• Korean Journal of Environment and Ecology
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• v.29 no.3
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• pp.485-498
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• 2015

The need for forest therapy programs has been increasing. For more effective forest healing, it is necessary to identify the characteristics of participants and develop and operate more targeted and differentiated forest therapy programs accordingly. In this study, the relationships between MBTI (Myers-Briggs Type Indicator) personality types and the relationship between the temperaments of MBTI and the preference for the forest therapy programs were analyzed respectively in pursuit of the basic data required for the effective development and operation of forest healing on the basis of individual characteristics. The survey on the forest therapy program and MBTI personality tests were conducted for 245 normal adults. Using the SPSS 21.0 program analysis, data were analyzed by Analysis of variance (ANOVA) to obtain the difference of preference on the forest therapy program according to the personality type. The Extraversion(E)-Introversion(I) types showed differences in technique-based breathing exercises, walking in the forest(wearing shoes), laughter therapy in the forest, viewing the forest, forest bathing, wind bathing and sun bathing. And the Sensing(S)-iNtuition (N) types had marked differences in listening to the sound of water flowing, drinking herbal tea and sleeping in the forest. The Thinking (T) -Feeling (F) types marked differences in soaking hands and feet in water and sleeping in the forest. The Judging (J)-Perceiving (P) types had differences in vision quest and viewing the forest, respectively, in statistics. Depending on the temperament of the character, there were statistically significant differences in preferences such as drinking herbal tea, eating natural food, sleeping in the forest, viewing the forest and listening to the forest commentary. The results of this study are expected to be used as a basis for forest healing program development and operation.

• Journal of Naturopathy
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• v.7 no.2
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• pp.39-46
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• 2018

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effect of the subjects after visiting the Gyorae forest on the activity of the autonomic nervous system. Methods: Before and after the forest bath, it was measured using a ubiquitous machine. Results: After the bath there was no significant difference in the sympathetic nerve activity (LF) of the control group, but the difference was significant in the experimental group by increasing (p<.038), and in the variance analysis, there was a significant difference between the groups (p<.014), between pre-and post-bath (p<.026), and also between the groups and pre-and post-bath (p<.018). The changes in parasympathetic activity (HF) were not significant in both the control and experimental. In the LF/HF ratio, the experimental group was significantly increased, and in the analysis of variance, there was also significant difference between group and before and after bath (p<.04). Mean pulse rate in the experimental group was a significant increase after bath (p<.026). In the change of pulse standard deviation, the value of the control and the experimental groups by variance analysis was a significant difference between the groups (p<.014). There was no difference between the mean values of the control and the experimental groups in the change of mean heart rate deviation. Conclusions: The autonomic nervous systems were activated after Gyorae forest bathing, where may be useful place for healing.

• Journal of Naturopathy
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• v.7 no.1
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• pp.1-9
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• 2018

The purpose of this study is to statistically investigate the changes in mean differences of the vascular age types and index, heart beating, vessel elasticity, diastolic reserves contents measured by the fingertip plethysmogram before and after the subjects (49 people) visit the Gotjawal forest for two hours. While there is no significant change in the mean differences of vascular age types and index, heart beating, diastolic reserves contents in the control group before and after the visit, the differences in the test groups gets higher than the control group and shows a significant difference. Moreover, the variance analyses of the mean values of the contents shows a significant change after the visit. There is no significant change in the values of vessel elasticity changes between the groups after the visit, but the change of values is significant in the within group, and it is not significant between group by variance analysis. The differences of the heart beating was insignificant in the within group, but significant between group after the visit. In conclusion this study proves the effects of forest bathing, because the HRV index significantly improved after the bathing. Therefore the b-c-d-e/a ratio may be useful for evaluation of HRV.

