Mariel Cigarra

If it feels beautiful and resonant to you, that's what matters.

Now, sit down.

We'll have more Life Kit after the break.

All right, you're settled in.

Your phone is turned off or at least put away.

It's time to engage your senses.

We're going to start with smell and inhalation because Dr. Lee says based on his research, many of the benefits of forest bathing come when we inhale the chemicals that trees release into the air.

They're called phytoncides.

And when we breathe them in, they, on their own, can do things like reduce our stress hormones and increase our levels of anti-cancer proteins.

Dr. Lee has done experiments on this.

His team ordered these special concentrated essential oils made from Japanese cypress trees and then pumped them into the hotel rooms of test subjects using a diffuser.

The people staying in those rooms saw many of the same health benefits as the ones who did a forest bathing session, just to a lesser extent.

So as a side note, if you can't make it to a forest, Dr. Lee says you could get some of the benefits by diffusing tree-based essential oils at home.

But yeah, takeaway three is to breathe it all in and ask yourself, what do I smell?

Behind each smell in the forest is an exquisite, wondrous fact.

For instance, the flowers on trees emit a fragrance so they can attract bees with the promise of food that's packed with energy.

According to researchers at the University of Tel Aviv, a plant called the evening primrose will actually pump up the concentration of sugar in its nectar when bees are buzzing nearby.

I learned that from a book called Forest Walking, Discovering the Trees and Woodlands of North America, written by Peter Wollebein and translated by Jane Billinghurst.

I also learned that the earthy smell underfoot in the forest, the one that makes you feel like, hell yeah, I'm in nature, that comes from insects, bacteria, and fungi breaking down leaves and rotten wood.

And that process will enrich the soil with nutrients.