The healing power of nature

Can a walk in the woods really do you a world of good? Forests and rivers are the most potent health tonic around. Rebecca Lawton, a fluvial geologist and former river guide, explores the growing scientific consensus around how nature can improve our mental and physical health. "River guides might know that nature is transformative for the human body and psyche; but the mechanism behind such profound change is less universally agreed upon and understood. How nature heals had been little researched until 1982, when Tomohide Akiyama, who was then secretary of the Forest Agency in Japan, coined the term shinrin-yoku (‘forest bathing’) to describe the practice of getting into the woods for body and mind renewal, to counter lifestyle-related health issues."