EN 
ES 
FR 
PT 
A couple of years ago, I decided to try out a HIKE with a group run by CHARLIE COOK of WILD EARTH ADVENTURES. Charlie runs WEEKEND hikes that start in the spring and occur every weekend until fall. Last winter, he added a couple of hikes on SNOW shoes. My family and I frequently hike in all seasons except the winter. We grew up in the TROPICS, and we can’t do any activities that involve mobility on frozen water. I wanted to go on a group hike because I thought I would learn a lot from a seasoned hiker.
SPELL: EARTH SPELL: TROPICS
WHAT PHYSICAL ACTIVITY DOES THE AUTHOR’S FAMILY UNDERTAKE? HIKES
WHICH SEASON DOES CHARLIE START HIS GROUP HIKES? SPRING
IN WINTER, WHAT KIND OF SHOES ARE USED FOR HIKING? SNOW
WHAT KIND OF WATER DOES THE AUTHOR’S FAMILY NOT KNOW HOW TO MOVE ON? FROZEN
NAME A SPORT THAT TAKES PLACE ON ICE (SKATING, CURLING, ICE HOCKEY, ICE– FISHING ETC.)
Apart from that, I had just finished reading BILL BRYSON’s book, A WALK IN THE
WOODS. That book is about hiking the APPALACHIAN TRAIL, also known as the
A.T., which is 2,184 miles long. It starts in the state of GEORGIA and ends in MAINE. Bryson met a lot of hikers who were on the trail to complete it end to end. These kinds of hikers are called THRU-HIKERS. Charlie is someone who hiked the A.T. in the 1970s. It takes an average of 5-7 months to do this. Most people hike segments over weeks, some for a few hours even. I was fascinated by the kind of personality that could go on a hike that lasted for months. It seemed full of discomfort and hard to do physically and mentally. It felt like a punishment. All you could do all day long for months was eat, sleep, and hike over and over.
SPELL: PERSONALITY SPELL: AVERAGE
WHAT IS BRYSON’S BOOK CALLED? A _____________IN THE WOODS? WALK
HOW MANY MILES LONG IS THE AT? 2,184 MILES
WHAT IS A PERSON WHO HIKES THE ENTIRE AT TRAIL CALLED? THRU-HIKER
TO THE AUTHOR, WHAT DOES A LONG THRU-HIKE FEEL LIKE? PUNISHMENT
WHICH COAST OF THE US IS THE APPALACHIAN TRAIL ON? EAST
NAME ONE OF THE STATES THE TRAIL HAS AN END POINT IN. MAINE, GEORGIA
IF IT TOOK CHARLIE 360 DAYS TO HIKE THE A.T., WHAT’S THE AVERAGE NUMBER OF MILES HE HIKED IN A DAY? 2184/360=6.06
When I hiked with Charlie, I learned ONE main idea. I usually go on hikes because it is one place where I genuinely enjoy being in motion. Walking is my main form of exercise. Hiking is walking, except it is in natural surroundings. I enjoy hiking more than URBAN walks. I ASSUMED that Charlie and all other hikers would be drawn to hiking for the same reason. Turns out Charlie said that the most important reason for him to hike was to get out of the house and allow his body to engage with NATURE. He said our homes, cars, and workplaces are so regulated for TEMPERATURE, SOUND, SMELL, and SIGHT that our bodies do not ever go into sensory AROUSAL. (AROUSAL means our body’s alertness to cope with and regulate a positive or negative change in a sensory input)
SPELL: TEMPERATURE SPELL: URBAN SPELL: SOUND
WHAT OTHER FORM OF EXERCISE IS HIKING LIKE? WALKING
WHAT DOES CHARLIE LIKE HIS BODY TO ENGAGE WITH? NATURE
HOW MANY MAIN IDEAS DID I GET FROM CHARLIE? ONE
OUR BODIES ALERTNESS TO COPE WITH CHANGE IN A SENSORY INPUT IS CALLED?
