From Shaman’s Rock

By Jim Poling, Sr.

It’s been a year since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared an end to the global COVID-19 emergency. Our world, however, still has far to go before celebrating a return to normal.

Covid infections mostly are gone, but the disease’s post-traumatic effects have become part of our collective anxieties. Worries about deadly viruses have joined global conflicts, racism, inflation, violence and climate-related disasters to deepen our collective anxiety about where the world is headed.

Psychologists say that over the long term these collective anxieties wear down the immune system, and increase the risk of digestive issues, heart disease, weight gain, and stroke. They are altering the mental and physical health of more and more people.

Statistics Canada has reported that one in four Canadians reported moderate to severe symptoms of anxiety, depression or post-traumatic stress disorder. Coping with this stress requires finding ways of temporary escape. My favourite is walking in the forest.

The American Psychiatric Association reports studies that show forest walks decrease blood pressure and heart rate.  One study found that compared to an urban walk, a leisurely forest walk led to 12 percent lower stress hormone levels.

The trees of the forests screen out the world’s annoying noises, and the large numbers of people who make us feel crowded. They also are part of landscapes that offer us a wide range of physical activities.

Forest walking is believed to boost immune systems. The fresh forest air we breathe in contains phytoncides, chemicals that plants excrete to protect themselves against insects.

Medical authorities say that when we breathe in phytoncides our bodies bolster white blood cells called natural killer cells or NK cells. These cells are said to kill tumor- and virus-infected cells in our bodies.

Japanese researchers are exploring whether exposure to forests can help prevent certain types of cancer.

There are downsides to walking in the forest, the big one at this time of year being pollen. Pollen is a fertilizing powder containing a protein that irritates allergy sufferers.

Tree and plant pollen levels are high from April through June and give many people breathing problems.

Researchers say pollen levels have increased over the past 20 years in Canada because we are getting longer periods of warmer weather. That’s a trend they expect to continue.

The most common pollen allergy symptoms are Itchy throat, red, itchy, watery eyes, runny or stuffy nose, sneezing, wheezing or coughing

Common trees like oak, maple, birch, alder and ash look innocent enough but cause allergy symptoms. So do evergreens like cedar and juniper.

We can lessen the chances of suffering pollen allergies by doing a few simple things. Pollen levels are at their peak in the early morning, so why not sleep in and take that forest hike in the afternoon?

We see a lot of forest hikers now wearing neck gaiters that can be pulled up over the mouth and nose. They might not provide the same filtration as manufactured masks but do stop some pollen from being breathed in.

Advanced woods walkers advise us to be careful with our hands, especially if we are prone to allergies. Pollen gets on your hands during time in the woods and if you touch your face, you likely are putting pollens into your respiratory system through the nose and mouth.

We are pretty much on our own when trying to determine high or low pollen count days. Environment Canada does not provide pollen level information in its weather forecasts. The Weather Network does for some areas.

We do know that pollen counts are higher when it’s warm, dry, and windy and lower when it’s cool and wet.

Thankfully we Canadians have plenty of forests in which to walk and we do a better job of protecting them than many other countries. We still knock down trees for agriculture and new housing developments but most of our forest loss is due to wildfires.

Last year we lost a record 8.6 million hectares of forest but more than 90 per cent of that was caused by fires. Federal records show that an average 2.3 million hectares of Canada’s forests are burned by wildfires  annually.