ParkBathe: Why Trees Are So Good For Our Health

An episode for anyone curious about the health benefits of nature. With the help of world renowned forest medicine researchers Dr Qing Li and Dr Mayazaki, along with a host of nature experts, we give you everything you need to know about the incredible way trees improve our health and wellbeing and boost creativity. Packed with science and live interviews from the ParkBathe project, this might just change your view of trees.

Transcript

I'm Vanessa Potter,

And this is Finding Your Right Mind,

A podcast that champions citizen science and investigates the many different ways in which we can improve our own health and wellbeing,

Giving us less stressful,

More connected and happier lives.

Wouldn't that be a nice thing?

Today on the Parkbathe podcast,

Kirsten and I are geeking out on trees.

I've always liked trees,

But I didn't realise I had such a specific relationship with them until I became immersed in forest bathing for this project.

Because let's face it,

Forest bathing is all about trees.

As you walk mindfully in nature,

Absorbing the atmosphere,

It's the trees that are providing that atmosphere.

When we start noticing trees,

It's not unusual for childhood memories and emotions to rush back.

Yet trees in their solid silence are so easy to walk past unnoticed.

That is,

If our minds and bodies are stuck in cruise control.

Trees have a therapeutic effect upon us humans,

But it's more than that.

They are part of our ancestral heritage.

So today we're digging into tree biology and bigging up trees.

Trees are part of our urban and rural landscapes.

And along with plants,

They produce shelter and food for wildlife,

Absorb carbon dioxide,

Give us breathable air,

Moderate temperatures and lock up water,

Reducing flooding.

They look pretty cool too.

Yet while we know nature is central to human life,

We often disregard it and somehow see it as secondary,

Which is in part why we're in the climate mess we're in.

So today,

Kirsten and I will give you some weird and wonderful facts that might make trees a little higher on your agenda if they're not there already,

Along with groovy science on what trees do for us and some fun tree exercises you can do with friends or family when you're out and about in the park.

We'll hear how being in nature influences artists and boosts creativity and the curious way in which our tall friends communicate with each other via fungal networks underground.

If you didn't know that trees talk to each other,

We're going to fill you in on how they do that and some of the things they might say.

We'll also discover how trees help some of our park bathers understand themselves a little better as they walk through the Great North Woods in Crystal Palace Park.

Just a quick trigger warning here though,

Folks.

I'm talking to a host of people today,

But we do touch upon the topics of PTSD,

Miscarriage and loss.

Our show notes are packed full of links and extra information,

So there'll be contact details in there for relevant organisations.

So let's kick off with some funky tree facts.

These are some of my and Kirsten's favourites.

Trees can get to be really old.

Trees leave adolescence and become sexually mature at 80 to 150 years,

Which makes a teenage tree something around 60.

The average 400 year old tree can produce 1.

8 million seeds of which only one might grow to full size.

They're the oldest living organisms on the planet,

With some Californian redwoods living up to 5,

000 years.

I've seen these up close and they are truly majestic.

The Great Basin Bristlecone Pine in California has been deemed the oldest tree in existence,

Reaching a grand age of over 5,

000 years old.

I love that it's called Methuselah.

Trees get around.

Believe it or not,

Trees were grown from seeds on the Moon during the Apollo 14 mission in 1971.

NASA wanted to see if the Moon's orbit caused the seeds to grow differently back on Earth.

Some of the seedlings made it back to Earth and were grown alongside control trees in the US.

But 46 years on,

You can't tell the difference between the trees.

If those trees could talk,

Who knows what they could tell us.

Trees get around in another respect too.

Warming through climate change means that more trees are moving north,

With species previously unable to survive the cooler temperatures,

Now able to colonise.

Although of course we're less happy with this fact.

Now I love this one.

Trees have,

Get this,

A mute button.

In other words,

They can detect sounds through their root hairs.

They can muffle any noise they don't like.

Man,

I wish I could do that sometimes.

Trees absorb unwanted sound waves through their leaves,

Twigs and branches.

And shrubs and herbaceous plants are masters at this too.

