If I hug a tree will the tree hug me back ?
During a pandemic, health & wellbeing is more important than ever
With everything that’s going on at the moment, what we want and need more than ever is hugs. But of course, we can’t go around hugging each other due to social distancing, however you can still get some loving, by hugging a tree.
Whilst we can’t be sure if the tree is hugging us back – according to Porfinnsson, who works at Hallormsstaour National Forest in Iceland, when hugging a tree, you feel it first in your toes then moving up to your legs then chest and finally up to your head.
Modern-day living can create a whole load of stress in our lives, so there’s never been a better time than now to think about our wellbeing. This is why more and more people are turning to the gift of nature for therapy- like tree hugging.
Although it may still be associated with a hippy lifestyle, research has shown that trees provide health benefits for mental health illnesses and children function better, both cognitively and emotionally. Scientists have repeatably shown that green spaces can be as effective as prescription drugs in treating some forms of mental illnesses. It was also argued that these health benefits previously mentioned have nothing to do with green spaces, but proving scientifically that it is the vibrational properties of the trees and plants that give the health benefits.
You can feel the benefits of tree hugging in just 5 minutes
Looking after our physical and mental well-being has never been so important, as it is right now. We are all cooped up, staying indoors to protect individuals from corona virus.
Trees have been shown to be good for us in so many ways. 5 minutes is definitely enough time to hug a tree, but you can also do it many times a day. Once you have chosen a tree, put your arms around it and close your eyes and place your cheek against the trunk and feel the warmth and the currents flowing through. Hugging a tree increases levels of thee hormone oxytocin. This hormone is responsible for feeling calm and emotional bonding. Whilst hugging a tree, the hormones serotonin and dopamine make us feel happier.
Business & Wellbeing
Many companies in Japan promote a healthier lifestyle for employees, by taking a stroll through the forest, they believe it makes them feel stronger and healthier. They call this “Shinrin-yoku” – the explanation for this is that essential wood oils in the air that are emitted by the trees, called phytoncides, increase the number of killer cells in the body, which intern fights sickness and disease.
Do trees have feelings?
According to Peter Wohlleben, a German researcher who devoted his work to studying trees, yes, trees have feelings.
They feel pain, they have emotions, such as fear and they like to stand close together and cuddle. Peter Wohlleben also explains that trees love company and that they have a friendship among trees – that they form bonds like an old couple, where they look out for each other. Biologists, ecologists, foresters, and naturalists progressively argue that trees speak, and individuals can learn to hear them. The majority of society struggle with this concept because they can’t perceive that trees are interconnected, but by understanding that nature is a network is the initial step in hearing trees talk.
The freshest air you can breathe is under a tree,
The Buddhists have a precept called “interbeing”; the underlying interrelatedness of all life — that everything is connected.
So, trees breathe in carbon dioxide and exhale oxygen. We humans breathe in oxygen and breathe out carbon dioxide.
We and trees benefit one another by replenishing each other’s breath — we are the breath of life to one another. There is a beautiful truth in this — “symbiotic nature”. A study shows that trees remove so much pollution from the air that they prevent 850 human deaths and 670,000 cases of acute respiratory symptoms each year.
