a 10-minute walk without the bike.
00:11:04
Speaker
When I lived in downtown Duluth, Minnesota, I could walk for 15 minutes and be in a beautiful wooded park with a waterfall. It was kind of a hidden treasure, but it was there and was lovely just to go there and sit and close your eyes and absorb the sight or not the sight rather, but the sound and the smell of being in the forest.
00:11:23
Speaker
I'm saying all this to try to make a point that no matter where you live, you probably can find some really nice outdoor area that takes some time and relax. Nature therapy of various types can be helpful. It doesn't have to be a ramble through virgin woodlands.
Earthing and Health
00:11:45
Speaker
Another type of nature therapy is called earthing or grounding.
00:11:50
Speaker
essentially involves walking on the earth with bare feet or maybe lying down at full length on the ground. But first, I want to talk about the psychology of this. Now, when you were a kid, did you ever walk barefoot in the lawn, you know, just running your toes through the grass or splash mud puddles with your bare feet? Did you ever just lie down in your yard, you know, or in a field of grass and look up at the sky?
00:12:21
Speaker
Maybe you saw figures in the clouds. Oh, that one looks like an elephant. Or that one looks like a castle. Or that one looks like a big bird. If it was daytime, you might see stuff like that. Or maybe you saw actual birds in flight. And you might have wondered, where are those birds going? Where have they been? If it was nighttime, maybe you lie there on the ground like that. And you look up at the sky and say, wow.
00:12:51
Speaker
The stars, the planets, and the moon. I wonder if there's anyone else out there who's looking up at their stars and there's sky at night and wondering, gee, I wonder if there's anyone else out there. Bringing your mind and your emotions back to this point in your life can be very relaxing and freeing for many people. And it's a very healthy emotional experience
00:13:23
Speaker
But I also want to talk about the energetic component of earthing. And I'm not getting all woo-hoo here, you know. This is scientific. As a matter of fact, here's some information from the National Institute of Health's government website. Taken from an article about earthing and reconnecting the human body to Earth's electric charge, quote, emerging scientific research has revealed a surprisingly positive and overlooked environmental factor on health.
00:13:54
Speaker
direct physical contact with a vast supply of electrons on the surface of the Earth. Modern lifestyle separates humans from such contact. The research suggests that this disconnect from those electrons may be a major contributor to physiological dysfunction and unwellness. What does all that mean?
00:14:19
Speaker
What the researchers are pointing out is the fact that the Earth itself carries an electrical charge in the form of electrons on its surface. And for the most part, we go each day insulated from that charge. Think about it. We have cars or buses or trucks that we ride around in, and they have rubber tires, which insulates us from the electricity. We have shoes with leather or rubber soles, which don't allow us to connect with that electricity, the electrons.
00:14:49
Speaker
We walk on carpeted or tile floors that are not connected to the Earth, except physically, they're not electrically connected. So we are separated and we're insulated from that naturally occurring electrical charge. Now they also state that the research suggests that this disconnect, this taking ourselves away from that connection to the electrons, the natural charge of the Earth, may be a major contributor to poor health.
00:15:19
Speaker
I never thought about this before, but in order to have more control over the conditions of the research studies, some of the researchers used actual electrical grounding surfaces for their subjects. In other words, instead of just having people walk around, you know, barefoot outside, they often use forms of carbon fiber grounding pads, you know, basically just like a
00:15:45
Speaker
a sheet or blanket made of conductive carbon fiber that people wouldn't sleep on. So it's not all just about walking under lawn. But indications are that regular exposure to the surface of the earth through our skin would have similar benefits. Now the article I quoted from has a collection of research studies and I don't have time to go into all of them here. But the results are quite frankly mind-boggling.
00:16:14
Speaker
Like I said, I won't go into all the details, but here's what I'll do. I'll put a link to the article in the description of the podcast episode so you can go to it and check it for yourself if you wish. And I've also got a couple links in there too, just in general information about nature therapy and forest bathing. To me, one of the most impressive things about this was a sleep experiment where they did use the conductive carbon fiber mats. So they had this group of
00:16:44
Speaker
volunteers and they randomly divided them into two groups. And they all had members all having grounding pads. Each member did, but only half of those people had pads that were actually connected to earth ground. The other ones were just going off into some, some corner and not connected to anything. Now here's the thing. They did this over a period of time and the people who were actually connected to ground
00:17:13
Speaker
reported higher quality of sleep. Now how many? Seven times as many participants reported better sleep when they slept on those grounding pads. And 82% of the grounded participants, the ones who had it, the carbon fiber pads actually connected to earth ground, reported less muscle stiffness and pain. But none of the ungrounded participants reported any improvement in muscle stiffness or pain.
00:17:44
Speaker
to me was amazing that's better than any kind of pharmaceutical cure I've seen for sleep or for reducing muscle stiffness and pain. Now there are more statistics in there and I don't have time to go into all of them but you know if you want to I advise you to go ahead and hit that link that's in the description and see what you think about the stats and all the information there.
Global Recognition of Nature Therapy
00:18:13
Speaker
Now the same sort of benefits can accrue from simply spending time in nature. Relaxing there, sitting down with your back up against the tree in the shade, closing your eyes, walking around in the grass barefoot, maybe even lying down for a short nap. Now it's not only holistic practitioners like myself who recognize the health benefits of nature therapy. And in fact, I knew a little bit about this.
00:18:42
Speaker
didn't know how widespread it was. In Canada, for example, more than 1,000 health care providers, doctors, physicians, have signed up for a program to actually prescribe nature therapy to their patients. How do they do this? Well, they provide free national park passes to their patients and say, hey, get out there in nature. Get out in the woods. Get the park. Enjoy it.
00:19:12
Speaker
There's a similar program that's been in operation in Scotland since 2018. And in the United States, physicians in 34 states are prescribing time spent out of doors as a medical treatment, usually accompanied with park passes to improve the health of their patients.
Isolation from Nature in Modern Life
00:19:34
Speaker
I want you to think about it. On the average, modern people, especially in America,
00:19:43
Speaker
I looked up the statistics so it's not just coming out of my head or my butt. They spent 87% of their time indoors and an additional 6% of their time enclosed in vehicles, cars, buses, whatever. So, for 93% of the time, we humans, who for thousands and thousands of years live close to nature, sleeping on the ground and walking through woods and fields,
00:20:10
Speaker
are now isolated from nature. We are isolated from that natural influence of the electrons in the ground, from the natural influence of the fresh air, the phytosins from the forest. Our ancestors lived in it. And no doubt, this added to their good health and helped them to survive for so many, many thousands of years without the benefit of modern medicine.
00:20:38
Speaker
It's something to think about. It's something I hope you will give a try. Thank you. And once more, I want to thank you for jumping by here and listening to an episode of the full spectrum, the listing health podcast. I hope that it brings you something interesting to hear, something enlightening, maybe something that peaks your interest to make you think.
00:21:07
Speaker
And I hope you return. If you find the podcast interesting, tell your friends, maybe even subscribe to it. We're found on multiple podcast platforms, you know, whichever one is your favorite, you should be able to find us. Stay safe, keep an open mind and stay healthy. Namaste.