Would you like to feel less stressed and more connected to the world? Would you like more energy, boost your immune system, and feel better? Through the practice of Shinrin-yoku (Forest Bathing), the power of nature can help you do all that and more. Whether you are surrounded by trees, sitting in a garden, or looking out a window at the beauty of nature, you can tap into the bathing powers of nature to heal the body and the mind. Magical healing can happen when we connect with nature.

The History
Perhaps you have never heard of Forest Bathing. The term is from the Japanese words shinrin, meaning forest, and yoku, which means bath. To practice Shinrin-Yoku means to take in the forest through all five of our senses.1-5 In the l980’s, people in Japan, started to spend intentional, mindful time in the forest, and the word Shinrin-Yoku was coined to capture this practice. There was no science at this time to back up the health benefits people said they were experiencing, regardless, the practice of Shinrin-Yoku grew in Japan and began to filter out around the world.

What was driving this desire to be in nature? Some researchers say it is not surprising when you think how we have evolved over the past millions of years as humans. As a species, we have only lived in a “modern” world for less than .01% our existence. That means 99% of the time, nature was our home. This biological, or innate need for humans to be connected with nature is known as biophilia, a Greek word meaning “love of life and the living world”.

The Science and Benefits
As more people began practicing Shinrin-Yoku, it drew attention from all over the world. Researchers wanted to know more about the “how” behind the positive effects that forest bathing had on people. In 2004 the first scientific research study was done in Japan. The results helped researchers begin to unravel the mystery behind the healing power of the forest. 

Trees produce phytoncides (essential oils), which they release into the air to protect themselves against insects and disease. It also turns out we benefit from breathing in these essential oils. These oils significantly boost our immune system, improve our heart health, reduce pain, and lower blood sugar levels. They also increase our feeling of well-being, lowering anxiety levels and helping with depression. One way we measure the health of our immune system is to measure the activity level of our natural killer cells, and how many anti-cancer proteins are in our blood. In a study where people spent three days and two nights in a forest practicing forest bathing, their natural killer cells activity increased by 53.2%, and the anti-cancer proteins were up 48%. The effects of this boost on the immune system were found to last up to 30 days.

The soil from the forest bed also boosts our immune system, improves our energy and helps with anxiety and depression. There is a bacterium called Mycobacterium vaccae that is in the soil and released into the air when we walk on it. The connection between a healthy immune system and healthy emotions was an accidental discovery. Researchers knew of the immune boosting properties of the bacterium, and wondered if it could be used to help stop the growth of certain cancers in patients. While their study found no proof of the bacterium immune boosting properties stopping the cancer growth they were researching, they did find by boosting their immune systems patient’s moods, energy levels and ability to think clearly were also improved.

Additionally, there is something in the air that we cannot smell, but it is also helping us to feel better, have more energy and feel more positive. It is the negative ions in the air, which are in the highest concentrations in forests and near running water. It is understandable why we feel so good standing next to a waterfall because the negative ions by a waterfall are 100 times greater than they typically are indoors.1

When we consider the number of different elements in nature that help us calm our mind and provide a space for clarity in thinking, it is not surprising to read that research conducted at two Universities in the United States concluded that people who spend several days in nature “…can boost their problem-solving ability and creativity by 50%.” Good to know for the next time you need to solve a complex problem or have writer’s block for a paper!

Even the color of the forest triggers a response from our body. We are genetically drawn to the color green because, in our primal existence, we knew green was associated with water, and where there was water, there was food. So, when we walk in a green forest, this innate sense of food security, triggered by the green color of the forest, makes us feel calm.1 When we are relaxed, our stress levels decrease, supporting a healthy heart and blood pressure.3 

This combination of responses to nature from the instincts we are born with, our emotions and our physical body, has led to the scientific community agreeing that Shinrin-Yoku has a real and powerful positive effect on how we feel emotionally, our ability to think clearly, and our physical health.

 How to Practice Shinrin-Yoku
The wonderful thing about this practice is you can make it your own, finding the activities and places that help you to become the most relaxed and connected with nature. The key is finding ways to be fully present, allowing all of your senses to come alive so they can reach out and pullin nature’s richness and healing powers. The five senses we want to engage are sight, sound, touch, smell, and taste; let the power of nature come in through your mouth, eyes, ear, nose, hands, and feet.

