"Trees Affect Our Minds"

"Most of the forest's molecules bypass my sense of smell and dissolve directly into my blood, entering my body and mind below the level of consciousness. The effects of our chemical interpenetrations with plant aromas are largely unstudied. Western science hasn't stooped to take seriously the possibility that the forest, or the lack of it, might be part of our being. Yet forest lovers know very well that trees affect our minds. The Japanese have named this knowledge and turned it into a practice, shinrin-yoku, or bathing in forest air. It seems that participation in the [forest's] community of information may bring us a measure of well-being at the wet chemical core of ourselves." David George Haskell. The Forest Unseen: A Year's Watch in Nature. (NY : Viking, 2012), p. 187.