Over to you,

Kirsten.

Trees are really our allies when it comes to reducing the effects of climate change.

A mature tree can absorb more than 48 pounds of carbon dioxide every year,

Removing and storing the carbon whilst releasing the oxygen back into the air.

And this blows me away,

But every year London's trees remove 2,

241 tonnes of pollution,

Which is worth 126 million per year.

This is really life saving as air pollution is a major issue in London,

Though our urban trees are doing their bit for public health.

I love a good tree fact.

Towards the end of each Parkbathe walk,

Kirsten talks more specifically about trees and how they are all interlinked via something called the Wood Wide Web.

Here she is explaining that to a group of teenagers we took out on a walk and introducing an exercise called interview a tree.

And you'll hear some of those interviews later on.

So for the next task,

We're going to spend some time with a tree.

So underneath our feet,

All of these trees are connected by their root systems and by fungal networks,

And they're all sharing sugars and waters with each other.

So if you've ever seen a damaged tree that's fallen over and it's still alive,

It's being kept alive by the other trees.

They're feeding it nutrients to keep it going,

Because if there's a gap in the canopy,

It's really bad for the trees because the wind can get in and knock more of them over or the sun can get in and dry out the earth and then it's bad growing conditions for them.

So the trees really act as a community and work together because it's in their interests to keep a full woodland.

And they'll even look out for each other to the extent that if a caterpillar comes along and starts eating their leaves,

They'll pump out a toxin to make the leaves taste awful so that the caterpillar moves on and they'll warn all the other trees about the caterpillar and they all make their leaves taste awful as well.

So knowing a bit about how the trees work together as a community,

I want you to get into pairs.

And I'd like one of you to stand in front of the tree and one behind it and I'd like you to interview the tree.

So one of you is the interviewer and the other one gives the answers.

And then if you want to and there's time you can swap over.

Stefan Batoris has extensive experience providing forest therapy training courses in Devon where he lives and has an intimate relationship with the trees that I suppose you could call his co-workers.

I think it might be Peter Woulliben who says,

Think about the forest as being a superorganism.

And I like to think about the forest as being a sentient being.

So when we're going into the forest we're actually going into the belly of this sentient creature.

And I think that all of the communication that happens within a forest is part of a kind of giant matrix of energy.

So trees don't just communicate with trees.

Everything that exists within a forest has taken millions and millions of years to develop and find its own ecological niche.

So it's not just things growing there randomly by happenstance.

Everything that's in that forest has evolved to be there and evolved to be in relation with every other thing that's there.

So every,

You know,

Sometimes if you think of some of the perennial plants that grow in forests on the woodland rides and on the edges of the woods,

Sometimes they can be older than the trees themselves.

And so all of these plants,

Animals,

Fungi under the soil,

They've all evolved together to form a working cohesive community,

A bit like the microbiome within our guts.

It's the same,

Just it's just an outer landscape.

And it's not surprising that we gain so much benefit from being in the forest environment.

I'm talking about in terms of our physical health,

Because it's in some ways both mimicking our own internal landscape,

But it's also the place where we evolved and developed as hominids.

So all of those processes that we have going on inside us have been designed and developed by the forest.

And so we talk about these underground mycorrhizae and the networks that are created with the tree roots as being like the neural pathways that we have going on inside our own bodies.

So it's easy to extrapolate out and think about the forest as being a single living organism.

And of course,

Every forest is different from every other forest.

And sometimes you go to the forest and it's in a good mood and sometimes it's in a bad mood.

So the forests around us are closer to our own biological footprint than we may realize.

The reason the term wood wide web came about is because underneath the soil,

Those fungal networks Stefan mentioned,

Connect all the tree root systems together and look like internet cables.

We see this communication play out everywhere.

In the winter,

Evergreens keep their leaves,

But can feed nutrients to trees that have lost their leaves via this network.

In the summer,

The favour is returned.

You also sometimes see an injured tree.

Maybe it's only just a stump,

But it might be still alive and sending out green leaves.