Taste
Take long, deep breaths and taste the air of the forest. Do not taste plants or other organisms in the woods because it is difficult to distinguish which ones make us sick rather than well.

Sight
Appreciate all the different colors and patterns in nature. This can help us feel an incredible connection to something much greater than ourselves, changing negative feelings to positive ones, and filling us with a sense of joy.

Sound.
Listen to rustling leaves, running water, and birds chirping. Are there other little animals scattering in the tree branches above you? Can you hear the wind? Studies show the sounds from nature we find most stress-relieving are water, wind, and birds chatter, and song.

Smell
Take in all the aromas in the forest, the flowers, the forest bed, and the essential oils from the trees. Smells have a powerful effect on our emotions and can connect us to pleasant memories.1

Feel
Touch the bark of a tree, or let the water of a stream running through your fingers. Take off your shoes and let your bare feet feel a solid connection with the earth, giving your body access to the healing electrons in the earth.

The ideal length of time to practice Shirin-Yoku is 2 hours. However, we can start to feel the benefits after only 20 minutes.1 While the forest is the perfect place to practice; the benefits can be felt anywhere in nature. This can be a city park, your garden, plants in your home, and even just viewing nature from a window can positively affect your health. In the 1980’s an American professor, Roger Ulrich discovered patients recovering from surgery who had a window view of nature recovered one to two weeks sooner than those who did not. He also found patients who had a view of trees used less pain medication and had lower levels of depression.

Other Activities to Do in the Forest
You can do so many things in the forest to help you reconnect with nature and receive all the health benefits. Exercising in the forest is a good example of the benefits of combining an activity with being in the forest. Being in the forest while we exercise enhances the immune-boosting effects of exercise. This can be especially beneficial in the fall and winter time when we tend to spend more time indoors, and it is easier to be exposed to viruses.

Here are some credible websites to learn more about Shinrin-Yoku.

Healing in the forest: a guide to forest bathing (ontarioparks.com)

Forest bathing: what it is and where to do it (nationalgeographic.com)

https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/basics/forest-bathing

If you prefer to read, here is a list of the top 10 books recommended by Certified Forest Guides.

Top 10 Forest Bathing Books Recommended by Certified Guides (natureconnectionguide.com)

 If Art is your passion, Pinterest offers additional ideas for nature crafts. These are some of my favorites.

 https://www.pinterest.ca/dianajj0895/nature-crafts/

I hope you have enjoyed reading about the healing powers of the forest so you and your family and friends can benefit by spending more time in the forest and growing the support and love our forests need from us. Nature can reduce our stress, relieve anxiety, and help us to feel more positive about the world. When we spend time in nature, our body heals, our heart health improves, and our immune system is boosted. Remember to keep nature close even when we cannot be in a forest. Spend time by the tree in your garden. Bring plants into your home. Gaze out the window at nature. Surround yourself with pictures of the wonder of nature in our world. The mind, the body, our emotions, and our genes are all calling us to connect with nature.

Diana MacDonald
Creighton University Student

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Walk it Out, Talk it Out
Each Mind Matters

Adolescents tend to view their own peers as being more credible, having a better understanding of the concerns of young people, have a sense of responsibility to their friendship group, and are more likely to model the behaviors of peers than adults (DuBois & Karcher, 2014; Karcher, 2009; Smith, 2011). Furthermore, social networks among peers provide emotional, informational, and appraisal support that creates a sense of psychological safety within the peer group, resulting in higher motivation to change behavior and sustain behavioral change.

FITGirl, Inc, in partnership with Fontenelle Forest, is hosting a 4-week physical and mental health program, every Sunday focusing on social-emotional learning with 90-minute brisk walking, yoga cool down, mentorship, and journaling.

Cost for the 4 week program is $25 total and includes a shirt, journal and access to Tree Rush Adventure on last day of class. This program was created for girls and non-binary youth in grades 5th-7th. The program will be held at Fontenelle Forest every Sunday, April 16th to May 7th, 1-3 pm.

REGISTER HERE!
**After submitting the registration form, a confirmation will appear with a URL link to the payment portal. If that link does not work, please click here.

