How to make your nature walks even more restorative, according to science
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This story was originally published on August 24, 2023 and has been updated to include a rerun of the podcast episode.
There is a moment of awe that washes over you when you step into a forest. Century-old trees tower above, sunlight twinkling through them. Birds tweet. Spiders weave their elaborate webs. The smell of pine needles fill the air.
The act of spending time in the forest is what the Japanese call shinrin-yoku, a term originating in the 1980s that means "bathing in the forest atmosphere," says Qing Li, a researcher on this topic and a professor at Nippon Medical School in Tokyo.
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"This is not exercise or hiking or jogging," he writes in his 2018 book Forest Bathing: How Trees Can Help You Find Health and Happiness.
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