Harvard physician and forest therapy guide Dr. Susan Abookire explains the science of why time in nature heals us, from cortisol and the nervous system to immune health, and simple ways to bring those benefits into your home.
This is Part 2 of a two-part series on forest bathing. In Part 1, forest therapy pioneer Amos Clifford explores what the practice is and how it reconnects us with the natural world.
In this episode we explore the health science of time in nature with Dr. Susan Abookire, a physician and Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School and a certified forest therapy guide who brings the benefits of nature into clinical medicine.
(2:00) What is your background and what let you to becoming a forest therapy guide and spearheading the integration of this form of therapy into the medical system?
(6:17) Could you speak to some of the health benefits of forest bathing from a medical perspective?
(8:50) Discussion around the nervous system states.
(12:45) The restoration benefits of time in nature.
(18:38) Can you walk us through one of your forest bathing sessions that you offer?
(26:26) Where do you offer your forest therapy sessions?
(30:40) How you can use forest bathing to open up and receive guidance.
(34:30) Why is it important for women to be mindful of cortisol levels when it comes to hormone fluctuations (monthly perimenopause, menopause, etc)?
(38:25) How do you as a doctor and forest therapy guide think someone can use their home to induce similar benefits of forest bathing?
(44:00) What do you do in your home that connects you to the forest?
(51:56) How do you introduce someone who is new to forest bathing?
(58:10) How often do you recommend people spend time in nature to for health and wellbeing benefits?
(1:00:04) A discussion on the immune system benefits of time in nature
(1:05:39) If you could snap your fingers and imbue everyone with one piece of knowledge or understanding about forest therapy and/or trees, what would it be?
In this episode:
How nature shifts you from "fight or flight" into the body's healing state.
Why a window onto green space sped up patients' recover.
The immune boost from phytoncides, the aromatic compounds trees release.
How much time in nature you actually need (the 120-minutes-a-week guideline).
Simple ways to bring nature home: plants, natural light, a sit spot, found objects.
Guest: Dr. Susan Abookire is a physician and Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School with over 20 years in healthcare leadership, including as a chief medical officer. She founded and led the award-winning quality and patient safety program at Mount Auburn Hospital, and trained for a decade as an electrical and aviation-systems engineer before medicine, a systems-design lens she now brings to nature, health, and forest therapy. She is a certified forest therapy guide and teaches nationally and internationally.
Prefer to watch? The full video episode is on YouTube @thealignedinterior.
The Aligned Interior Podcast is for general information purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine or other health care services, including giving medical advice.
The content of this podcast is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment.
The use of information on this podcast or materials linked from this podcast is at the user's own risk
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