Thin Slices of Joy
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ScotBird - We're not close to having ice cream on the grass. Instead it's time for tire sur la neige or maple taffy.
jcn - What did you bake?
glennie - Glad you kept the puppy!
GG - So happy to hear PT is working for you!
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Serenity, I baked these Irish soda bread muffins
http://allrecipes.com/search/results/?wt=Irish soda muffin&sort=re
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This cat dreams big. #goals :-)
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jcn - Those look good! I feel like I've ramped up my baking from a few times a year to too often. The scale is telling me to ease up on it.
badger - Ha!
I truly love the images of animals that people post online. Apparently, my pup is not enough!
Look at this face!
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Too cute! How did he get the bananas
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He probably just grabbed it from the counter. I love how gently he's holding the banana. So adorable!
For a birthday party we had planned at a little gym, one of the girls had severe food allergies including soy. Her mother told me she wouldn't be able to eat cake. Not an option for me! I made a cake from scratch after checking the ingredients with her mom. So I baked the cake and put it against the wall on the counter to cool. When I went back, I caught my old dog eating the cake! She had eaten over a third of it. She was stretched out with her tongue extended further than I've ever seen. I'm glad I hadn't put the frosting on yet. Luckily I had enough ingredients to make another cake and was more careful where I left it to cool. Doggies! I miss her still.
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Anyone try forest bathing? I'll have to look for a nearby park. We do have a lot of cedars, but only enough to form a border.
The Japanese practice of 'forest bathing' is scientifically proven to improve your health
The tonic of the wilderness was Henry David Thoreau's classic prescription for civilization and its discontents, offered in the 1854 essay Walden: Or, Life in the Woods. Now there's scientific evidence supporting eco-therapy. The Japanese practice of forest bathing is proven to lower heart rate and blood pressure, reduce stress hormone production, boost the immune system, and improve overall feelings of wellbeing.
Forest bathing—basically just being in the presence of trees—became part of a national public health program in Japan in 1982 when the forestry ministry coined the phrase shinrin-yoku and promoted topiary as therapy. Nature appreciation—picnicking en masse under the cherry blossoms, for example—is a national pastime in Japan, so forest bathing quickly took. The environment's wisdom has long been evident to the culture: Japan's Zen masters asked: If a tree falls in the forest and no one hears, does it make a sound?
To discover the answer, masters do nothing, and gain illumination. Forest bathing works similarly: Just be with trees. No hiking, no counting steps on a Fitbit. You can sit or meander, but the point is to relax rather than accomplish anything.
"Don't effort," says Gregg Berman, a registered nurse, wilderness expert, and certified forest bathing guide in California. He's leading a small group on the Big Trees Trail in Oakland one cool October afternoon, barefoot among the redwoods. Berman tells the group—wearing shoes—that the human nervous system is both of nature and attuned to it. Planes roar overhead as the forest bathers wander slowly, quietly, under the green cathedral of trees.
From 2004 to 2012, Japanese officials spent about $4 million dollarsstudying the physiological and psychological effects of forest bathing, designating 48 therapy trails based on the results. Qing Li, a professor at Nippon Medical School in Tokyo, measured the activity of human natural killer (NK) cells in the immune system before and after exposure to the woods. These cells provide rapid responses to viral-infected cells and respond to tumor formation, and are associated with immune system health and cancer prevention. In a 2009 study Li's subjects showed significant increases in NK cell activity in the week after a forest visit, and positive effects lasted a month following each weekend in the woods.
This is due to various essential oils, generally called phytoncide, found in wood, plants, and some fruit and vegetables, which trees emit to protect themselves from germs and insects. Forest air doesn't just feel fresher and better—inhaling phytoncide seems to actually improve immune system function.
Experiments on forest bathing conducted by the Center for Environment, Health and Field Sciences in Japan's Chiba University measured its physiological effects on 280 subjects in their early 20s. The team measured the subjects' salivary cortisol (which increases with stress), blood pressure, pulse rate, and heart rate variability during a day in the city and compared those to the same biometrics taken during a day with a 30-minute forest visit. "Forest environments promote lower concentrations of cortisol, lower pulse rate, lower blood pressure, greater parasympathetic nerve activity, and lower sympathetic nerve activity than do city environments," the study concluded.
In other words, being in nature made subjects, physiologically, less amped. The parasympathetic nerve system controls the body's rest-and-digest system while the sympathetic nerve system governs fight-or-flight responses. Subjects were more rested and less inclined to stress after a forest bath.
Trees soothe the spirit too. A study on forest bathing's psychological effects surveyed 498 healthy volunteers, twice in a forest and twice in control environments. The subjects showed significantly reduced hostility and depression scores, coupled with increased liveliness, after exposure to trees. "Accordingly," the researchers wrote, "forest environments can be viewed as therapeutic landscapes."
City dwellers can benefit from the effects of trees with just a visit to the park. Brief exposure to greenery in urban environments can relieve stress levels, and experts have recommended "doses of nature" as part of treatment of attention disorders in children. What all of this evidence suggests is we don't seem to need a lot of exposure to gain from nature—but regular contact appears to improve our immune system function and our wellbeing.
Julia Plevin, a product designer and urban forest bather, founded San Francisco's 200-member Forest Bathing Club Meetup in 2014. They gather monthly to escape technology. "It's an immersive experience," Plevin explained to Quartz. "So much of our lives are spent interacting with 2D screens. This is such a bummer because there's a whole 3D world out there! Forest bathing is a break from your phone and computer…from all that noise of social media and email."
Before we crossed the threshold into the woods in Oakland, Berman advised the forest bathers to pick up a rock, put a problem in and drop it. "You can pick up your troubles again when you leave," he said with a straight face. But after two hours of forest bathing, no one does.
