My biggest take-away from American History, Prehistory to 1877, was that Ben Franklin liked to get naked in his upstairs window and take “air baths” for his constitution. For some reason that is an image that sticks with you.
It turns out that dear, weird Ben was onto something. The Japanese call it shinrin yoku, or forest bathing. Immersing yourself in nature doesn’t have to be done naked, but Ben was an overachiever. It may sound new-agey and like the kind of thing you do in Portland on a date, but doctors are increasingly proscribing the outdoors for mental and physical health, and neighborhoods, schools, and other institutional bodies are responding.
The World Health Organization has said that there are 7 million early deaths annually due to polluted air. Air quality worldwide is worse than we had previously imagined, and in some areas it is so dire that one of the big jokes from the movie “Spaceballs” is coming true: people are selling canned air.
People are looking for solutions, and national and city governments are beginning to realize the benefits of nature as public health infrastructure. Not only is it good for your mental health, trees clean the air and water, help reduce flooding, and maintain lower temperatures, all of which help balance life in our concrete jungles. (I’m from Houston. Trust me, less flooding is good for your emotional and physical well-being.) As an example, to combat its well-documented air issues, China has deployed 60,000 troops to plant almost 34,000 square miles of trees for their amazing carbon-capture abilities, and there is good reason why. Overall, natural areas have proven to be less expensive and more effective than other engineered solutions for city air and water issues.

  • Imagine being at work on a beautiful day and your boss moves the meeting to the park outside to take advantage of the weather, or being urged to work remotely from a nearby urban forest. HR demands it.
  • Imagine a drug-free, anxiety-free life. Many of us take antidepressants and anti-anxiety medication. While a hike can’t treat hardcore chemical depression, surrounding yourself with nature has shown significant benefits. One day, when you visit your doctor, she may default to ecotherapy treatments such as a nature walk twice a week before bringing out the SRIs.
  • Imagine that instead of a recess dominated by structured forts with slides and monkey bars, your kids will play on hiking trails or explore marshland for frogs. Classes will move outdoors to discuss animal and plant diversity and help foster a love of nature that must be introduced at a young age for it to flourish.
  • Imagine a world where cities and forests are no longer mutually exclusive, but integrated with each other to create a richer, healthier life for urban dwellers.
  • And imagine a naked Ben Franklin, symbol of this new natural order, pioneering this merging of city and robust rural health. It is, apparently, the American way.     — Rachel Young