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“Let's Go to the Forest” Movement: have a Happy and Balanced New Year!

In the cold months of the year, active rest does not need to be replaced by passive recreation; on the contrary, it is advisable to have a good time in the fresh air to avoid a number of different illnesses. In order to improve physical and mental health in the New Year, family doctor and ambassador of the “Let's Go to the Forest” Movement Ainis Dzalbs encourages everyone to go out in nature.

Walks are recommended also in autumn and winter

It is no secret that during the autumn and winter months our airways become more sensitive and susceptible to various infectious diseases.

Specialists often recommend walks in the open air in order to strengthen health and avoid these diseases. “Being in the fresh air improves the function of the airway epithelium, clearing the airways of tobacco, car emissions and everything else that is accumulated in them in our everyday life,” tells family doctor Ainis Dzalbs. When walking at a fast pace, breathing speeds up and purification is even more effective.

When taking a walk in the fresh air, especially in the woods, people inhale phytoncides, plant-derived antiviral substances with antibacterial properties that help fight viruses. Fresh air, exercise and outdoor recreation also reduce levels of cortisol (a stress hormone). There is a good reason for why some time ago resorts and sanatoriums were built in forest-rich areas as an added benefit for respiratory patients and asthmatics, in turn folk medicine, pine buds, needle extracts and other forest supplies are still used for respiratory treatment.

We are spending more and more time in an artificial environment

Regular walks in the forest help not only with respiratory disease prevention. As Dr. Dzalbs admits, he increasingly meets patients who have excessive stress and work load in their lives. Different emotional experiences can be the cause of indigestion problems, back pain and heart problems.

The doctor mentions the large amount of information that must be covered on a daily basis as one of the reasons why the number of psychosomatic diseases is increasing today: “Thanks to technologies, we are able to retrieve more and more information, thus increasing the amount and intensity of work, creating stress and overload.” A sedentary lifestyle and lack of physical activity also contribute to psychosomatic illnesses. No less important is the environment. “We are spending more and more time in artificial environments and indoors. See for yourself how we feel, for example, at an airport when a flight is delayed and we have to spend several hours there. We get tired of the closed environment and people,” tells Dr. Dzalbs.

Balancing work with rest

Each person's stress resistance is individual and varies with age. In the elderly, children and adolescents, stress tolerance is lower - in children, it often manifests itself as a disease when they start kindergarten or school, and in the elderly, heartbeat occurs in stressful situations.

In order to take preventive care of both your physical and mental health, the doctor advises everyone to balance work with rest on a daily basis, allowing enough time for sleep and physical activity. Those who work are advised to organize their work as much as possible so that they do not “take it home” and spend their leisure time fully enjoying themselves. For office workers who spend most of the day sitting, it is important to get up from time to time, move around and make the most of their lunch break by taking a short walk. It can be a small walk around the block, a walk in the park or ideally a forest. “In the forest, you can relax from the alarming artificial environment and enjoy silence, peace and nature. It is a relief for the nervous system. There is a unique opportunity in Latvia, even without leaving the city, to get to nature in just a few minutes - we should all use it more often,” says Dr. Dzalbs.

As part of its 20th anniversary, JSC “Latvia's State Forests” is implementing the “Let's Go to the Forest” movement, which invites people in Latvia to use the recreational opportunity available to everyone - our forests - to take care of their mental and physical health. In the New Year, LVM wishes happiness and sincerity, encouraging people in Latvia to take advantage of the wide availability of forests and to spend their free time outdoors more actively!