Stefan told me about one particular tree near where he lives that just wouldn't give up.

There's an area of woodland that I work in where they've planted sequoias.

And it's the first time in my life that I've seen sequoias planted as a plantation crop.

Normally in this country,

They're planted as a one-off specimen tree.

I've since discovered that there are other areas where they've been planted as a forestry crop.

And in one part of the woods,

The sequoias have been cut down.

When I was at college many,

Many years ago,

I was taught that when you cut a conifer down,

It can't regrow in the way that a hazel or an ash can,

That coppicing process.

Once you cut the conifer down,

It dies.

And in this one particular area of the woods where the sequoias have been cut down,

They've resprouted from where they've left the stump there.

They've regrown.

And in one of the stumps,

They've regrown eight separate trees have grown out in a circle.

And you can climb inside and stand in there.

And it's what I call the vortex tree because you actually feel like you're inside the mother tree with all these babies growing around it.

And I was absolutely fascinated by that.

How can that be possible with a conifer that it can regrow in the same way that a hazel tree could regrow?

And then when I looked into it in a bit more detail,

I discovered that even though they're the tallest trees on the planet,

Sequoias are not very deep rooting.

What they do do is they send their roots out laterally,

And they grow their roots into the roots of the other sequoias around them.

So actually,

They become one huge super tree.

And that's how they stay upright is by holding on to each other and forming a mat across the ground.

And then I'm thinking,

Well,

No wonder they were able to regrow because the others around them sent the nutrients through to the stump to enable the tree to grow up like a coppice.

So I love going to that area and being with those sequoias and just learning more about them.

So the trees that you walk past in the park are feeding and supporting each other.

Another way that trees act like a community is that they synchronise photosynthesis,

Growth and breeding so that they're all equally successful.

For example,

By synchronising their breeding,

Not only do they get the best mix of genes,

But herbivores such as cattle and deer can't eat all of their seeds,

So some survive.

And if the trees don't reliably breed every year,

Then herbivores can't count on a yearly abundance of seed.

And in some years,

They'll die,

Hence controlling herbivore numbers and keeping ecosystems in balance.

So trees really do act as a community.

This is in contrast to Darwin's The Vival of the Fittest and how the timber industry views trees competing with each other for light and other resources.

In fact,

Nursery-grown and deliberately planted street trees and forestry trees start life with damaged root balls,

So they can't connect and therefore lack all the benefits of the wood-wide web.

They can't support each other or jointly defend against predators.

It can take centuries to network a whole forest,

Which is why it's so important that we protect the natural woodland we have.

Tree planting is a good effort in tackling climate crisis,

But really we need to conserve what we already have and also allow the next generation of saplings to grow so they can succeed the older trees.

So I think we know trees are good for us,

But that's a bit of a hollow statement.

Yet there are studies that have looked into how close we live to trees in direct correlation to health and longevity.

In this way,

We can measure just how good trees are for us.

In 2010,

A group of Danish researchers looked at the relationship between green space and health and also quality of life related to health and stress.

People who lived more than one kilometre away from green spaces had,

On average,

A 42% higher likelihood of being stressed compared with those who lived less than 300 metres from trees.

I have to say,

When I read that in Marco Mangalle's book,

The Secret Therapy of Trees,

I went straight on Google Maps to measure how far away my local park was.

I don't blame you.

Yeah,

There are similar proximity studies from Australia,

Japan and the US,

Canada and the UK.

Each study confirmed there were lower death rates and serious illness,

Including heart disease and cancer,

For those who lived near trees or green spaces.

It's a stark wake up call if you didn't believe trees help you live longer and stave off diseases.

But the question we want to answer today is how exactly do trees boost our health?

Dr.

Queen Lee is a forest bathing researcher in Japan,

And one of his studies also looked at proximity to forests and cancer.

He found that people who live in areas with fewer trees experienced higher stress and higher mortality than those who lived closer to trees.

But just what was going on?

How did living near trees make a difference?

The clue is actually one you can smell,

Because breathing in natural chemicals was what was causing these statistics.

