Abstract
Forest Bathing, where individuals use mindfulness to engage with nature, has been reported to increase heart rate variability and benefit wellbeing. To date, most Forest Bathing studies have been conducted in Asia. Accordingly, this paper reports the first pragmatic controlled trial of Forest Bathing in the United Kingdom, comparing Forest Bathing with a control comprising an established wellbeing intervention also known to increase heart rate variability called Compassionate Mind Training. Sixty-one university staff and students (50 females, 11 males) were allocated to (i) Forest Bathing, (ii) Compassionate Mind Training or (iii) Forest Bathing combined with Compassionate Mind Training. Wellbeing and heart rate variability were measured at baseline, post-intervention and three-months follow-up. There were improvements in positive emotions, mood disturbance, rumination, nature connection and compassion and 57% of participants showed an increase in heart rate variability. There were no significant differences between conditions, showing that Forest Bathing had equivalence with an established wellbeing intervention. The findings will help healthcare providers and policy makers to understand the effects of Forest Bathing and implement it as a feasible social prescription to improve wellbeing. Future research needs to involve clinical populations and to assess the effects of Forest Bathing in a fully powered randomised controlled trial.
Highlights
The World Health Organization [1] states that green space is a “necessary component for delivering healthy, sustainable, liveable conditions” (p. 5)
All data were subjected to tests of significant difference in questionnaire scores and heart rate variability (HRV) within data collection points and between conditions (Forest Bathing, Forest Bathing combined with Compassionate Mind Training (CMT) and CMT) using a Multiple Analysis of Variance (MANOVA)
HRV baseline measurements between the CMT condition (M = 36.40, SD = 20.48) and the Forest Bathing condition (M = 60.71, SD = 28.19) and between CMT and the Forest Bathing combined with CMT condition (M = 52.75, SD = 22.81) (t = −2.10, df = 29, p = 0.044)
Summary
The World Health Organization [1] states that green space is a “necessary component for delivering healthy, sustainable, liveable conditions” (p. 5). A review of the literature indicates the diverse health benefits of accessing green spaces [2]. Access to nearby green spaces and interventions to increase engagement with the natural environment are one of the fastest growing ways of improving human health [3]. Though empirical evidence is still needed, so-called social prescriptions, as an alternative to more traditional treatments for poor mental and physical health, have recently gained increased attention [4,5]. Social prescribing came about to respond to health inequalities in deprived areas; nature-based social prescriptions in particular have shown promise in reducing health inequalities because of their low cost and wide accessibility [6,7].
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