Phytoncides - Forest bathing health benefits

Forest bathing benefits

The Japanese have been digging into the benefits of what they call "shinrin yoku" (forest bathing) for a fair while now and scientific research into the health benefits of forest bathing, or breathing in the essential oils that dense forests release into the air in particular continues to mount up.

Tree phytoncides and their effects

When we talk about health benefits of forests, we can say that phytoncides are the honourable carriers of these health assets. These airborne anti-microbial substances that trees release are a way to fight off disease and harmful substances. If you've ever wandered through a remote pine forest you'll no doubt recall the distinct scent of that experience but there is a tangible, self-defence rationale behind it all too from the forest's perspective. So it is no surprise that we wanted to leverage similar health benefits through forest aromatherapy oils in our gym designs.

Health benefits of forest bathing

When it comes to any forest, health benefits might be connected to fresh air, however, it was shown that these benefits are mostly connected to our invisible particles - phytoncides. Studies have shown that breathing in phytoncides while walking in a forest has beneficial effects on human Natural Killer (NK) blood cells that help fight virus-infected cells, a tangible immune system boost that can last for up to 30 days.

Cedar, oak and pine are all examples of trees that give off plenty of this type of essential oil, the latter in particular has attracted our attention as we used pine wood for our balance beams and pull-up bars in the Biofit designed fitness studio in Calgary.

Natural health & fitness combined

We gently diffuse 100% natural pine oil during class as a way to borrow some of the plant's positive health benefits for our clients. In this was we create a functional space that is actively improving mental health / reducing stress levels and boosting feelings of positivity while clients work out in the facility, and this is just a beginning to describe the health benefits of forest bathing.

Indoor green exercise - courtesy of phytoncides

This type fo double-whammy has been called ‘fitness squared’. For more info on our research into the benefits of indoor green exercise, see the report here.

Read the full research report from Japan online here.