“The health of the eye seems to demand a horizon. We are never tired, so long as we can see far enough.”
Ralph Waldo Emerson
The Japanese government developed this kind of physical therapy during the 1980s, becoming a cornerstone of preventive health care and healing in Japanese medicine.
On developing many studies, it demonstrated reductions in stress, anger, anxiety, depression and sleeplessness among the participants. In fact after just 15 minutes of forest bathing blood pressure drops, stress levels are reduced and concentration and mental clarity improve.
Branching and patterns similar to trees occur in many natural forms at various scales. They can be seen in snowflakes, waves, seashells, flowers and are called fractals.
"Ary Goldberger, a professor of cardiology at Harvard Medical School and researcher into heart-rate variability, complexity and chaos theory, has proposed that fractals are intrinsically satisfying to the human mind. In a paper publihed in Molecular psychiatry in 1996, he pointed out that Gothic Architecture is fractal. He suggests that when we gaze at fractal structures (...) our mind responds to complex, repetitive, incrasing-decreasing patterns. Freed from rigid boundaries of scale, the mind can move inward or outward, up or down, at will." (Eshter Sternberger)
design
A creative and aesthetic strategy by which a building, space, garment or product is generated.
engineering
A mathematical strategy by which a building, space or product is generated.
nature
The phenomena of the physical world collectively, including plants, animals, the landscape, and other features and products of the earth, as opposed to humans or human creations. nature seamlessly combines design and engineering.
Shinrin-Yoku
The japanese term for “forest bathing” = nature theraphy
Describes a broad group of techniques or treatments with the intention of improving an individual’s mental or physical health, specifically with an individual’s presence within nature or outdoor surroundings
Resources:
1. Eshter M. Sternberg. Healing Spaces: The Science of Place and Well Being
2. Roger S. Ulrich, Ph.D., EDAC. Effects of Gardens of Health Outcomes: Theory and Research
3. Eshter M. Sternberg. The Balance Within: The Science Connecting Health and Emotions
4. National Geographic: Forest Bathing