HIGH SCHOOL VOLUNTEERS!
As a volunteer, you will be responsible for guiding participants on a hike through Fontenelle Forest, leading journaling sessions, and providing mentorship support to young girls. This experience will not only help you develop leadership skills but also enable you to make a positive impact on the lives of these girls.

Dates are April 16th – May 7th (Sunday’s) from 1-3pm at Fontenelle Forest
(1111 Bellevue Blvd N, Bellevue, NE 68005)

VOLUNTEER HERE!

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Self-awareness can be defined as being aware of different aspects of the self including traits, behaviors, and feelings and knowing how those aspects influence your behavior. It is also the ability to realistically assess your strengths and weaknesses while maintaining your confidence and desire to grow.

It’s important to understand when we lack self-awareness, we have a harder time recognizing our personal strengths and weaknesses which limits growth, creativity, and self-confidence. 

Learning how to be self-aware isn’t easy for anyone. But with practice, you can learn to increase your self-knowledge and find new ways to interpret your thoughts, actions, feelings, and conversations that you have with other people. The World Health Organization recognizes self-awareness as one of ten life skills that promote well-being across all cultures. It’s that important!

Below is an example of a young student being self-aware in a situation and then reacting without self-awareness.

Being self-aware:
Lauren was having a hard time with a homework assignment at home. Her parents were still working and Lauren didn’t want to interrupt them. Lauren realized being frustrated wasn’t going to help her think through the assignment clearly.  She remembered she had another assignment due that she understood and worked on that assignment instead. Once her parents arrived home, Lauren would ask them to help her with the assignment she had been struggling with.

Without self-awareness:
Lauren was having a hard time with a homework assignment at home. Her parents were still working, but Lauren wanted help immediately and called both of them repeatedly, telling them the assignment couldn’t wait. Lauren’s parents suggested she work on a different assignment until they came home. Lauren became more frustrated,  crumpled up her homework, and sat in front of the television instead. 

Internationally acclaimed author and psychologist Daniel Goleman says, “If your emotional abilities aren’t in hand, if you don’t have self-awareness, if you are not able to manage your distressing emotions, if you can’t have empathy and have effective relationships, then no matter how smart you are, you are not going to get very far.”

There are many ways to cultivate and practice self-awareness. Below are four ways we find to be most effective to kick start the learning process.

• Practice Mindfulness

Mindfulness is simply the practice of observing what is going on in your mind, body, and environment with focus, clarity, and acceptance of what is happening. Set aside time each day and start practicing. There are a ton of websites to help you learn how to practice mindfulness, but honestly, it can take as little as 3 minutes a day. Try it while you are walking or maybe you prefer finding a quiet space to sit. As you spend time practicing mindfulness, you’ll probably find yourself feeling kinder, calmer, and more patient.

• Start an Emotional Journal

This type of journaling isn’t your typical record of daily adventures. Rather, it’s a way to identify and take action around your emotions. Since the journal only focuses on your emotions, it’ll bring clarity to how to improve your mental health. You will start to notice patterns or trends that you can work to eliminate and avoid certain triggers.

• Get Honest Feedback from Others

Becoming self-aware almost always requires help. It’s not that how we view ourselves is wrong, and getting feedback doesn’t mean we develop an insecure concern about what people think. However, those we are close to and care about will see us more objectively than we see ourselves, so we need to take the time to understand their point of view. Why? So we can discover strengths we never realized or behaviors that may be hurting our relationships and holding us back. At the end of the day, we all have strengths and weaknesses and exploring them—through inward introspection and external feedback—is the key to a successful and self-accepting life.

• Identify Strengths and Work to Improve on Them

What do you like to do? What makes you happy? What do others say you do well? Where are you most productive? Write a list of things you like about yourself – do you tell good jokes, do you have a great memory, etc. You should also list new experiences you want to have – what are some things you can try that you may be good at? Start with a simple list and work on improving your top strengths. 

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Students participating in the GenerationFIT after school program receive an activity tracker over the duration of the program. Students sync their activity tracker to parent’s iphone or ipad (android coming in 2021) and receieve videos weekly created by our college athletes that provide up to 30 minutes of daily activity.  Students are then provided with an additional list of ideas on how they can stay active for a full 60 minutes each day.  In addition, the athletes come out to the school once a week to meet the kids and provide additonal fitness activities. 

