I walk slowly, returning through the sweaty streets of my town. At only 9am the air is beginning to fizz with the newly emerging heatwave, and it feels that the sun’s rays are already infiltrating my bones.
I am frazzled – my energy on fumes.
Instinctively I seek respite – a short woodland pathway. I step away from the road and the trees encircle me, folding me in their cool embrace.
Green solace in a crimson world…
The climate crisis has rendered our need for woodland one with our need for air.
For cleaner, greener, cooler oxygen with which to fill our lungs.
We know that trees are crucial in fighting the heating of our planet, and in the midst of summer, they have never felt more vital in offering shade in towns and cities – and to our flagging senses.
With the rise in heatwaves, shade from trees is instrumental to our health – but a midsummer woodland fulfils something beyond this, something deeper…
Seasonal overwhelm -the relentless energy of summer…
In summer, the world has speeded up, opened, broadened – filled with life, possibilities and energy.
But with endless days and inviting skies come life and noise and heat and people, fully out of their spring hibernation, and mingling and laughing and planning and doing.
It is an energy that invigorates and excites us, but it can also drain and overwhelm us.
Spells of particularly hot weather invoke too strong an energy out on the streets, and it leads to a feeling of tension and uncertainty in the air.
The energy builds as the season progresses, and when the senses become saturated, warmer, longer nights can make respite for our brains feel hard to come by.
The shade of a summer woodland goes beyond escaping the heat…
It is now a well established and respected fact that trees and woodland have actual magic powers.
As well as sucking up our carbon dioxide and releasing precious oxygen, they produce phytoncides – chemical compounds that have been proven to reduce stress, improve mood, and even enhance our immune systems.
The earthy ground mulch of a healthy woodland contains Mycobacterium vaccae, a bacteria with the ability to raise serotonin levels and boost mood.
And If we include a stream or small waterway, we can add negative ions to this shady woodland cocktail.
This fine mist of supercharged air around water sources also increases positive neurotransmitters, as well as activating the parasympathetic nervous system, and even speeding up the flow of oxygen to the brain.
In the chaos life brings, we need to find every moment possible, in every form, to nurture our brains and senses. (See also The 10 second brain spa – micro mindfulness to calm the senses)
When the heat and ferocity of summer feel hard to escape, pockets of woodland shade are a pre-packaged seasonal medicine with potent ingredients.
They have the capacity to physically, measurably, affect our ability to recharge and reset in the height of summer, but they also nurture us with an ancient calm and serenity much harder to define…
As the heat builds on bricks and pavements, an oasis of still energy waits patiently… the antidote to the rush of summer…
Midnight in a perfect world…
In the height of summer, the woodland changes.
I walk slowly through the sheltered pathways.
Wildflowers are still sprinkled here and there – but they have become languorous -the fertile abundance of spring and early summer subsiding gently.
Pockets of sunlight splash the track in white puddles, their bright intensity rendering the deeper shade more alluring.
The birdsong is sparser now – intermittent, and the crunching earth beneath my feet is pungent with a slow baked and dusty heat.
The tree canopies are in a state of full, still magnificence, having completed their early fervent growth. Many are no longer growing new leaves, but simply resting in their prime.
The woods hold a quiet stillness – like a resting mother after birth.
Bountiful, established growth envelops me quietly in its maturity – calm and unexpectant. The depth and richness of the mid-summer trees hold back the sun – reflecting in every leaf the wisdom of dwelling here.
The ancient bones of the forest have weathered storms and seasons, heat and cold, they remember when to rest, and they prompt me to do the same.
I am cocooned here, protected from bright heat and energy, my senses bathed amidst green fronds and deep lagoons of shade.
The canopy above creates a nest below, the branches of the trees like motherly arms, and I stand, infinitely soothed.
Find the shade – feel the power
Summer is wonderful, but now more than ever, our bodies and brains crave retreat, a break from the fray, a connection to nature.
(See also Walking – The gentle therapy with warrior power)
Woodlands are places of magic – nature pooled and distilled into euphoric intensity.
Their mid-summer shade is a healing balm in a restive world.
We need to protect them. And we need to protect ourselves.
And seeking woodland shade is such powerful, easy medicine…
Just ten minutes or so of wandering under the canopies can make a difference.
So find a patch of woodland – big or small – even one large tree.
Let the shade surround you.
Stop. Inhale. Now rest…
If you enjoyed this post, consider fuelling a struggling writer with the occasional gift of a cuppa… and help me keep walking and writing…
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