Ellen Devine,

Wellbeing Projects Manager at Forestry England,

Gives a brief but useful explanation of just what trees are doing for us.

You've also then got the benefits to your sort of physical health system in terms of your immune system.

When we're out in the forest,

Sometimes you know those smells of the forest that you might breathe in.

So you might breathe in the smell of pine needles.

Or maybe you're not in a forest,

Maybe you're in sort of your local park or your garden,

You breathe in the smell of lavender.

That's a very strong one,

Isn't it?

What you're breathing in there is some of the natural oils that the trees are giving off,

Sometimes called phytoncides,

Which are part of the tree's defence system.

So the tree gives them off to protect itself.

But when we breathe them in,

We also get those defence system benefits.

So they have antibacterial qualities,

Which increase the number and activity of a type of white blood cell.

So we've heard lots about white blood cells over the past couple of years.

There are immune defence,

Our kind of immune system goes into action,

Our fighter cells,

They increase being in nature and breathing in those natural oils increases something called a natural killer cell,

Which sounds awesome.

And we want loads of natural killer cells,

Because they do what it sounds like they do,

They go out and kill all the bad stuff that we don't want.

So that strengthens our immune system and gives us that kind of health boost.

And there's been research to show that spending say a three day weekend in a natural environment has those benefits to our immune system,

Not just for those three days,

But lasting into the days and weeks after that.

But equally,

You don't have to be out for three days solid,

Just going out and getting sort of 10 minutes here and there can have those benefits to your physical health.

That's a really good introduction to woodland oils.

There's some research where two nurses at Vanderbilt Medical Centre did an experiment in the A&E department where they worked to see if using essential oils in their department might help their colleagues manage stress better.

The nurses diffused aromatherapy oils into the air and measured what happened.

Work related stress reduced from 41% to 3%.

Feelings of being able to cope with the stress of working in A&E increased from 13% to 58%.

And energy levels increased from 33% to 77%.

I can't help but wonder if there were measurable improvements in the patients too.

I'd love to know if there had been because those results are so impressive for staff.

When I asked Stefan what he thought was the most compelling evidence for being in woodland,

He also had something to say about phytoncides.

I think one of the things that I absolutely love is the fact that the chemicals that trees produce to protect themselves from attack,

These chemicals are called as you say phytoncides,

The chemicals that trees produce to protect themselves from attacks either by herbivores,

Insects or by rotting and disease.

When we breathe those chemicals in,

They increase our ability to protect ourselves from attack.

That is just,

It's a miracle to me.

It's so neat.

It's like how,

And when you think that we share about 13 to 15% of our DNA with trees and for some bizarre reason,

We share 60% of our DNA with banana trees.

So it's like trees are sharing with us their protective properties and extrapolating that out,

I think that if we live in a world without trees,

Then we're not getting the benefits of those,

Of inhaling all of those phytoncides,

Which over millions of years have become an inherent part of our immune system functioning.

Funnily enough,

I rather like that we share a chunk of our DNA with bananas.

Kirsten may be the hard sceptic in our park bathe team,

But I'd always thought aromatherapy was a bit of a new age fad.

But these studies have completely changed my mind.

Quing Li found that after forest bathing,

His participants showed a 50% increase in their natural killer cells,

Which are those white blood cells protecting us and up to a 48% increase in anti-cancer proteins.

We have lots more on this topic in episode two on the science of the forest.

But what's amazing for me is that this effect lasts one month.

Quing Li's findings led to a recommendation to practice forest bathing for at least two hours twice a month to maintain these beneficial effects.

I now have Hinoki oil along with grapefruit diffusing in my house most days.

Citrus smelling D-Lemonene was even proven in another study to be more effective at treating depression than antidepressants.

So it's definitely worth considering putting wood essential oils in your home.

If you want to know how to make a reed diffuser so you can do this,

Check out the bonus episode on how to make your own.

But our relationship with trees can go much deeper than all of these scientific facts.

Many of our park bathers found themselves surprised,

Confused or just in awe of being around trees.