Students set their own personal goals and when they reach levels, they earn badges.  Some badges will have rewards tied to them and those rewards are handed out at school every week.

ACTIVE KIDS ARE HAPPY KIDS! Our goal is to make fitness fun and create a lifelong love for staying active! Interactive fitness and gaming is simply active play. That is, participants are physically playing a game and not just passively watching it or doing some boring, monotonous exercise.

The GenerationFIT program encourages and rewards children (with support from parents and teachers) to improve their physical activity, healthy eating, self-confidence, mental health and general lifestyles. Our EmpowerU curriculum is tied to the GenerationFIT program providing lessons on diversity, body image, self respect, bullying, teamwork, nutrition and more!

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We are so excited for the 2019 Summer Empowerment Camp! Below are details regarding park information, schedule and activities. We are still in the planning stages so please give us a little more time to add additional information regarding specific details. All parents will receive emails starting in April with updates. A schedule with packing list will be mailed out in June!

Camp is held at Platte River State Park. Check in is around 5PM on Sunday with checkout on Wednesday at 10AM. Parents will get a tour of the cabins and meet the cabin leaders on first day.

Cabins sleep 6-7 and girls stay with same cabin leader throughout the week. Cabin leaders are all CPR and First Aid Certified and over the age of 18 years.

Cabins have a refrigerator and parents are encouraged to pack campers additional snacks and label bags/boxes. Restrooms and showers are all within steps of the cabins and are all private. cabin leaders take turns using the commons in early evening and campers do everything as a group – a camper will not get to use bathroom or visit another cabin without a leader.

Nurses will be available for questions at check-in and will discuss requirements and concerns with parents regarding medications.

During camp we will always have 2-3 nurses on-site monitoring activities.

*All vehicles traveling into Platte Park will need a Park Permit. You can obtain a daily pass for $6 and order online at https://ngpc-home.ne.gov/

Activities and Events

Outside of kayaking (8-10) and paddle boarding (11-14), the schedule will be fairly consistent at the two camps. Presentations are age appropriate.

FULL SCHEDULE WILL BE MAILED WITH PACKING LIST TO THE PARENTS PRIOR TO CAMP.

Sunday
Opening Ceremony
Grill Out!
Introductions
Friendship and Team Games
Rules and Guidelines
Escape Room Contest
Speaker: Michelle Homme & Courtney Hill

Yoga every morning.
Horseback Riding Daily.

Monday
Water Sports!
Kayaking
Paddle Boarding
Fishing
Swimming/Courses
Self Defense Workshop
Speakers 
Crafts
Breakfast-Lunch-Dinner
Movie Night Under the Stars

Tuesday
Land Sports!
Archery
Biking
Hiking
Surprise Games
Volleyball
Dance
Nutrition
Speakers: Bully Panel
Nature Center

Wednesday
Closing Ceremony

JENNY GREEN

Jenny Green is a huge advocate for women in sports and learning how to push yourself outside of your comfort zone to try new things.
Jenny grew up in Grand Island, Nebraska and from a young age was involved in a wide variety of sports and extracurricular activities. She became a pioneer in the women’s pole vault breaking not only the Nebraska state record but the high school national record as well during her time at Grand Island Central Catholic.
Her biggest accolades came during her time as a Husker when she competed on the women’s track and field team for the University of Nebraska. Jenny is a four-time Big XII Conference Champion in the pole vault and represented Team USA at the Jr. World Track & Field Championships in Italy. Jenny graduated from Nebraska with her bachelor and master degrees while twice earning Academic All-American honors.

A career ending accident in the pole vault ended Jenny’s Olympic dreams but resulted in learning new skills through personal experience in positive mindset, resiliency and the power of determination. She has been a motivational speaker across the country for various colleges, high schools and community organizations. Jenny’s passion for overcoming obstacles and growing 1% better each day, fuels her to empower others every day.

Find Out More!

Our company was founded in 1955 because we care — we care about the environment, we care about the health of our nation, the economy, the health of our communities, and we care about you. From the beginning, our company was built on our Five Founding Principles which we rely on to guide all our business decisions. They exemplify our deep commitment to our customers and the communities we serve. They were established to help guide and empower all of us to lead healthier, more vibrant lives. We offer the highest-quality products at Always Affordable prices, environmentally friendly practices, and by providing our employees with great jobs that pay well.

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