• Journal of People, Plants, and Environment
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• v.22 no.6
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• pp.677-690
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• 2019

Recently, the importance and effectiveness of neighborhood forests have been increasing in relation to the quality of life of urban residents. However, there are very few domestic studies that analyzed the correlation between visit characteristics and life satisfaction. Therefore, the study aims to understand how people use the forest for recreation and determine how visit characteristics in neighborhood forests affect individual life satisfaction(ILS). A nationwide survey (N=2,624) was conducted on visit frequency, proximity to forest, means of transportation, forest activities, and life satisfaction. To measure ILS, we used the three factors (personal, relative, collective) of COMOSWB (Concise Measure of Subjective Well-being) developed by Seo et al.(2011). The analysis shows that people usually visit the forest located within the distance of 10-30 minutes from their homes 1-2 times a month on foot for hiking/walking (forest bathing). In particular, the older visitors(over 60s) tend to visit the forest more often than the younger ones (20s). Furthermore, more frequent visitors are more likely to live near the forest. As a result of analyzing the correlation between visit characteristics and ILS by controlling demographic variables, it was found that 'visit frequency' had a positive effect on ILS, and 'proximity to the forest' did not have a statistically significant effect on ILS. In other words, residents who live near the forests are more likely to be satisfied with their lives by visiting frequently. The significance of the study is that it statistically determined that visit frequency is a key factor for ILS. Future studies should take into account the various qualitative factors of forest visit such as vegetation, quantity and types of forest, which will contribute to setting the direction for urban forest development and management.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.97 no.6
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• pp.634-640
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• 2008

The purpose of this study is to clarify the physiological effects of Shinrin-yoku (taking in the atmosphere of the forest of forest bathing). The subjects were twelve male university students ($21.6{\pm}2.1$ years old). On the first day, six subjects were sent to a forest area, and the others to a city area. On the second day, the subjects were sent to the opposite areas for a cross check. The subjects were seated on chairs and viewing the landscapes of their given areas for 15 minutes. HRV (Heart Rate Variability) and diastolic blood pressure were used as physiological indices. Diastolic blood pressure and LF/(LF+HF) components of HRV in the forest area were significantly lower than in the city area. And HF power components of HRV in the forest settings were significantly enhanced than in city settings. In conclusion, the results of the physiological measurements show that Shinrin-yoku was able to effectively relax people in both mind and body.

• Journal of Sensor Science and Technology
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• v.31 no.6
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• pp.418-422
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• 2022

α-pinene is a natural volatile organic compound secreted by coniferous trees to protect themselves from attacks by insects, microorganisms, and viruses. Recently, studies have reported that α-pinene possesses pharmacological effects on various biological reactions such as anxiolytic, sleep-enhancing, anti-nociceptive, and inflammatory activity. Thus, forest bathing has recently received great attention as a novel therapy for treating severe diseases as well as psychological issues. However, appropriate places and timings for effective therapies are still veiled, because on-site monitoring of α-pinene gas in forests is barely possible. Although portable chemosensors could allow real-time analysis of α-pinene gas in forests, the α-pinene sensing properties of chemosensors have never been reported thus far. Herein, we report for the first time, the α-pinene sensing properties of an oxide semiconductor gas sensor based on rhombohedral In₂O₃ (h-In₂O₃) nanoparticles prepared by a microwave-assisted hydrothermal reaction. The h-In₂O₃ nanoparticle sensor showed a high response to α-pinene gas at ppm levels, even under humid conditions (for example, relative humidity of 50 %). The purpose of this research is to identify the potential of oxide semiconductor gas sensors for implementing portable devices that can detect α-pinene gas in forests in real-time.

