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How Forest Therapy Affects Women's Health
- 2 days ago
- 2 min read
As we celebrate and advocate for women’s health this May, we take a closer look at how forest therapy addresses specific health concerns for women. While forest therapy has a growing list of evidence that show how it benefits health including immunity boost, improved blood pressure and hypertension, and stress reduction, women actually gain more physiologically than men from the practice (Mei et al, 2023)! There are women specific health issues that forest therapy addresses. Let’s take a look at some of them.
Forest Therapy Improves Sleep During Menopause
Women experience a lot of bodily changes during menopause. During pre and post menopause, there is an increase in cortisol, mood swings, and bouts of insomnia that affect overall quality of life. Studies have shown that middle-aged women participating in forest therapy programs experienced significantly reduced cortisol levels and reported improved mood (Kim et al, 2020). Various studies have also reinforced how forest therapy has improved sleep efficiency (Kim et al, 2022) and the amount of times sleep was interrupted decreased. Women could find comfort in a connection with Mother Nature during this sensitive period in their lives.
Forest Therapy and Hormonal and Stress Balance
Spending time with nature can be beneficial for women during times of hormonal imbalance and high-stress. Recent studies have shown how forest therapy can increase serotonin levels (Park et al, 2020), which affects feelings of ease, comfort, and happiness. Cortisol levels and blood pressure also significantly reduce after forest therapy sessions, which can help women cope during times of change (Antonelli et al, 2019).
While there are so many reasons for you to decide to come on a forest therapy session, there are added health benefits for women and the unique physiological changes they experience. If you’re interested in trying out a forest therapy/forest bathing session in Hong Kong, please feel free to contact us.
References
Antonelli M, Barbieri G, Donelli D. Effects of forest bathing (shinrin-yoku) on levels of cortisol as a stress biomarker: a systematic review and meta-analysis. Int J Biometeorol. 2019 Aug;63(8):1117-1134. doi: 10.1007/s00484-019-01717-x. Epub 2019 Apr 18. PMID: 31001682.
Kim H, Kim J, Ju HJ, Jang BJ, Wang TK, Kim YI. Effect of Forest Therapy for Menopausal Women with Insomnia. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Sep 9;17(18):6548. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17186548. PMID: 32916805; PMCID: PMC7558331.
Kim Y, Choi Y, Kim H. Positive Effects on Emotional Stress and Sleep Quality of Forest Healing Program for Exhausted Medical Workers during the COVID-19 Outbreak. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2022 Mar 7;19(5):3130. doi: 10.3390/ijerph19053130. PMID: 35270820; PMCID: PMC8910265.
Mei He, Ye Wen, Quan Qiu, Gonghan Sheng, Yawei Wei, Zhiling Wang, Yuan Hu,
The effects and gender-related differences of guided forest therapy program on physiological and psychological health of graduating college students,
International Journal of Geoheritage and Parks, Volume 11, Issue 3, 2023,Pages 483-496,
ISSN 2577-4441, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijgeop.2023.07.003.
Park BJ, Shin CS, Shin WS, Chung CY, Lee SH, Kim DJ, Kim YH, Park CE. Effects of Forest Therapy on Health Promotion among Middle-Aged Women: Focusing on Physiological Indicators. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Jun 17;17(12):4348. doi: 10.3390/ijerph17124348. PMID: 32560522; PMCID: PMC7344639.
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