Nature Documentary - Healing Forests of India | English, HD | Chapter shortcuts in description

[Music] [Music] all our knowledge comes from nature and yet Beecher is a source of many mysteries [Music] let us travel to explore the amazing ways in which nature affects our body mind and spirit let us dig up some ancient wisdom and examine new findings on the role of nature from birth to death of a human life we hope to leave you with some important clues to help you solve one of the greatest mysteries of your life how to create a healthier happier life for yourself and your loved ones forests are endangered our highly endangered spaces living in this beautiful forest I feel the urgent need to reach out and and find ways to protect these precious spaces that we have left what I'm trying to do is to build a forest school for the local community children here to make the children aware of the beauty of this forest in India we have wealth of material of ancient text the Upanishads that describe the benefits of learning in forest areas but not eg nature provides a balance and makes children aware of their natural abilities for empathy and for relating to each other and for relating to nature [Music] our learning is based on our attention without attention our brain cannot register what we see hear smell taste or touch Miche experiences promote a sense of focus and concentration [Music] it's because the human brain has evolved in nature [Music] which lug was started with intention of sensitizing children towards nature and environment sat me every Thursday we have a nature walk where all children go out and spend some time in nature's understand that flora and fauna around them spending more time in nature and connecting with nature one big change that you can notice in students is they become much calmer and also violence I mean this is almost no violence in school at all as compared to city schools where children are generally agitated and angry learning in nature engages all our senses hence it is absorbed deeply and is long-lasting surprisingly many children who are hyperactive or have attention issues respond very well to the outdoors this type of interaction has proved beneficial to humans for thousands of years [Music] in ancient times children in India were taught in gurukuls which were often located in forests today Finland which has one of the world's best education systems lays a lot of emphasis on learning in nature nature is a great teacher of humility with humility comes respect respect for self for others and for the environment on the other hand over exposure to gadgets can cause a sensory overload this impacts our attention span as well as our attitude we have actually had small children in the nursery school who the parents were very proud the child was so good with the computer but the child was unable to mix around and play with other children we had to spend almost a year coaxing the child we have people getting addicted to TV to their mobile phones so many things around us especially junk food so sometimes it can lead to a lot of lopsided growth in the child and many of these things don't lead to long term well-being unless schools and the entire education system recognizes the importance of how unconsciously this addiction process is fostered we will continue to create future generations who don't know to take care of their well-being a great way to overcome addictions is to replace your negative habit with a habit of spending time outdoors instead of depleting your willpower which is necessary to fight urges being in nature can help you work on self-awareness and self-control the simple habit impacts our lives in surprisingly positive ways [Music] we call properly our green wisdom school not only because we want children to grow up immensely plants and trees and birds and butterflies but also to give importance to the inner nature of the child nope no chip no deodorants no toilet paper and no cell phones I think the most beautiful part about fun camp is not the people not the design but just the process just because they're in a different setting organically things just fall in place the toilets aren't the best and all but I think on the whole it's a pretty good place it's a pretty scenic place it's very quiet it's helped me reflect a lot on myself that's amazing banyan trees with all the roots hanging and stuff in Delhi you don't get to see so many tree then you don't get to breathe in the fresh air and possibly looking at these species and interacting with people from different background will lead them to be able to explore themselves more deeply challenge their own notions about themselves about other people and in that process start off this whole journey of becoming leaders with values [Music] [Music] tree climbing therapy which has gained popularity in Japan shows that tree climbing improves mental clarity and feelings of vitality [Music] the breed gets a boost from fresh air and interactions with the surroundings [Music] it leads to increased confidence improved ability to solve problems and enhances the child's social skills [Music] my name is Alistair that was my first time I was climbing 30 and I was really scared then I had fun so I did it again [Music] emotional intelligence is a power to understand emotions in others it plays a greater role than one's IQ for achieving success and satisfaction spending more time in front of screens is reducing our ability to understand other people's emotions [Music] our world is becoming more connected but less caring the word Selena is an old Sanskrit word it used to refer to the path of an arrow flowing towards its target so this idea of one path going towards the bullseye so this project sadhna forest our bullseye is the life of consciousness and a life of compassion and a life of service from the buildings we live in the food we eat the work we do people that we live with the way that we interact with each other all of this is part of our sudden we're standing now on some land that only eight or nine years ago was totally barren there's nothing but red dirt here all the way back to the boundaries of our property and it's all been reforested by southern a forest when scientists used brain imaging techniques to study the effect of nature on our brain they found a specific part of the brain being activated [Music] this region is directly linked to the dopamine reward system of the brain [Music] dopamine is a chemical that makes us feel good and leads to a rush of happiness it results in a high likelihood of people forming emotional bonds when one learns to care for others it lays the foundation for