Carrickaholten Forest.

Carrickaholten Forest (outside the Village of Killeter) is one of the 3 West Tyrone, Castlederg / Killeter area forests suited for ‘Forest bathing’

Forest bathing—basically just being in the presence of trees.

A 2010 study using data from field experiments conducted in 24 forests across Japan found that subjects who participated in forest bathing had lower blood pressure, heart rate and concentrations of salivary cortisol — a stress hormone — when compared with those who walked through a city setting. Studies performed in other countries, such as Finland and the United States showed similar reductions in tension and anxiety.

“There have been studies comparing walking in nature with walking in an urban environment and testing people on their mood, different aspects of depression, and in some cases, brain scans,” said David Yaden, a research fellow at the University of Pennsylvania’s Positive Psychology Center. “In the natural setting, people are more relaxed and less stressed.”

People on nature walks also tend to engage in less rumination, or negative self-referential overthinking, which has been correlated with depression.