Forest bathing.

Those two words can be used for an interesting discussion.

The practice got started in in Japan in the 1980s after a major health crisis of their country.

We do sometimes we call it forest bathing, sometimes we call this forest th They were changing their way of life from an agrarian society to more indoor, high tech, high stress.

so people's lifestyles really changed.

And during that time, over the course of years, they noticed that people's health was declining.

And so the government started studying that to try to figure out what was going on.

And they realized that there was a huge difference between people who were still spending a lot of time outside and those who were not.

Part of what they learned was that the trees emit chemicals that are designe to protect themselves from pests and disease.

The technical term is called ‘phytoncides.

And it turns out that our bodies have receptors for those phytoncides and so being out here and breathing those things and getting the freshest air, boosts our immune system for up to 30 days.

There is a ton of science behind it.

Yes.

I offer public forest bathing walks all over town, but this particular group is for the Colorado Springs Senior Center.

Most of the places where I guide around town are not very accessible for people with any kind of physical limitations.

So this park is relatively flat, it's open, and but yet all of the nature beings are still very accessible.

Basically it's just by slowing down and really encountering nature through your senses.

So you spend time touchin things that are safe to touch.

And breathing in any scent that you notice, and listening to water and birds and the wind blowing through the trees, and just encountering nature with all of your senses.