I'm really surprised how much of an impact it has had on me and when it was mentioned that it could get a bit emotional in between,

I was like,

I don't know why that would be the case,

But I did really feel differently just by focusing on myself and just,

You know,

Like a tree,

Like a simple thing.

So I was very surprised by that and it just did something to me.

So yeah,

I really enjoyed that.

And those wood essential oils were pretty popular too.

I had Covid and I got lost in my sense of smell for about seven,

Eight months.

So to be able to snap just mud and the different leaves when you showed me that,

I was like,

What?

How?

It's like a candle.

But better.

I'm going to tell everyone to do that.

I'm going to go pick leaves up and just start ripping them open,

Like little things like that.

So woodland oils are everywhere and if you want a whiff of them,

Take a walk in your local park.

For London based artist,

Ms Finch,

Her relationship with trees and nature has been with her since childhood.

So my name's Ms Finch.

I am an artist based in South West London,

Very near Wimbledon.

I work from my house.

I am very fortunate to have a studio at home.

My link to nature has been since childhood.

I was very lucky enough to grow up on an organic farm in Wiltshire and it was on a National Trust estate actually.

And much of the surroundings around there were sites of scientific special interest.

They had wild flowers,

Butterflies,

Rare birds.

That was just part of my everyday life.

And that's what I thought everyone's life was like.

It was only when I left home and moved to London that I realised the stark reality of not being,

You know,

Usual.

So I had a very,

Very lucky childhood.

However,

Ms's relationship with nature took on a whole new depth during lockdown.

It proved to be one of restoration and healing,

But also meaning.

During lockdown,

I had two quite traumatic miscarriages.

And off the back of them,

I had quite severe PTSD.

Every time I looked up,

I would get a flashback.

And I didn't know what was happening to me.

I didn't have any support from the hospital or the medical professionals that I was around at the time.

I genuinely thought I was going a bit crazy.

I really feel like the trees outside,

Honestly,

They drew me outside.

And they've been a constant comfort to me.

And they've allowed me to feel present and to take deep breaths and to really feel like I'm not mad.

We got a bit more into her fascination with trees,

As you'll hear from our conversation.

And I think that's visible in your work,

Looking at it.

I would say you have a relationship with trees.

You have a relationship with nature that very much comes through.

And I'm curious about that.

And I'm not sure how you'll respond to this.

But when I first looked at your paintings,

I was instantly reminded of Beryl Cook's beautiful,

Voluptuous women.

Because your trees have their full,

They're very rich,

They're very luxurious,

Almost.

They're kind of at their fullest and their best.

And there was something celebratory about your trees.

So I'm not sure how you feel about me making that connection.

No,

I love that.

I love that connection.

Trees for me offer unending colour.

And when I started this journey,

When I was deep in the PTSD,

I had this one particular day when I went outside and someone had been painting pebbles in our local common and writing lovely things or rainbows on them just to bring a smile to someone's face.

Someone had written,

Be happy on this pebble and put it at eye level in this one particular tree.

And it really spoke to me.

I had a bit of a kind of trippy moment at that point.

And I lay down underneath that tree.

And I started seeing these colours.

And it was just the brightest blue of the sky.

And I saw pinks and greens and blues,

The whole colour spectrum,

Looking up through this tree.

And I couldn't work out how I could describe what had happened to anybody.

But it was the moment when I knew I could be happy again.

And that was a really important moment.

So I walked back to my studio and decided I needed to get the paints out and just see if I could draw what I was feeling.

And instead of getting out the yellow ochre,

Put down a ground under my painting,

I got out my fluorescent paint paint,

And I covered it in this canvas.

And then I started painting on top.

And the fluorescent paint shines through all around like almost like a halo for the tree.

And that's just something which has evolved.

And it feels like a huge celebration.

Because it was a celebration.

It was a moment when I realised I could be happy again,

I saw colour.

And I just wanted to share it with people.

And I really want my paintings to be a tool that I can share the understanding that nature can really help,

Because it really helped me.

There's research to back up this link between creativity and nature too.

