Shinrin-yoku · 1982 · Japan

Forest bathing is not a hike.

It's a slow walk under the trees, on purpose. No mileage. Just presence — the gift Japan gave the world in 1982.

Attention Restoration Theory · Kaplan & Kaplan

Soft focus restores you.

Nature holds your attention without effort. That meadow of your mind gets its rest — like a fallow field regaining its soil.

+NK cell activity ↓ cortisol
The chemistry · Phytoncides

The trees are breathing out.

Antimicrobial compounds called phytoncides raise natural-killer-cell activity and lower cortisol. You were built to breathe them back in.

Li, Q. (2010) · Environ Health Prev Med · Wikidata Q48645
Rothrock State Forest · n = 23 hikes · 2026
40min
minimal effective dose