better relationships and supports the development of empathy [Music] my name is Ambika I'm 21 years old and I'm from Trivandrum I live in a city where there's so much of bustle and a lot of negative vibes but then when I came here there's so much of happiness in serenity and peace and that's exactly what I was looking for interestingly social media sites which keep us engaged and hooked also trigger a similar dopamine reaction through likes and notifications studies related to this show an increase in obsession with the self also known as narcissism somehow I actually started giving anxiety attacks I couldn't figure out why this was happening so I started looking into my daily life analyzing every small part of it and thinking about what what affected me [Music] it was actually the social media use especially in our generation which were using a lot but then a friend of mine told me about this forest healing project [Music] so I felt like it was giving me a different perspective to all the problems that I was facing and helped me find another sort of calmness this was much deeper the first stage of the walk is to be able to slow down and silence enables you to do that significantly the other thing that we try and encourage people again to do in the healing walks once you have slowed down you start to know yourself a little better and you also start to know nature a little more because you're observing more deeply so you find more clarity their questions in life that you've been holding on to for a very long time those questions usually start to unravel themselves with very subtle answers that calmness is able to help you in addressing a lot of the challenges that otherwise seem very domineering and dominating in life we tell people to leave their mobiles for a while and see what happens to them and for most people I think the connection just deepens so something has to let go for the other things to come and in nature it's happening so beautifully and the cycle keeps going on and on and these are some of the lessons that we keep learning and sharing and how do we apply them in our lives and I think that that's that's something that nature teaches us in a beautiful way the art of giving to be slightly self less you know so there is self but there is just less of self [Music] technology in itself is not the problem it's how we let it control and affect us so you know when we hear about the Northeast at least for the last six decades it's all about violence political conflict divisive states you know so can the European world and building the region back through positive thinking and it's one of the only regions with such rich natural resources such rich forest areas only they can protect it only they can build the region back so idea of green hub is that you know to engage the youth through the visual medium get them to understand what it really means to have a forest when we move in any environment we are activating different networks in our brain there is a logical decision-making executive network then there is a network which keeps us balanced and finally the default Network [Music] the default network is our free mind which wonders here and there it is also credited with producing creativity and important insights a great nature experience allows the executive network of the brain to rest and recharge itself [Music] it also engages the default Network in a positive way over the last six months my personal experience of being in a project that is so closely associated with nature has given me a sense of direction of what I actually want to be or Who I am so that's the question we all have been asking since time immemorial that who we are [Music] when we talk about life we talk about the environment environment within the system where the life exists which changes device which changes minute wise which changes season wise this is a change [Music] Rodney I will say there's a nature I would say the same nature you find inside and you try to correct the calamities mean you effectively connect with the nature you will be in a still nature [Music] I don't think anybody sleep sound you're in the even in the sleep you are always tired getting up in the morning so all these disturbances reflecting your glandular functions very delicate and a lot of wrong emotions which leads to wrong actions that's what we need always stillness [Music] you stress has been declared as an epidemic on a global scale it is linked to many of the leading causes of death constant stress leaves us more prone to heart disease metabolic disease dementia and depression the main purpose of journeys of meaning is to bring awareness to people about the disconnects that we have in nature and the connections that we have so that's why we come to places like this and do the work that we do we believe that travel opens minds and when our mind is open you're more receptive to new ideas and through experience you've also seen that actually happens your potty is designed to respond to stress when faced with any danger or stressful situation the amygdala in your brain is activated it triggers a fight-or-flight reaction releasing specific hormones in the body [Music] connecting with nature allows the amygdala to cool off lowering our anxiety and stress levels enabling us to think more clearly and cheer up I have been ill but the last three months and parents have been unwell so I mean out of all groups it just actually felt like that when I came here it was the most amazing feeling being in a place whereby I felt completely accepted even if I was feeling crappy happy whatever and I think that's the magic of the forest it does not ask of anything of me it just is [Music] this is a Marlins ticket for us so this is the oldest and the biggest circuit growth in Mohali around 500 species of trees different varieties of orchids also so I asked this forest is sacred so we cannot take anything out because we receive used to believe that there is the deity inside the borders if you take anything from here or do anything wrong that 80 used to give a curse or punish so that's what is for us is on touch while India has many sacred forests Japan has established over 50 healing forests quiet places to reflect relax and rejuvenate the Japanese term for forest therapy is shinrin yoku it translates as forest bathing [Music] a walk in the woods brings about measurable changes in our body function blood pressure levels begin to lower down to normal levels the stress-related hormone in our blood is significantly reduced and the heart rate begins to slow down [Music] the biggest thing we are trying to achieve is simplifying life we want