IM-WALD-SEIN® works: findings from Forest Medicine and Psychoneuroimmunology

Of course, I hear this question very often, and I like to respond with a counter-question: When was the last time you were in the forest simply to be — here and now? To let your lungs breathe freely, to see, hear, smell, feel, and taste? To stop thinking and just be?

Many of us go to the forest often, yet our minds wander somewhere else entirely. Out of doing, into being — that’s the difference, and also the greatest challenge. It lies in how we walk through the forest. Do we just move from point A to point B, our thoughts lost in yesterday or tomorrow, or are we truly present in the here and now?

In Shinrin-Yoku, we open our senses and consciously take in the nature around us. The more deeply we do this, the easier it becomes to step off the endless carousel of thoughts, stress begins to melt away, and our mood lifts. It’s not necessarily about doing something new — but about experiencing something familiar in a fresh way.course, I hear this question very often, and I like to ask the counter-question: When was the last time you were in the forest, simply to be here and now? To let your lungs breathe freely, to see, hear, smell, feel, and taste? To stop thinking, to be?

Yes. It’s about taking a conscious break from everyday life—one that refreshes your body, mind, and soul. You don’t need to jog, hike, or check anything off a list. You’re invited to simply enjoy and be fully yourself. The key is stepping outside and giving real meaning to the word “being.”

Being in the forest isn’t about using it as just a backdrop for other activities. Nor is it about someone telling you what to do—if that’s the case, we might as well stay home.

But when this kind of mindful forest time succeeds, the reward is rich: we feel uplifted, and we’ve done something deeply good for body, mind, and soul. Every single cell will thank us.

According to integrative medicine expert Prof. Dr. Byeongsang Oh from Sydney Medical School, the answer is yes.

He looked at six especially meaningful randomized controlled trials (RCTs) and concluded that forest therapy can play an important role in improving our health. These studies, which included 323 participants from China, Korea, and Sweden, showed that spending time in the forest has real, measurable benefits.

On the physical side, it helped lower blood pressure, strengthened the immune system, reduced inflammation and oxidative stress, and even improved heart and lung function. On the emotional side, participants reported feeling less anxious and depressed—and their overall mood significantly improved.

Research shows that Shinrin Yoku can be especially helpful for people with diabetes. Professor Dr. Yoshinori Ohtsuka studied its effects on individuals with type 2 diabetes by tracking the blood sugar levels of 48 participants. Over six years, they practiced Shinrin Yoku nine times.

Depending on their physical condition, one group walked 5,000 steps in 30 minutes, while the other walked 10,000 steps in 60 minutes—always in the forest. Both approaches helped significantly lower their elevated blood sugar levels, even bringing them closer to the threshold for a diabetes diagnosis.

Shinrin Yoku has shown great promise here, too. A recent systematic review looked at 20 studies involving 732 participants to examine whether spending time in the forest can help prevent or treat high blood pressure. The results were clear: Shinrin Yoku led to a significant drop in both systolic and diastolic blood pressure.