The healing power of walking in nature

There's a very concrete peace that only comes when you stop fighting. Gemma Bañeres discovered it one day, sitting at the foot of a tree in the middle of the forest. For years, fibromyalgia had left her with an exhausted body, an alert mind, and a life riddled with frustration. But there, surrounded by green shade and ancient silence, something broke inside. "I felt like I no longer had to prove anything. Just be. And for the first time in a long time, I felt at peace with myself," she recalls. Then she cried, not from pain, but from relief: she had found a place where she didn't have to resist.

At a time when the pace of life accelerates and screens monopolize our gaze and minds, more and more people look to nature as a way to breathe again. Whether it's slow walks among pine trees, adapted hiking, or guided forest bathing, Activities in natural environments become a gateway to deep well-being and often forgotten. As science begins to explore its effects, a key question emerges: what really happens inside us when we venture into the forest? Voices from participants, health professionals, and researchers pave the way for science, medicine, and a deeper, more connected way of relating to nature.

"The forest doesn't heal me," says Bañeres, "but it helps me not to break completely." She started giving forest baths when fibromyalgia had taken almost everything from her: her work, her energy, even her desire to see people. At first, simply sitting on the ground and listening to the leaves move in the wind brought her an unknown calm. Over time, these encounters with nature became a refuge where she could reconnect with her body without guilt, stop demanding things from herself, and—little by little—replant her self-esteem among trees.

This is not an isolated case. Isabel Verdaguer, ecotherapist and founder of Biotop Natura, has led hundreds of sessions since she trained with the Association of Forest and Nature Therapy (ANFT) in 2014. One of the episodes he recalls most fondly is that of a couple who came out of curiosity and, a few weeks later, wrote to him to explain that the experience had inspired them to leave the city and start a new life in a village surrounded by nature. In other cases, he says he's seen how people with tinnitus—a persistent perception of a ringing or whistling in the ears—stopped hearing it for the first time in years, or how blocked artists found inspiration again.

A space for repair

Walking through the forest not only soothes the mind, it activates the brain. Walking on uneven terrain, such as root-strewn trails or natural slopes, stimulates activity in brain areas involved in attention and balance. A recent study showed that these conditions increase activation of the cingulate cortex and other areas related to decision-making and motor coordination, through increased activity in theta wave bands (a type of brain wave associated with states of deep relaxation, meditation, and learning).

This mild fatigue that many report after forest bathing isn't just an emotional metaphor: it's a physiological response. "In natural environments, cortisol levels are reduced, the autonomic nervous system is regulated, and repair processes are activated," explains Dr. Mayte Serrat, a physiotherapist and psychologist, a leading expert in Fibrowalk therapy and president of CIM Project (Inclusive Mountain Club). In people with fibromyalgia, these changes can be especially noticeable: less muscle tension, less pain perception, and a quality of rest that is difficult to achieve in everyday life.

"The forest already benefits us on its own," says Alex Gesse, trainer at the Forest Therapy Hub, a leading organization that promotes the connection between people and nature to improve health and well-being. "But with professional guidance, the effects multiply," he concludes. That's why they have created protocols like the FTHub Method, which seek to systematize and validate nature-based interventions.

There is also an emerging line of research that points to the physiological impact of volatile substances emitted by trees, especially pines. Several studies show that inhaling monoterpenes such as alpha-pinene and beta-pinene, present in coniferous forests, reduces heart rate and blood pressure, and can promote cardiovascular health. Furthermore, these molecules act as antioxidants and immune system modulators, improving the response of NK cells, which are involved in defending against infections and tumors.

Antoni Sanz, coordinator of the NAT (Nature Activity Therapies) project of the Stress and Health Research Group (GIES) and the Sports Research Institute (IRE-UAB) of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, ​​​​assures that these changes are not temporary: "The benefits do not pass."

It's not magic, it's science and methodology

The benefits of forest bathing are often perceived intuitively. But, at the same time, more and more scientific projects are seeking to quantify its effects. "Many people say that nature is good for your health, but very few techniques have been truly tested," warns Gesse.. Its objective: to establish criteria that allow for rigorous evaluation of nature-based interventions.

The study Forest Bathing in the Mediterranean (2020), published in Frontiers in Public Health, demonstrated that sessions based on Shinrin-Yoku—the Japanese practice that gives rise to forest bathing—generate measurable positive effects on emotional well-being and stress reduction. In fact, these studies underline that walking a path among trees has nothing to do with inhabiting it with mindfulness and opening oneself to all that it has to offer. A review published in theInternational Journal of Mental Health Nursing corroborates this: forest bathing improves mood, reduces rumination and increases positive affection.

However, as Antoni Sanz points out, "the most significant thing is everything we still don't know." Further clinical, longitudinal, and comparative studies are needed. Science also points to a crucial distinction: simply being in nature is not the same as participating in a guided, mindful practice. That's why Gesse insists on the responsibility of trained professionals and warns about the risks of sciencewashing —the superficial use of science to legitimize unproven methodologies. "We can't romanticize everything. Nature isn't magic. But, with honesty and knowledge, it can be medicine."

Green prescriptions

Beyond individual well-being, a growing number of voices are suggesting that contact with nature could be a structural part of health systems. In the wake of the pandemic, the need for more comprehensive and preventative approaches has come to the forefront. the so-called green prescriptions: therapeutic recommendations that incorporate activities such as forest bathing or mindful hiking into medical treatment.

Programs such as those promoted by entities like CIM Project, which works with people diagnosed with fibromyalgia, have already integrated these practices with encouraging results: reduced anxiety, improved self-care, and reinforced group bonds. "It's a paradigm shift," they point out from the sector, where more and more professionals are interested in this line.

From the academic world, researchers like Sanz are working to generate protocols and training for healthcare personnel. One of their goals is for primary care to be able to offer personalized, viable, and safe proposals. But to consolidate this, robust clinical studies are needed, as well as to demonstrate the positive economic impact of these interventions.

Currently, one of the main challenges is precisely this: who should bear the cost? Although nature is free, guided sessions require training, follow-up, and structure. However, investment in these practices is reinforced by evidence of benefits that go beyond the emotional sphere, even reaching the metabolic realm. Several studies have shown that walking more than 3,000 steps a day in green spaces can reduce the risk of developing metabolic syndrome, with improvements in blood glucose, blood pressure, and lipid profile.

Initiatives such as the Forest Therapy Hub, which works in conjunction with public institutions, ensure that this integration is carried out with rigor and respect for both participants and natural environments. Meanwhile, specialties such as environmental pediatrics are beginning to consider contact with green spaces a key factor in children's health, and more and more doctors are becoming interested in this path. The path is open, but for forest bathing to become part of the public health system, enthusiasm must translate into institutional structure and commitment.

It may be just the beginning. The real challenge is to bring this connection with nature inward and keep it alive in everyday life, as a constant gesture of care, listening, and coherence with the world we inhabit. Forest bathing isn't just a pleasant experience: it's an invitation to rethink how we take care of ourselves and how we relate to our environment. It's not a fad, but rather a potential shift in how we understand health. "Forest bathing isn't an escape, but a practice that helps us return," Sanz summarizes. "Returning to the present, to the body, to the connection with others and with nature. And that, in a world that constantly disconnects us, can be very transformative."