The Research Behind Nature Reset
The Research Behind Nature Reset
Why does spending time in nature feel different?
Nature Reset is rooted in Shinrin-Yoku, the Japanese practice commonly translated as forest bathing.
Despite the name, forest bathing doesn't involve water. It means spending time in a natural environment in a slower, more attentive way, noticing what you can see, hear, smell and feel rather than simply moving through it on autopilot.
The idea of deliberately spending time in nature for wellbeing is much older than the term Shinrin-Yoku.
But the modern practice has a fascinating history.
From overworked society to forest bathing
In the late 20th century, Japan was experiencing rapid urbanisation, increasingly intensive working lives and growing concern about the effects of stress on people's health.
Japan even had a word for one of the most extreme consequences of excessive work:
karōshi, meaning death from overwork.
Against this wider backdrop, Japan's Forestry Agency introduced Shinrin-Yoku as a national health initiative in 1982, with the aim of encouraging people to spend time in forests and supporting stress management and health, particularly among workers.
The term itself was new, but the underlying relationship between Japanese people and forests was much older.
What changed in 1982 was that spending time in forests for wellbeing was given a name and deliberately promoted as a public health practice.
The first official Shinrin-Yoku event was held at Akasawa Natural Recreational Forest in Nagano Prefecture that same year.
At first, the idea was based largely on the intuitive belief that spending time among trees would be good for people.
The interesting part came next.
Researchers began asking:
What actually happens to us when we spend time in a forest?
From intuition to scientific research
Over the following decades, Japanese researchers began investigating the physiological and psychological effects of forest environments.
The Japanese Society of Forest Medicine and related research programmes helped establish a more evidence-based approach, with government-supported research into the effects of forests on human health taking place particularly from the 2000s onwards.
Researchers began measuring things rather than simply asking people whether they enjoyed being in the woods.
They looked at:
- perceived stress and anxiety
- mood and psychological wellbeing
- fatigue
- heart rate
- blood pressure
- cortisol, a hormone involved in the body's stress response
- autonomic nervous system activity
- immune function
- attention and cognitive restoration
What does the research suggest?
When results from multiple studies are brought together, a generally positive picture emerges.
Stress and psychological wellbeing
A 2023 systematic review and meta-analysis of forest bathing found significant improvements in psychological wellbeing, including reductions in anxiety and depressive symptoms.
Other research has found reductions in perceived stress, tension, fatigue and negative emotional states following time in natural environments.
A calmer physiological state
Research has also identified measurable physiological changes.
A systematic review and meta-analysis of 20 trials found significantly lower systolic and diastolic blood pressure in forest environments compared with non-forest environments.
Research examining cortisol, a hormone associated with the body's stress response, has also found lower cortisol levels following forest exposure compared with urban environments.
These findings suggest that time in nature can be associated with a shift towards a more relaxed physiological state.
What is new in the research?
A 2026 review brings together more recent research looking beyond stress and mood to explore possible mechanisms behind the effects of Shinrin-Yoku.
The review discusses evidence relating to cortisol, autonomic nervous system activity and immune function, alongside emerging findings around cognitive restoration and emotional regulation. It also explores the possible contribution of plant-derived compounds, including phytoncides, found in forest environments.
The authors describe the evidence as promising, whilst also highlighting substantial differences between studies and the need for further research before firm conclusions about causation can be drawn.
A simple way to understand the evidence
If you strip away the technical language, the overall picture is encouraging:
When people spend time in natural environments, their bodies and minds often shift towards a more relaxed state compared with higher-stimulation or urban environments.
The effects are not necessarily dramatic or permanent, and they vary between people and circumstances.
But they are measurable enough to have been observed repeatedly across a growing body of research.
What does this mean for Nature Reset?
It doesn't mean that a Nature Reset session can diagnose, prevent or treat a health condition.
Nature Reset is not medical treatment or a replacement for professional mental health support.
What the research does suggest is that certain conditions matter:
- being outdoors rather than indoors
- stepping away from screens and constant information
- slowing down physical movement
- paying attention to sensory experience
- spending time in green or natural environments
- taking a break from work-related demands
Nature Reset is designed to create space for those conditions to exist in a simple, structured and accessible way.
Why this matters in the workplace
The history of Shinrin-Yoku has a striking relevance to modern working life.
The original national programme emerged partly from a recognition that the environments in which people live and work affect their health.
More than forty years later, our working environments have changed dramatically, but many of the pressures remain.
Screens, notifications, constant connectivity, information overload and increasingly sedentary working lives can make stepping away from work surprisingly difficult.
Nature Reset creates a deliberate interruption.
For a couple of hours, people can leave the screens behind and experience a different environment, pace and sensory landscape.
What about the effects after the session?
Research into nature exposure suggests that some psychological and physiological effects can be observed immediately following exposure, although the duration and size of these effects vary between studies.
This is one reason repeated contact with nature is an interesting area of research.
Rather than presenting a single session as a cure or permanent solution, Nature Reset can become an opportunity to build regular time outdoors into working life.
For organisations that want to explore this further, sessions can be arranged as one-off experiences or as monthly, quarterly or seasonal programmes.
So what's the takeaway?
The research doesn't tell us that nature is a cure-all.
It tells us something much more interesting.
Human beings respond to natural environments.
Our stress physiology, attention, mood and sense of wellbeing can all be influenced by where we spend our time and what we pay attention to.
Nature Reset is built around giving people the time and permission to experience that for themselves.
And at its core, it remains very simple:
Step outside.
Slow down.
Pay attention.
Key research
Antonelli, M., Barbieri, G. & Donelli, D. (2019)
Effects of forest bathing (shinrin-yoku) on levels of cortisol as a stress biomarker: a systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Biometeorology.
Siah, C.J.R. et al. (2023)
The effects of forest bathing on psychological well-being: A systematic review and meta-analysis. International Journal of Mental Health Nursing.
Bandyopadhyay, A., Shah, S. & Roviello, G.N. (2026)
Forest Bathing (Shinrin-yoku) and Preventive Medicine: Immune Modulation, Stress Regulation, Neurocognitive Resilience, and Neurological Health. Medical Sciences, 14(1), 95.
A note about the evidence
Research into forest bathing and nature-based interventions is growing, but it is not yet a uniform evidence base. Studies differ in their participants, settings, duration, methods and outcomes.
The research is therefore best understood as promising and increasingly substantial, rather than as proof that every person will experience the same effects.
Nature Reset doesn't ask you to take the claims on faith.
It invites you to step outside and experience what happens when you do.