AROUSAL
NAME ONE OF THE THINGS THAT CHARLIE SAID OUR HOMES ARE REGULATED
FOR (TEMPERATURE, SOUND, SMELL, SIGHT)
Charlie told me that we heat and cool all our spaces so that it exactly suits our needs. We deprive ourselves of the pleasure of walking into our homes from the outdoors chilled to the bone, wrapping our hands around a bowl of hot soup, and having that lovely warmth creep into us. Homes today are increasingly SICK homes. Because we heat or cool our homes so much, we invest a lot in INSULATING them. Because of EFFICIENT insulation, our homes do not BREATHE. We do not allow fresh air to come in and STALE air to go out, especially in winter. Internal POLLUTANTS like mold, carpet dust, and chemical vapors from flooring and walls fill our homes. This makes our homes sick. Not only do we deprive our bodies of the pleasure and intensity of our sensory world, but we also live in sick homes.
WHAT HELPS A HOME RETAIN EITHER ITS WARMTH OR COOLNESS? INSULATION
WHAT DO HOMES GET WHEN WE DON’T ALLOW THEM TO BREATHE? SICK
NAME A POLLUTANT. DUST, VAPORS, MOLD
WHAT IS THE OPPOSITE OF FRESH? STALE
WHAT OTHER SENSORY PLEASURES HAVE MODERN HOMES DEPRIVED US OF?
According to a UNITED NATIONS report published in 2014, By 2050, 66% of the world’s population is PROJECTED to live in cities. According to a study sponsored by the Environmental Protection Agency, or the EPA, the average American spends 93% of his or her time indoors. Most of this time will be in insulated workplaces that don’t breathe and harbor pollutants, where the concentrations of some pollutants are often 2 to 5 times higher than typical outdoor concentrations. Added to that, people with poor health, young children, and seniors are the ones who spend more time inside their homes. They are the most vulnerable.
SPELL: TYPICAL SPELL: OUTDOOR
HOW MUCH TIME DOES THE AVERAGE AMERICAN SPEND OUTDOORS? 10093=7%
BY 2050, HOW MUCH OF THE WORLDS POPULATION WILL LIVE IN CITIES? 66%
WHAT DOES THE EPA PROTECT? THE… ENVIRONMENT
NAME ONE CATEGORY OF PEOPLE WHO SPEND MOST OF THEIR TIME INDOORS
SICK, YOUNG, OLD, PEOPLE WITH POOR HEALTH, YOUNG CHILDREN, SENIORS
People move to cities for good reasons. Cities offer more JOB opportunities and more CHOICES in education, lifestyle, cultural diversity, and community life. Yet, and this is the PARADOX (a contradiction), living in a crowded, concrete-walled, green-poor, urban environment takes something away from our very essence; our PRIMAL (relating to early stages in evolutionary development) need to be close to nature.
SPELL: OPPORTUNITY SPELL: PRIMAL
WHAT KIND OF NEED REQUIRES US TO BE CLOSE TO NATURE? PRIMAL, WHAT KIND OF ENVIRONMENT TAKES SOMETHING AWAY FROM OUR ESSENCE?
URBAN
NAME ONE THING THAT I MENTIONED THAT CITIES OFFER MORE CHOICES IN
JOBS, EDUCATION, LIFESTYLE
WHAT DO THE WORDS GREEN-POOR SUGGEST ABOUT A CITY NEIGHBORHOOD?
Japan, according to the U.N., ranks 39th highest in POPULATION DENSITY in the world. That is the POPULATION of a country divided by the LAND AREA. Population Density gives you a sense of how closely people have to live next to each other. Japan has an ancient tradition that tries to balance out the drain from urban living. It’s known as shinrin-yoku, or “FOREST BATHING.” It’s the practice of spending time with trees in order to gain from their many health benefits. In the book Forest Bathing: How Trees Can Help You Find Health and Happiness, D.R.
QING LI, an expert in forest medicine, introduces readers to the HEALING practice of forest bathing — and the art and science of how trees can enrich your life.
SPELL: DRAIN SPELL: TRADITION
WHO IS THE AUTHOR OF THE BOOK FOREST BATHING……. HAPPINESS? DR QING LI
WHAT DOES SHINRIN-YOKU TRANSLATE TO? FOREST BATHING
WHICH COUNTRY HAS A VERY HIGH POPULATION DENSITY? JAPAN
WHAT KIND OF MEDICINE IS DR. LI AN EXPERT IN? FOREST
WHAT CAN WE ASSESS FROM THE POPULATION DENSITY OF AN AREA OR PLACE?
