photo above: Chattahoochee National Recreation Center: by Madeline Hipp

By Madeline Hipp

• Forest bathing, or mindfully existing in nature has marked positive effects on mental health.
• Urban tree canopies can replicate the effects of the woods in city-areas.
• National Park attendance has increased 2% over the past year

When Liam Harwell’s mental health took a turn, he did what few others his age have ever done. He spent three months in the wilderness without a phone.

“It’s nice to be completely alone in the woods to just sit down somewhere at the top of a mountain and enjoy the scenery,” recalls Harwell, a junior at Kennesaw State University. “It’s so calming for me.”

Harwell spent those three months surviving in the woods and enjoyed activities such as hiking, swimming, or “just existing.”

The experience improved Harwell’s appreciation for nature and he regularly adventures out into the local Chattahoochee River National Recreation Area trails, especially when schoolwork piles up and he needs to clear his head.

Harwell may have taken forest bathing to the extreme, but he’s not alone in finding peace in the forest. According to the National Park Service, there were 331.9 million recreation visits in 2024, an increase of 6.36 million recreation visits, or 2%, from 2023.

National parks are a great place to practice forest bathing, a therapeutic practice with Japanese origins. Forest bathing involves immersing oneself into a green space and mindfully connecting with nature.

“Since the Japanese government began promoting the practice in the 1980s, hundreds of studies have highlighted its link to improved mental health,” reports Molly McDonough, the associate editor of Harvard Medicine magazine.

It doesn’t take a forest to experience the effects of forest bathing. Urban tree canopies are more than sufficient in offering healing mental health effects. Trees Atlanta, a local non-profit community group, “protects and improves Atlanta’s urban forest by planting, conserving, and educating.” Organizations like this are vital to improving the general population’s mental health without even realizing it.

“I enjoy the solitude when focusing on planting a tree or removing invasives in nature preserves,” says Anaya Hurley, a Volunteer Services Lead at Trees Atlanta. “I have time to think with no distractions and release my worries while planting and conserving.

When Hurley started the job, she was taking a big step out of her comfort zone. She was “grappling with the difficulties of postgrad blues” and accepted a job within the greenspace in the hopes of getting away from her phone and improving her mental health.

Hurley found connecting with nature to be meditative and helps run the volunteer program at the organization.

“One reason people love to help our organization is because planting trees and removing invasive plants is a way to connect with others and become one with nature,” says Hurley.

This is a known phenomenon backed by experts such as Dr. Anisah Bagasra, a Professor of Psychology at Kennesaw State University.

“Regular time in nature helps to reconnect us with the earth, ground us as individuals in the larger world and unplug from constant, overstimulating messaging through our cellphones,” reports Dr. Bagasra.

Forest bathing is extremely popular today and local residents have many opportunities to be in the woods at parks in Kennesaw and Marietta including Price Park, Allatoona Creek Park, Green Meadows Preserve, Hyde Park and Heritage Park Trail, according to Dr. Bagasra.

“My friend Amy Dorville-Black with Cobb County Recreation has recently earned her Sylvotherapy Practitioner Certification and is leading forest bathing and nature immersion programs at Cobb County Parks,” says Dr. Bagasra.

Sylvotherapy, is a modern take on the ancient Japanese “Shinrin-Yoku” or forest bathing. The practice states that humans can derive non-medicinal healing from spending time with trees and mindfully connecting with nature.

According to Trees Atlanta, Atlanta is a “city in a forest” with a score of 47.9% of overall urban tree canopy.

This means Atlanta has the highest percentage of overall urban tree canopy in the nation when compared to other cities that have conducted Urban Tree Canopy (UTC) Assessments, according to a Trees Atlanta Urban Tree Canopy Report.

This large urban canopy “can help improve the quality of life for residents,” says Dr. Bagasra.

Additionally, psychologists recommend at least 20-30 minutes of walking outside to reduce the risk of depression.

When asked what Harwell does when his mental health starts to take a turn, he chuckles and says, “just me and some trees, no distractions.”