Studies in Utah and Kansas found that creative reasoning skills were improved by 50% if we spend time immersed in nature.

So trees really do bring out our own creative genius.

But what's really fascinating is that we don't even need to go outside.

We can look at trees through a window and still get the benefits.

A hospital study run by Dr Roger Ullrich found that having a natural view from a patient's hospital room resulted in less pain medication being needed.

Patients felt less anxious and made faster recoveries and were discharged earlier.

I think it's fair to say that trees have an innate intelligence.

And even if we're not acting upon this,

We know how to interact with nature.

Kirsten's colleague at Derby University,

Yaso Katera,

Tells us a bit more about how we can apply a curiosity while in the park and how we intuitively know how to do forest bathing.

Just pure mind,

The curiosity or interest itself is beneficial in our mind.

And then just,

You know,

It's wonder of nature.

I think it's already reducing stress,

Reducing anxiety.

So that's already a good effect.

And then that kind of interest also can be applied to other contexts.

Okay,

Just,

You know,

The thing I thought,

I used to think a green one thing is actually lots of different greens.

Let's think about other contexts.

How about touch of the floor?

How does it feel?

How does it feel differently if I walk here or there?

Kind of mind of exploration in nature.

And then here,

As you said,

You know,

As you have it very important that coming to senses is very,

Very important.

And then many traditional therapists try to help people do that.

But,

You know,

Often it's difficult or it requires experienced therapists to assist you to come to senses.

One example that came to my mind now is a guest child's therapy.

You know,

They talk about lose your mind,

Come to senses.

And they developed lots of different exercises.

But,

You know,

Often that requires experienced therapists assisting you to come to senses while forest bathing.

People naturally do it.

And then there's more,

You know,

Curiosity,

Enjoyment,

Fun part of it through that process coming to senses.

And then,

Yeah,

I think in a way that nature probably using senses,

I don't think,

You know,

Trees or,

You know,

Leaves think to grow this way or that way.

They're just there.

So it seems trees mirror us.

These giant living organisms can reflect our own lives back at us.

Kirsten,

The interview a tree exercise we ran with children and teenagers was a great way to see this relationship up close,

Wasn't it?

Absolutely.

You can try and predict what another person sees in a tree or what question they might ask.

But children have a way of seeing things differently to adults.

That's so right.

And here are what some of the trees in Crystal Palace Park had to say.

I haven't moved for several hundred years.

So I'm very calm and used.

I'm used to the park.

Yeah.

What happens if you if you get itchy or something?

I have many small sticks that can itch me in several places.

Do you like people pulling the bark off?

No,

Not normally.

It depends where they pull it off.

Sometimes they're pulling off my sunburned skin,

Which isn't very nice because that's that hurts a bit.

But other times I have dry skin.

So I mean,

Sometimes it's helpful.

What about people climbing the tree?

Yeah,

It's funny because they're very bad at climbing trees.

So it's very amusing to watch.

Five years.

So did were you born here?

Yeah.

How do you know any of the other trees?

I know that one down there and that one there.

What are their names?

Barry,

Of course,

As you know already.

I don't really know that one very well.

You just wave at them occasionally then?

I just wave at them occasionally with my leaves.

You have a very sad life.

I have a very sad life.

Do you want more interaction with other trees?

Yes.

Have you tried talking to the trees which you haven't talked to?

No.

Why don't you?

See Jeremy down there.

He's looking quite fresh.

I think he would be a very good talker.

Interesting.

Why are they interesting?

They grow in peculiar ways.

None of them are ever the same.

I noticed that you gave them names.

You kind of made them like people.

Why was that?

Well,

I mean,

They basically are.

They don't share the same kind of nerve and self knowing as we do,

But they're still alive and they still help our ecosystem and they're the reason we're alive.

A Californian redwood tree had some very strong opinions.

This tree has split personality disorder.

Oh,

I have to come and interview this then.

So you're the interviewer,

Are you?

Yes.

So this tree has a split personality,

Right?

I'm interested.

Yes.

Go for it.

So what don't you like about the other trees?