to develop more integrity between the thought and action so that you are in the moment and more honest so whatever happens it flourishes or it dies out that's how nature is instead of superficially carrying on the relationships it's more about naturalness and cultivating that from deep inside our immunity and energy levels are dependent not just on our physical health but also a mental health the food we eat and the environment we live in research done in the United Kingdom found fewer cases of disease amongst people who lived near parks or open green spaces [Music] the negative behavioral traits of anxiety competition and the ego clashes in offices have been known to be reduced after a proper session on contemplation of nature or any meditative practice people have more compassion towards the problems of their colleagues and definitely the work environment also improves [Music] Iranian is a philosophy derived from Rigveda where we grow natural food forests and a food forest something where we integrate all elements of nature the large trees the small trees the small plants grasses subsoil roots then birds bees earthworms they all come together to create very pristine foods which human body is accustomed to through millions of years all in all we have around 200 plus different species of flora across the multi multi layer system some of the objectives are having in a regenerative sustainable kind of farming to be brought back into practice so that it creates healthy foods you know something which which can heal ailments which can heal the body and something which has gone out of our current foods because of genetically modified foods then we have the pesticides and fertilizers and the way it is grown elements which food should have an art there to heal the body hence you know there's so much need for medicines [Music] so say at one and we have coined this word by using the two things say hat and one sews a hat is the health and one is the forest we are trying to drive the health benefit out of the forest [Music] now the number one killer in India and in the world is the heart disease then comes a diabetes cancer all those things those are actually not done by the external factors they are not communicable diseases they are because of our lifestyle we started with the diabetes and then we also experimented with the hypertension thyroid is an autoimmune disorders etc also then we realize that what's happening is not that it's doing something with one disease actually the process was the restoring the overall health [Music] and then now we have extended it a little more so we have realized that in the wilderness actually he would even slow down your aging process without working substance it is [Music] when we inhale toxic air it first goes into our lungs so you have Goff you have asthma have lung cancer occurring at much higher incidence but then the toxins don't remain confined to the lungs they get absorbed from the lungs and they go through the blood to every organ in the body people staying in polluted cities have much higher incidence of high blood pressure it had these people have several times increase in the incidence of heart attacks and when it occurs in children there are a whole lot of developmental abnormality now what future will children have if there is no pure air to breathe [Music] we currently hear a terribly viral stipa its 385 acres of land in the heart of cacao which is an initiative to reclaim what was a denuded mining site into what is today a vibrant and growing forest [Music] city forests act as carbon and noise sinks reducing the impact of pollution on our system [Music] in addition risk walks in nature encourages production of the chemicals that take care of our breed and blood vessels [Music] even a two-hour walk through a forest can reduce chemicals linked to depression cardiovascular disease and inflammation [Music] it seems like a very simple thing to plant a tree but I think everybody who's come here and planted a tree has gone back a different person a mature tree it releases about a hundred fifteen kgs of oxygen into the air within a year and two trees provide enough oxygen for a family of four [Music] certain evergreen trees secrete scents and oils to protect themselves from a host of microbes and pathogens these compounds are called fighting fights and they act as a defense system for the trees [Music] as we walk in the forest we breathe in these fightin sights fight incites in the air can improve our immune function there is an increased production of anti-cancer proteins in the blood as well as higher levels of natural killer cells the natural killer cells protect the body when it's exposed to viruses common cold influenza and other infective agents [Music] can you take off your shoes if you're not too cold feel the ground with your feet to connect with you there's just a sense of touch that that is missing you know and it is usually something we don't do so we'll try and do that and and while you're walking we'll try and focus on the sense of smell a little more because one of the benefits that we really get from the forest is from this means our life experiences are dominated by our senses and if you take all the five senses some of the senses have lost you know they're sort of connection with us and in the healing walks what we encourage people again to do is to be able to use the census to deepen the senses and to connect with each sense [Music] our visual sense is a strongest sense we're influenced by the quality of light the color of light and also the source it comes from our hearing sense affects us at a subconscious level even though we may not be aware of it our brain is processing the sounds in our environment it affects our mood as well as energy levels what meditation truly is is about being in a state of deep calm and awareness you know and it doesn't have to be in closed eyes it doesn't have to be sitting cross-legged in an urban space for example there's so much of distraction that it's very difficult to slow down and find that state of calm and peace it takes a long time to be in a meditative state but when you're in nature that process happens very fast when people find that it is you know they are able to meditate without the very connotations of meditation which is sometimes challenging for people [Music] mental health remains so one of the most problematic areas because one is least understood and yet the most stigmatized people are still hesitant to ask for help having said that it's not that everybody needs to go for help it's a lot of things we can do to prevent at least some of the seriousness of suffering