What happens when three groups of people experiencing Chronic Widespread Pain (CWP) spend 2 days in a lush forest with one psychiatrist, one rheumatologist, one forest guide, and one forest therapist?
Image by Albrecht Fietz from Pixabay
In 1990, the American College of Rheumatology defined chronic widespread pain (CWP) as a condition in which pain is present for three months or more in at least five parts of the body. There are physical and psychological symptoms involved including musculoskeletal pain, anxiety, depression, fatigue and overall decreased quality of life.
A Bit of Research
The possibility that Forest Bathing could help with CWP was a question posed by research scientists at the Stress Research Institute at Seoul University in 20141. In their study 3 groups of people spent two days in the gorgeous Saneum National Recreational Forest is located in Danwol-myeon in Yangpyeong.
While in these beautiful surroundings, participants were exposed to a variety of therapeutic interventions including:
- Walking and therapeutic activities
- Music therapy
- Psycho-education on coping with pain and stress
- Mindfulness-based meditation
Admittedly, the program was more complex than represented here, yet the conclusions are worth highlighting for anyone experiencing CWP!
When compared to control groups:
- Participants of the forest therapy program showed more physiological relaxation as as well as an enhanced immune competence.
- Participants in the forest therapy group also reported stronger decreases in pain and depression, and stronger increases in health-related quality of life.
All of this suggests that a forest environment and forest therapy program improve the health status and health-related quality of life among CWP patients.
Personal Note
I don’t suffer from CWP, but I have friends and colleagues who do. And I took an online program called, Feel Good Forest Bathing. I had wonderful experiences relaxing and connecting with nature. I became an affiliate and can offer a discount of 10% for any program including accredited training: Use coupon code: BETH10%.
The founder, Jan, a Physiotherapist from the UK, (and friend) is deeply committed to helping people discover the many benefits of Forest Bathing. Her teachings are engaging, accessible, memorable, and fun. Just yesterday I was sitting on a favorite bench in Rye, NH, USA overlooking the Atlantic and gently moving with ocean breeze and a patch of tall grass. 🙂
- Han JW, Choi H, Jeon YH, Yoon CH, Woo JM, Kim W. The Effects of Forest Therapy on Coping with Chronic Widespread Pain: Physiological and Psychological Differences between Participants in a Forest Therapy Program and a Control Group. Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2016 Feb 24;13(3):255. doi: 10.3390/ijerph13030255. PMID: 26927141; PMCID: PMC4808918. ↩︎