Oh my God,

The other trees are so bossy sometimes.

Oh my God.

Do you know the Oak?

He tries to steal all our nutrients.

Thank you.

Oh yes,

He does.

He gave us nutrients all day.

He gave us like,

I don't know.

That was a one time thing.

Come on.

You gotta admit they are really bossy sometimes.

How old are you?

Well,

Let's see how.

How long would you say we're old?

I don't know about,

I don't,

I think,

Yeah,

I think we celebrate our hundred birthday a couple of days,

Maybe weeks ago,

Two years ago.

So we're like 102 years old.

Yes.

Great.

Isn't it?

What season do you like the most?

Spring.

I love spring.

I get my new leaves.

I get my new look.

I get my new style.

I mean,

I guess I don't like autumn that much.

Why don't you like autumn?

I don't like autumn because we're like,

But the colours are so pretty.

But we sometimes want to do more than just connect or be with a tree.

The idea of actually growing one is popular too,

According to Karen Price,

Who is the community coordinator at Western Bert Arboretum in Gloucestershire.

Yes.

So part of our project is doing some copies restoration work.

And one of the activities they do is a thing called layering.

So they,

After they've copies most of the hazel,

If we've got a gap that needs re-stocking,

So kind of like replanting,

A bit like laying a hedge,

You would bend a piece over and plant it into the ground and it will kind of regrow shoots and roots.

And they want to come back.

That is often the best bit of the activity.

You're not only cutting down the trees previously and lighting campfires,

They're fun.

But actually layering that piece of hazel,

Knowing they have created a new tree is what people want to come back to do.

I will sometimes see people around in the local communities,

How's that tree doing?

Did my tree grow again?

And it really,

That kind of nurturing thing,

They have helped create something which goes back to that ownership.

I think we've established that trees can help us become the best versions of ourselves.

Artists,

Writers and philosophers have known this for eons.

Trees feed our creative genes and help us make sense of the world.

They literally help us think clearly.

And almost everyone I spoke to for this series had a favourite tree.

But Rachel Howfield Massey,

An artist and wellbeing expert who runs Other Ways to Walk,

Found picking just one a little bit tricky.

I would feel like I was betraying other places if I only chose one.

I would feel disloyal.

I,

Yes,

I do and it changes probably every day.

But every time I go out,

Even when I'm with other people and we're just having a very sociable chatty kind of a walk,

There will always be a moment where I just go,

Oh,

I just want to just be with this tree or just be by this bluebell or I don't know,

You know,

Whatever.

There'll be a moment that will feel like this is my favourite,

It feels right,

My favourite place.

There is a particular beach tree on the walk that I do regularly that I often hover near to and lean back on.

But I wouldn't say it's my favourite.

There are too many other possibilities.

So head to the park or your nearest green space and spend time with the trees you like,

The ones that draw you in.

There are no rules.

Just be curious and see which trees remind you of people you know or ask yourself if they have a personality or a story to tell.

You might be surprised what you find in your local park.

As always,

There are links and information in the show notes and detail of everyone who spoke with us along with helpful resources.

If you want tips and ideas of how to engage with trees,

We've put together a very special bonus track that you can use out in the park with loads of suggestions from Kirsten and our guests.

So check that out.

If you've enjoyed this episode,

Please share it and connect with us on social media or drop us an email.

And of course,

Hit subscribe so you don't miss out on the next episode,

Which is going to be all about our incredible sensory system from sight to hearing,

Smell,

Touch and taste and the canny way in which nature can bring us back to our senses.

See you then.

Reviews

I’ve always felt a special connection with trees throughout my life. They’re stoic and reliable and comforting and I’ve become attached to so many trees that I’ve encountered. I’ve actually felt deep grief when some have been cut down or badly pruned or damaged by the elements. Thank you for this lovely offering which has been very informative, inspiring and just lovely! 🌲🌴🌳🪾🙏❤️

I’m grateful for the privilege to live in the forest.

LOVE, LOVE,LOVE this. Thank you so much for posting it on IT!🙏🏻🌲🙏🏻