I personally believe that it's a balance that we are not able to bring about in our lives things like looking after your wellness which includes physical fitness eating the right kind of diet avoiding certain kind of unhealthy habits [Music] getting onto your nature walks just spending time outside and definitely working on your own self your interests your hobbies because I think that kind of all roundedness is what gives you a much better the safety net to manage mental health issues you almost all antidepressant medications are thought to work by enhancing the availability of serotonin the hormone used enough self communication [Music] there are many ways we can increase the production of serotonin in our brain naturally exercise is one of them so is sunlight and spending time in nature [Music] after a nature session brain scans showed a sizable reduction of blood flow to the region of our brain linked to sadness withdrawal and general grumpiness [Music] walking in nature is a great way to bring all wonder and fascination back in our lives [Music] [Music] when you reconnect with nature I think the most important part for me is that you start reconnecting with yourself and for me that is a huge huge way to improve your mental health because even if nobody else in the world tells you that you're a good person or a person of some worth just reconnecting with yourself and helping yourself to see what you truly are can make you're much better and happier processer [Music] we called a lab our mission so to say is to bring back the native forests of the Himalayas through a community-driven model the right kind of forest is how nature would intend it and how nature would intend it is in the Himalayas which is one of the biodiversity hotspots of the world there will be many many species coexisting together when you see a forest growing when you see the saplings planted next to each other you learn how the saplings are protecting each other how they are helping each other grow how their root systems are intertwined and feeding each other protecting each other against best attacks disease it's an ecosystem they're looking after each other it's it's like a community and it's the same with people no man's an island we need our communities [Music] trees that grow alone have a shorter lifespan than trees of the same species in a forest similarly communities and social relationships help people through difficult times thus increasing longevity [Music] a good way to improve our relationship skills and overcome loneliness is by creating a connection with trees and forests [Music] [Music] the number - enum stands for new visions that's founded by a group of folks who were looking to explore an alternative way of living 110 acres of what was completely barren land completely degraded logged burnt old grazed sort of a landscape so the desire to fence it and let the land heal and to be truthful I don't think anybody really expected the sort of the miracle that occurred and in about ten years the land sort of transformed itself the forest planted itself the medicine of teacher appears to work in a dose Co the longer time we spend in nature the better it is [Music] the recommended teacher dosage is at least five hours a month on the flipside not making nature a part of our lives has detrimental effects on our health fills me with a tremendous sense of humility a diverse forest planted itself here it was the wind the birds the bees and animals that brought the seeds it teaches us how it's not just a tree in isolation the interconnectedness is just unbelievable and it's that interconnectedness and diversity that gives it the resilience it's an incredible part of the whole healing process [Music] I was widowed at the age of 33 and with a young child of a 7 years old and after that you know I was looking for a journey of healing I started taking walks I started sitting under trees to listen to the sounds of the trees when the wind blows the first thing that struck me that there is something in nature that heals there is something that touches you very deeply and a forest is a very beautiful place to go and cry to go and share your pain to the trees to the birds and there is nothing to fear about it [Music] I work in palliative care and usually we deal with the last days of our fellow beings are on this earth and the last suffering they have is almost incurable and inconsolable because they are getting detached from all these attachments they have made throughout their life you can make somebody die well if you put efforts if you prepare you can make somebody die well and with peace what cannot escape the ups and downs of life but one can always find comfort and clarity in the company of woods observing the impermanence in nature is a healing experience realization of the circle of life and death in all things is an important part of letting go [Music] after coming to palliative care this word of acceptance is very important in my life because once you accept that reality you are in a comfort zone what we usually say to the dying patients this are in their end-of-life is that you are going to dissolve into the nature going back to the nature and be part of this great oneness the difference between healing and curing is occurring is more physical and material you want to get rid of your disease you want to come to a normal life but healing is something spiritual mental and emotional you [Music] so forests are underestimated ancient Indian literature is filled with descriptions of what can happen naturally and spontaneously in forest surroundings the teacher tells the student to go into the forest and to observe the natural surroundings and to be aware of them and when the student comes home the teacher notices that there is a strange light in the students eyes and he says well what happened to you and and he says well I think I have been delighted the forest hold answers to questions we have yet to ask [Music] every stage of life will come with its own set of challenges [Music] creating a relationship with nature can offer us a healing sanctuary [Music] the forests are waiting come home [Music] [Music] you [Music]

Channel: Nitin Das

Views: 232,514

Keywords: nature documentary, bbc earth, discovery channel, national geographic, health documentary, forest healing, nature cure, shinrin-yoku, forest bathing, amazing forests, nature, forest, Award winning documentary, full length movie, full movie, full documentary, Forest bathing exercises, mindful meditation exercises, forest bathing meditations, no ads, Chapters

Id: 94Swm13p4bA

Length: 50min 0sec (3000 seconds)

Published: Wed Jul 24 2019