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Forest bathing

What better place for a tree pose, than an isolated water hole in beautiful Litchfield National park?

Many of us have felt the benefits of a trip out in nature, especially amongst trees and plants.  These short trips have come to be called “forest bathing”, and it is often considered as being similar to natural aromatherapy.

After a forest (or in our case bush) bathing trip whether a day trip or longer camping trip you know you feel better, but do you know why?  

Plants emit special chemicals called phytoncides as protection from insects and disease.  Phytoncides contain antibacterial and anti-fungal properties.

When we breathe them in our body responds by creating more natural killer (NK) cells that in turn kill tumour and virus infected cells.

According to a Japanese study (2005) the increase in activity and number of NK cells lasted up to 30 days after a 3 day/2 night forest bathing trip.

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