Forest bathing is not hiking in nature or walking in a city green space. These involve EXERTION and getting from one endpoint to the other. Forest bathing is simply being in nature, connecting with it through our senses of SIGHT, HEARING, TASTE, SMELL, and TOUCH. Shinrin-yoku is like a BRIDGE. By opening our senses, it BRIDGES the gap between the U.S. and the NATURAL WORLD.
SPELL: SHINRIN-YOKU SPELL: WORLD
FOREST BATHING INVOLVES CONNECTING WITH NATURE THROUGH WHAT?
SENSES
FOREST BATHING ACTS AS A __________BETWEEN US AND THE NATURAL
WORLD? BRIDGE
WHAT DOES FOREST BATHING NOT INVOLVE BUT HIKING DOES? EXERTION
VAKT
Provide a set of leaves and bark, twigs, and flowers that the student can explore, touch, smell, and look at.
Forest bathing’s impact on people’s HEALTH has been the focus of numerous scientific studies. Data exists to support its benefits. Dr. Li provides a long list of peer-reviewed articles at the end of his book. Li is a MEDICAL doctor at TOKYO’s NIPPON MEDICAL SCHOOL and has been a visiting fellow at STANFORD University School of Medicine.
SPELL: PEER SPELL: TOKYO
WHAT DOES FOREST BATHING HAVE AN IMPACT ON? HEALTH
WHAT KIND OF DR. IS QING LI? MEDICAL
WHICH COLLEGE IN THE US IS HE A FELLOW? STANFORD
Forest bathing REDUCES stress, anxiety, depression, and anger. Essential tree oils, such as PHYTONCIDES found in forest air – very high in PINE and CYPRESS trees – increase ENERGY levels by more than 30 percent. There is improvement in SLEEP, a boost of the IMMUNE system and CARDIOVASCULAR or heart health, and better PARASYMPATHETIC response (rest-and-recover). The health and emotional benefits are plentiful.
SPELL: HEALTH SPELL: IMMUNE
WHAT IS THE CHEMICAL NAME FOR AN ESSENTIAL TREE OIL? PHYTONCIDES
WHAT KIND OF EMOTIONS DOES FB REDUCE? (STRESS, ANXIETY, DEPRESSION, ANGER)
HOW DOES OUR ENERGY LEVEL INCREASE WITH FOREST BATHING? 30%
EXTENDED VAKT
Here is Dr. Li’s description of how to go about forest bathing. (Published in Time Magazine, a source provided at the end of the lesson )
First, find a spot. You could be in any green space that has trees– your backyard, school playground, etc. “You will be walking aimlessly and slowly. Let your body be your guide. Listen to where it wants to take you. Follow your nose. And take your time. It doesn’t matter if you don’t get anywhere. You are not going anywhere. You are savoring the sounds, smells, and sights of nature and letting the forest in.
The key to unlocking the power of the forest is in the five senses. Let nature enter through your ears, eyes, nose, mouth, hands, and feet. Listen to the birds singing and the breeze rustling in the leaves of the trees. Look at the different greens of the trees and the sunlight filtering through the branches. Smell the fragrance of the forest and breathe in the natural aromas of the earth and the trees. Taste the freshness of the air as you take deep breaths. Place your hands on the trunk of a tree. Dip your fingers or toes in a stream. Lie on the ground. Drink in the flavor of the forest and release your sense of joy and calm. This is your sixth sense, a state of mind. Now you have connected with nature. You have crossed the bridge to happiness.
You can forest-bathe anywhere in the world – wherever there are trees; in hot weather or in the cold; in rain, sunshine, or snow. You don’t even need a forest. Once you have learned how to do it, you can do shinrin-yoku anywhere – in a nearby park or in your garden. Look for a place where there are trees, and off you go!”
Creative writing
YOU ARE ON A HIKE AND STUMBLE ACROSS A GROUP OF PEOPLE ENGAGED IN
FOREST BATHING. PRETEND YOU HAVE NEVER COME ACROSS THE TERM AND DESCRIBE SOME OF THE THINGS THESE PEOPLE ARE DOING. WRITE ABOUT YOUR RESPONSE TO THEIR ACTIONS.
Source:
http://time.com/5259602/japanese-forest-bathing/
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2017/06/forest-bathing/532068/
