RE-WILDING
& WHY
Most? All(?) of us are victims of the modern age. We do not get enough time outside. Our physical health has been compromised by our sedentary lifestyle. We sit at our desks, commute to work, and fill our days staring at screens. But a different approach exists. Can we return ourselves to the wild? Or at least let ourselves be kissed & nurtured by its wild-sweet embrace?
THE WILD INSIDE
JUST THE BEGINNING
But I am just getting started here. Forest environments effectively pull the body out of its chronic, modern "fight-or-flight" state. In large-scale crossover studies, researchers monitored participants transitioning between urban and forest environments and observed a dramatic shift in nervous system balance. Forest immersion triggers a surge in parasympathetic activity (the "rest, digest, and repair" network) by over 50% to 100%. That's no small figure.
Forest bathing reduces stress. Levels of salivary cortisol (the primary stress hormone), adrenaline, and noradrenaline drop drastically within just 20 to 30 minutes of sitting or walking under a mature tree canopy. This neural relaxation directly results in lowered heart rates, improved heart rate variability (HRV), and a modest but significant reduction in blood pressure
Lastly, and this is just to conclude the research on this specific example, which I think we can easily apply to any and all quality time spent in nature, in truly wild places, Forest Bathing supports Neurocognitive Resilience & Visual Ecology. The human brain processes natural environments with much less cognitive effort than complex urban landscapes.
A notable study from Stanford University found that a 90-minute walk in nature decreased activity in the subgenual prefrontal cortex—the exact region of the brain associated with rumination (repetitive, negative thinking patterns linked to depression and anxiety).
The fractured light of the forest, with its soft geometric fractals of leaves, and ambient sounds (birds, wind, running water) trigger a state of "soft fascination." This allows the prefrontal cortex's directed attention systems to rest, recovering from digital fatigue and improving working memory and focus later on.
CALL ME BY MY NAME
rewilding /ˌriːˈwʌɪldɪŋ/
"Rewilding is a progressive conservation approach that restores damaged ecosystems by letting nature self-regulate, reducing human control, and bringing back native species and natural processes." This is textbook definition and origin of the term, readily available for conservationists and scientists in the field of ecology.
But now take this term and apply it to yourself. What is the "damaged ecosystem" that you live in? How removed is your life from time in nature. Do you live in a giant apartment complex, with blackout curtains, and sirens that lull you to sleep at night? What part of you needs more "self-regulation", with the help of nature, to heal your own ailments? Can we reduce the control we try to have over our lives? Inevitably, we don't actually have control, just the appearence thereof. So what if we intentionally let go so that we bring back those native species and natural processes within ourselves?
MICRO & MACRO DOSING NATURE
So we know nature is good for us. But how do we do it? How do we "get out there" and be with it, more often and in a more quality, concious way?
THE SCIENCE IS ON OUR SIDE
At this point we are lucky to have so many verified scientific studies that prove to us what we already know, but lost sight of somewhere along the way: nature is good for us. All those delightful, positive feelings you feel after going on a walk in the park, out on a trek, after a good session of biking or climbing in the mountains, whatever it is, science reaffirms that those feelings are legitmate, not invented, and indeed do us a world of good.
Let's take Forest Bathing as an example. Already as far back as 1980, the beneficial effects of hanging out in forests were being clinically studied in Japan as a national public health program (shinrin-yoku or forest bathing). Other universities eventually caught on, including Standford School of Medicine.
Forest bathing centers on multi-sensory immersion in nature, altering human physiology to lower stress and improve health. It's done not so much as a physical activity, but more as a mindfulness practice.
What they found was three-fold. You get a chemical communication of these phytoncides, or antimicrobial, volatile organic compounds that when inhaled, trigger highly measurable biological responses within us humans (or anything else inhaling them). Phytoncides stimulate the production and activitiy of NK or Natural Killer cells, a type of white blood cell critical for attacking viruses and tumors.
While a 20-minute session provides immediate benefits, multi-day forest trips have been shown to elevate NK cell activity and anti-cancer proteins for up to 30 days post-exposure. Wow, folks.
Researchers found that specific compounds like alpha-pinene actually interact with GABA receptors in the brain. These are the same pathways targeted by anti-anxiety medications—you're basically taking free meds, with no negative side effects, while strolling through the forest. You tell me why it feels so good to go out in nature.
RE-WILDING & WHY
What is re-wilding and why would anyone even care to do it? Some folks may have never heard of the term and others might wonder why I'd even bother to write about it!
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