Joy Chiu, a leadership and life coach on the forest bath led by Berman, explained that this perspective on problems lasts long after a bath, and that she returns to the peace of the forest when she's far from here, feeling harried. "It's grounding and I go back to the calm feeling of being here. It's not like a time capsule, but something I can continually return to."
https://qz.com/804022/health-benefits-japanese-for...
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So it is.
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My old dog, Ava,, (in avatar) LOVED bananas!! Have not tried them on new pup yet.
Must look into forest bathing!! I like walking in the woods,, and now that pup is off of the heartworm precautions,, we can take long walks again.
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I'm certain my pup would love bananas. She liked the bits of apple I shared with her today. The parks nearby are cleared for sports and playground equipment. Woodsy areas are further away. It's easier to walk along the water. Part of suburban life.
Watch this girl go!
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hi serenity thankyou for your forest post i have started already with a mini forest down the yard and deck edge japanese theme so the next step will be a mini spa off the deck so much serenitybliss to come
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I'm planning a trip to West Virginia with my son in May. Lost of forest bathing there
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Jcn, where are you at in PA? I live in the tri-state area, in a little town on the Ohio River /West Virginia border and an hour from Pittsburgh. We're planning a trip to New River Gorge in WV this summer.
Well, what an eventful few days in my neighborhood! Front row seats to house demolition. It took about 10 hours to bring the place down. It was two stories, about 40 feet wide with a shorter section on back and two front porches. SO much fun to watch it go. Crunch, crunch! There is still an ick factor in realizing how incredibly disgusting the place was. The debris smells. They are still clearing it and expect that part will be complete tomorrow. Then they'll plant grass seed and toss straw down.
What a huge difference.
I ended up going to express care for antibiotic, decongestant/cough meds and inhaler and am still rebounding from upper respitory infection. Still, nothing could take away from the wonderful feeling of getting rid of this neighborhood blight.
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Bright - Looking very Zen!
jcn - Very nice!
Divine - Glad the demo is almost done. Hope you feel better soon. Maybe try some forest bathing?
I love the sound of gentle rain.
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I dug out my Gore-Tex shell and rain boots to walk in the misty rain. I ended up on Sherwood Avenue, but found no forest. The air was still refreshing.
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Divine, I'm in Eastern PA in the Lehigh Valley not too far from the NJ border. Glad demo went well. Hope the antibiotics are working and you are feeling better soon.
Serenity, your Sherwood Forest comment made me laugh. I like sitting on my front porch in the rain, but only in the summer.
Yesterday I went to see a physical therapist for the swelling in my abdomen. (DIEP in December). She showed me how to do lymphatic massage. If it works I'll be able to exercise more.
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Hope the MLD works for you!
I live in an area with some very English street names. I walked along Sherwood, Robin, Loxley, and Marian. Didn't see Nottingham. I find it funny whenever I pass them.
Today I saw a kinesiologist. My arm measurements are smaller! She worked on my side and back. I just bought this dry brush to help. I tend to press too hard when doing MLD.
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Love the idea of forest bathing. I have done it, just didn't know that's what it was called LOL.
I have gone naked
into the forest to bathe,
smudging without smoke.
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hi wilder gals we do love the outdoors..i am surrounded by national park .i wonder if eucalyptus from our ozzie trees has the same effect..also ozone from surf waves will have to research beach walk coming up .
all in comfort huggs to those indoors
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Eucalyptus trees probably have the same effect. I've never gone into the woods for this purpose. We just like to hike in the woods. There are woodsy parks around, but there's a park about an hour north with a trail that goes along a river. Will need to go back. I love walking by the water. I also like walking in the rain.
But not now. Am on my chair under a blanket.
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Pup patiently waiting for me to finish exercising.
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Beautiful pup Serenity!
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ScotBird - Thanks! She is such a sweetheart. I was away this morning, and she gets very snuggly when I return.
I'm making passive almond cookies today.
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Was out visiting in the rain for work today and saw a horse and buggy only 20 minutes from my house. Usually I have to travel further to see them. That horse was really moving! Traveling through farm country always relaxes me.
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Horses are beautiful!
Our regular sushi Friday was supplemented by cannolis freshly made at an Italian market. Weird combo, but they're right next to each other. Yum!
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Serenity, what a pretty velvet-brown pup!
LOL on the almond cookie kitty.
Divine, hope you're feeling better, esp since the eyesore next door is finally gone.
Really pretty Spring day. Tulips and daffodils are coming up and yellow crocus is blooming.
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I am still on the mend but the meds helped big time.What a beautiful dog, Serenity.
Here is a picture taken during the demo last week. The white house with black roof on the left is ours, that is the the back porch where we love to sit in nice weather. You can see why we were thrilled to see the blight taken away. Now the debris is gone, so is the odor and all that remains is a large empty lot sprinkled with grass seed. Score one for the good guys.
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This is a really great forum. What a good idea. I've had lots of trouble finding any joy lately especially since the return of my BC with Mets to the lung and some nodes after 25 years and now I've just lost a very dear friend to another kind of ugly cancer. This is my first post here and I know I need to find slivers of joy. Today I found one! Our printer broke a few days ago and we found a new one at a reasonable price and I can AirPrint from my IPad for the first time ever. Hooray!
Faith (in the future)
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Divine, I'm sure you are so thrilled that you can now enjoy sitting outside without that eyesore of a house. YAY!
Welcome to Faith. YAY for the new printer.
Serenity, your pup is adorable. And love the "aggressive" almond cookies!
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welcome Faith and Bright55! I'm pretty new too but love it here.
Did housework this morning and still need to sweep & mop the kitchen floor but that can wait until tomorrow. Too nice this afternoon. Got outside for some yard work and also walked to the library.
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