Therapy helpers The forest can heal people

Therapy Helper Wald: Forest important co-therapist
Patients with chronic conditions that are no longer helpful or those who prefer alternative methods of healing to conventional ones are more likely to use naturopathic therapies. Meanwhile also in Germany an important healing method is the Chinese medicine. She tries to reverse chronic disease processes through Chinese natural medicines, acupuncture, body therapies, qigong and nutritional science. The therapy relies on another - often underestimated - therapy helper: the forest. How this works med. Christian Schmincke in conversation.

Find inner peace and relaxation. (Image: Christine Kuchem / fotolia.com)

"The sick person in particular needs landscapes, so that he can look at what is going on inside him in the outside world and, conversely, these landscape forms can be reflected in his interior," explains the chief physician of the Klinik am Steigerwald. Christian Schmincke. The good air stimulates breathing and circulation and calms equally. Exercise or balancing exercises on horizontal tree trunks reduce stress.

"We recommend walking slowly, so that the forest atmosphere can work and the muscles unrestrained find a uniform form of movement." Who has the opportunity, should also share his feet, for example, on barefoot paths. When your feet are exploring how moss feels like pebbles, or if it feels like sand or wood from below, it appeals to all your senses.

Settling down and reducing stress has another important therapeutic effect in Chinese medicine. Because stress is closely related to the middle organ of the body, the stomach.

"From our point of view, the stomach does not just process food, but also feelings and social challenges," explains Dr. Christian Schmincke. Stress impedes the body to an adequate defense reaction, infections spread and additionally burden the organism.

Especially for children, the regular excursion into the forest is of particular importance. So Dr. Schmincke included in his therapeutic pedagogical program for children with attention deficit / hyperactivity disorder ADHD "woodland walks" as an integral part. "Especially for children who have forgotten how to develop a creative curiosity towards natural environments, this can be a therapeutic gain", he emphasizes the concept. (Sb)