All those pretty trees and flowers, the shushing of grass and tinkling and whistling of birds and the mystery funky mushrooms. It’s all very nice, hanging out in a forest or park.

But what is it that actually boosts our health.

As we’ve previously reported, there are studies showing that spending time in green spaces reduces our risk of stroke, lowers the risk of mental disorders in young people, including body image issues, and may be protective against dementia.

Part of the answer is that time spent in green spaces is time away from polluted air and the jangled noises of a city in motion.

And, of course, enjoying the soothing colours of nature going about its own business.

But there’s also the smells to think of

Much of the feeling of wellbeing probably comes from the smells of the forest or park, be they the earthy taste of fallen leaves or rotting bark, the sharp medicinal flavour of pine and eucalyptus, or even the strange rain-like quality of newly-mown grass.

A study from the University of Kent found that the aromas of nature can make us feel cheerful; even joyful, and less anxious, immediately healthy.

This suggests that forests serve as a large-scale form of aromatherapy – the therapeutic use of essential oils extracted from plants.

Clinical research is limited but, according to the Mayo Clinic, research has found that aromatherapy provides some relief from depression and anxiety, and boosts quality of life for people with chronic disease.

As the Mayo Clinic describes it, aromatherapy is thought to work “by stimulating smell receptors in the nose, which then send messages through the nervous system to the limbic system – the part of the brain that controls emotions”.

In other words, it affects the way we feel, in the same way a forest does

Feelings, nothing more than feelings

It pays to focus on that word ‘feel’. Feeling healthy and cheerful is wonderful, but it’s not necessarily the same as being healthy or truly cleansed of the black dog.

Still, how we feel pays into our overall state of being and our effectiveness at work or our relating to others.

Beginning to feel better after an illness is a valuable aid to recovery.

In the University of Kent study, it was all about how the participants felt after spending time among the trees, and what they found there.

These 194 individuals were let loose in two forests where they engaged in “woodland scavenger hunts”.

In the morning they visited Sherwood Forest (where Robin Hood and his friends ran amok long-ago in their smelly undies) and Cumber Park in the afternoon.

They were encouraged to “look around and notice different elements of the woodland and write down what they noticed in terms of colours, textures, sounds, shapes, and smells”.

They were asked to note how they felt about what they’d seen and smelt and otherwise encountered.

After the hunts were completed, the participants were divided into focus groups of 10 and shared what they’d liked and disliked and felt indifferent to. They were asked to explain why they felt these different feelings.

The research findings

Scientifically, this can be a pretty weak form of research, but the findings were interesting.

While the participants didn’t necessarily connect directly to the aromas of the woodlands, where, say, the mushroom smells of rotting shrubs gave them a high.

Rather, they tended to associate the smells with events from their lives.

The emotional responses, the feelings prompted by these different aromas, were linked to their memories, happy ones.

“We found smells affected multiple domains of well-being with physical well-being discussed most frequently, particularly in relation to relaxation, comfort, and rejuvenation,” wrote the researchers in a new paper .

“Even absence of smell was perceived to improve physical well-being, providing a cleansing service, removing the pollution and unwanted smells associated with urban areas, therefore enabling relaxation.”