More than ever before, there’s a big, shiny spotlight on health and wellness in 2021. As we take a stumbling look back at last year, we can see that immunity and health are of the utmost importance for our overall well-being. Holistic health services delivered at spas have been aiding in our longevity for ages, and even increasingly moreso over the past couple of decades as consumers shift their understanding of what spa is; previously considered just a luxury, spas are now (rightfully) considered healing centers.
But, there’s another type of intuitive healing that has been forgotten as society becomes increasingly disconnected from the natural world. Nature provides us with almost everything we need. Humans have an undeniable, innate calling to spend time in nature, taking in fresh air, slowing down our heart rates and de-stressing from our fast-paced lives.
As we remind and guide clients to reconnect with nature and derive the innumerable health and wellness benefits associated with it, we must also make giving back a priority. One place to start, especially considering the current climate crisis, is by planting trees.
Why Plant Trees
Trees are the lifeblood of our wellness. They give us oxygen. They breathe in as we breathe out; we breathe in as they breathe out. It’s a beautiful dance, a yin and yang, a primal understanding that we need each other to survive. Yet, people continue to allow the destruction of the very thing that gives us life.
Through rampant deforestation, humans have ruined much of the planet’s ability to capture carbon dioxide from the atmosphere (the air we breathe out). As a result, the greenhouse gas normally held in trees and soil instead stays put in our atmosphere, along with the excess carbon emissions humans produce through industry and fossil fuel use. This increased carbon concentration has led to rapidly climbing climate temperatures, causing an array of increased natural disasters and an extensive list of global challenges.
Although this sounds very defeating, there’s a simple, nature-based solution: We need to regenerate the forests in places where they will optimally flourish with healthy, carbon-absorbing soil and trees. According to forest restoration organization WeForest, “Healthy and growing forests remain the best technology for removing excess carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.”
Megan Tymesko is the community manager of GSN Planet, a nonprofit trade association serving the spa, wellness and hospitality communities in support of a sustainable future. With a background and combined 10 years of experience in sustainable urban design, nonprofit management, and integrative health and healing, she’s a passionate environmental and wellness activist. Tymesko is committed to sharing the importance of incorporating sustainability and conscious consumption in everyday life, and believes businesses have an optimal opportunity to lead the world toward a greener future.
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