• Journal of Korean Society of Forest Science
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• v.112 no.1
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• pp.93-104
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• 2023

Life expectancy is increasing due to the aging of the population, which is in turn exacerbating problems such as the prevalence of various geriatric diseases. This study was established to provide basic data for the expansion of forest healing activities for the elderly by systematically analyzing the literature on how such activities affect this age group. For the collection of studies, the Korean databases RISS, KISS, Korea Med, and Science On were used, while PubMed, Cochrane Central, MDPI, and Google Scholar were used to identify reports published elsewhere. To assess the quality of the methodology used in the collected studies, the risk of bias was analyzed using Cochrane's RoB2 and RoBANS. Among 1,856 reports initially identified, 21 were finally selected for analysis in this study, which were limited to research papers on forest healing activities for the elderly published between 2000 and January 2022. In this review, the subjects were those aged 60 or older, with a total of 750 participants, ranging from at least 7 to a maximum of 88 per study. The analysis showed that the most frequently performed tests in each category were on depression as a psychological indicator in 7 studies, MMSE(Mini Mental State Examination) as a cognitive indicator in 2 studies, on blood pressure as a physiological indicator in 4 studies, on melatonin as a biochemical indicator in 2 studies, and on body fat and muscle strength as physical indicators in 3 studies. Of the 21 studies, 19 used two or more test items, with psychological indicators being most commonly measured. For the future application of forest healing activities for the elderly, various forest healing programs to prevent cognitive function decline should be developed and distributed, and follow-up studies should be continuously presented to provide the basis for forest healing activities.

• Journal of Digital Convergence
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• v.11 no.8
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• pp.227-234
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• 2013

The purpose of the study is to realize and develop the healing process that applies the Forest Healing Program to complementary and alternative therapies within the integrated medical health care place call ' Healing Forest'. Various healing programs need to develope and distribute to educate tentatively name ' Forest Healing Instructor' whom will be the key roll player on the program. Hereupon, collected the feedback of the program from 20 of professors, health care professionals and complementary alternative related professionals who are deeply related on the dendrology using Delphi examine. The study suggests the professional, who knows on dendrology, base medicine knowledge and healing power, Forest Healing Instructor Course includes education and assessment method base on education subject, course complete scope, instructor curriculum, education goal and education operation process. The Journal of Digital Policy & Management. This space is for the of your study in English.

• Journal of the Korea Academia-Industrial cooperation Society
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• v.18 no.10
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• pp.471-479
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• 2017

The purpose of this study was to investigate changes in salivary cortisol content in 35 subjects before and after visiting Gotjawal Forest in Jeju. Cortisol raw samples were collected before and after visiting Gotjawal Forest and were analyzed by salivary cortisol enzyme immunoassay. The period of the study was from May 1, 2017 to June 30, 2017. There was no significant difference in cortisol content between the control and experimental groups before the visit, but the value of the experimental group significantly decreased afterwards. The mean value of cortisol in male subjects was lower than that of the control group. In the case of women, the value of the experimental group was lower than that of the control group. The post-visit cortisol content of the experimental group was significantly lower than that of the control group. In the post-visit analyses according to gender and group, there were significant differences between genders, groups, and combined effects of gender and group. This study provides basic data to prove the effects of forest bathing.

• Journal of Environmental Science International
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• v.20 no.4
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• pp.443-455
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• 2011

This study was conducted to investigate the flora of Mt. Jang located at Haeundae-Gu in Busan. The survey for the flora was carried out from Oct. 2008 to Sep. 2009. The results were obtained as follows. The flora consists of 5 forms, 22 varieties, 238 species, 198 genera, 91 families, 47 orders, 7 classes, and 3 divisions as total 265 taxa. The typical communities were Osmunda japonica com., Stephanandra incisa com., Gleichenia japonica com., Eurya japonica-Pinus thunbergii com., Styrax japonica-Pinus thunbergii com., and Smilax china com. which were distributed along Forest Bathing Area and Yangun Falls, Miscanthus sinensis for. purpurascens com., Carpinus turczaibovii var. coreana com and Pseudosasa japonica were distributed around the top of mountain. According to the ecological characteristic species, the evergreen plants were observed 15 taxa 14 genera 13 families, the naturalized plants 18 taxa 17 genera 10 families, the specific plants categorized by Ministry of Environment 20 taxa 18 genera 18 families, the endangered plant 1 specie Utricularia yakusimensis, and the cultivated plants were observed 21 taxa 18 genera 14 families.