Forest Bathing

TECHNIQUE — Inspired by the Japanese practice Shinrin-yoku, walk slowly without your phone. Smell the trees, listen to the birds, breathe naturally and experience the forest through all your senses.

THE SCIENCE — Trees release airborne compounds called phytoncides, including alpha-pinene and limonene. In small Japanese studies, multi-day forest trips were associated with roughly a 50% increase in natural-killer-cell activity, along with increases in immune proteins including perforin, granulysin and granzymes.

Natural killer cells help the immune system recognize virus-infected and abnormal cells, including tumor cells. Some of the observed effects persisted after participants returned home.