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Description
Join Bloomington Public Health and the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge on a journey through the outdoors. Learn what forest bathing is and the benefits being outdoors has on our physical and mental health.
B
C
A
B
Outdoors,
especially
in
green
spaces,
it
has
an
amazing
impact
on
our
physical
health.
It's
vital
to
our
true
nature.
It
tends
to
relax
us
our
muscle
tension
decreases,
our
blood
pressure
can
decrease,
our
heart
rate
can
decrease,
our
stress,
hormones
tend
to
decrease,
and
so
those
are
all
adding
up
to
make
us
just
feel
feel
better.
C
And
we're
lucky
to
have
a
place
like
minnesota
valley,
national
wildlife
refuge.
Here
right
in
the
heart
of
bloomington,
we
have
46
miles
of
trails
on
the
refuge.
Many
of
the
trailheads
are
accessible
right
from
our
neighborhoods
or
they're
on
public
transportation
routes,
so
they're
very
accessible
for
many
visitors.
A
I
am
a
retired
park
ranger
here
at
minnesota
valley,
national
wildlife
refuge.
I
am
now
leading
forest
bathing
hikes
through
art
start
and
minnesota
valley,
national
wildlife
refuge.
The
term
was
coined
in
the
early
1980s
by
scientists
in
japan,
who
were
interested
in
finding
scientific
research
that
could
support
what
we
intuitively
know
about
our
need
for
nature
and
how
much
it
benefits
us
in
terms
of
physical
and
mental
well-being.
We're.
C
B
Human
bodies
are
designed
with
a
internal
clock
that
has
to
be
set
every
day
and
it's
light
that
sets
that
clock
and
when
we
have
indoor
light
we
think
well
I'm
getting
light.
But
in
fact
it's
not
strong
enough
to
set
the
biological
clock
and
so
getting
outside,
especially
in
the
morning,
really
helps
set
your
circadian
rhythm
and
then
consequently
usually
helps
impact.
Getting
a
good
night's
sleep.
A
A
The
forest
bathing
concept
is
to
really
utilize
all
of
your
senses
to
appreciate
and
become
aware
of
trees,
in
particular,
if
you're
forest
bathing
but
nature,
if
you're
just
trying
to
have
a
little
mental
or
physical
break,
I
tend
to
have
kind
of
a
fireworks
brain
and
I
practice
meditation
in
order
to
rein
in
my
fireworks
brain.
But
what
I
really
love
about
forest
bathing
is
that
you
are
trying
to
go
down
every
rabbit,
hole
that
you
can
and.
C
A
B
Most
people
don't
realize
that
trees
and
green
plants
release
a
chemical
called
fight.
Insides
and
these
chemicals
are
released
into
the
air
and
as
humans
we
breathe
them
in
and
they
are
very
powerful
in
having
a
positive
effect
on
our
health.
They
can
reduce
our
blood
pressure,
there's
a
minimum
recommendation
for
being
outside
and
it's
20
minutes
a
day,
but
that's
the
minimum,
and
obviously
this
is
something
where
the
longer
outside
the
bigger
the
effect
will
be.
B
C
Is
unique
because
there
is
a
network
of
land
management
agencies
up
and
down
the
river
valley,
and
we
all
work
together
to
provide
these
amazing
opportunities
for
people
to
get
outside
right
in
their
neighborhoods
or
nearby.
Many
of
our
trails
connect
to
other
parks
and
refuges
within
bloomington
and
the
surrounding
communities.
So
you
can
really
take
a
journey
from
either
side
of
town
all
on
natural
trails.
B
The
other
thing
that
I
think
is
important
just
for
a
city-
and
I
think
bloomington
has
done
a
great
job
with
this-
is
that
the
more
green
plantings
you
have
in
your
city?
Actually,
the
more
people
get
along.
It's
it's
interesting
research
to
show
that
when
you
have
more
green
plantings,
people
tend
to
behave
better.
They
like
each
other
better.
They
tend
to
be
less
depressed.