Six Star Magazine Six Star Magazine Spring/Summer 2019 | Page 38

In the film, which was nominated for a Canadian Screen
Award in 2018, we learn that Diana is supremely passionate
about trees—and their benefits to our health and our planet.
From a lifetime of study, she has countless bits of invaluable
advice to offer: what time of day and time of year to forest
bathe, which trees to plant in your yard, which tree fruits
and aerosols to ingest for specific health benefits.
“Touch the trees, taste the air, breathe in the fragrance of
the forest, behold the multitude of colours, listen to the wind
blow and the birdsong,” she extolls. “Forest bathing is about
immersing yourself in the bath of medicinal aerosols that
make up the forest atmosphere.”
Most people might assume that forest bathing is just
another form of meditation, another way to escape the
persistence of modern life. Diana doesn’t dispute the calming
effects of walking amongst the trees, she just chooses to dig
deeper to find out why this effect exists in the first place.
When asked if going for a run in the forest can have the
same health benefits, she says no: “The act of running triggers
the fight or flight reaction—you extract a physical benefit
from running, but it’s not the same benefit as you get from
just slowing down and immersing yourself in the forest.”
Born and raised in Ireland, Diana lives with her husband
on a 64-hectare slice of heaven south of Ottawa, where she
has taken it upon herself to collect and care for more than
100 indigenous and endangered species of trees. This small
forest, she says, contains all the genetic material needed to
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create and sustain true biodiversity for the planet. Over 40
years, she has carefully selected and field-trialed the trees,
creating a microcosm for healthy living that is visited by
countless agriculture students each year.
As someone who studies the environment so closely,
it stands to reason that Diana would have an opinion on
climate change. But she has more than an opinion, she has
a strategy: On her website, she speaks to something called a
bioplan and how everyone can become involved in turning
things around for the better. The plan is simple: Each person
plants one native tree every year for six years in a row. This
act would kick-start what Diana refers to as “the green
machine for the planet.”
The topic of climate change can seem incredibly complex
and politically charged for the average individual. But her
plan simplifies everything and gives everyone the power to
effect change. This is the kind of thinking the world needs
right now, the imagining of a win/win scenario in which
people and the planet grow healthier with every single step.
,
“The act of walking in a forest does something for you,
something tangible,” she says. “The act of walking into a
maple stand, where there’s a reduction of particulate matter
in the air, lowers the heart rate. The act of walking paces out
the heart and changes the adrenal cortex. If you’re beginning
a walk in a forest, your cortisol gets lower and you’re entering
into full relaxation mode.”
To us, this sounds like just what the doctor ordered.