When I want to feel better, I’m going for a walk. It’s so ingrained at this point — a habit built somewhere in the fog of the pandemic years — that the association is almost Pavlovian: out, up. It works every time and I’ve stopped questioning it.
But I wanted to understand the why of all this. What actually happens in the brain and nervous system when you go outside? So I went looking for scientific data to support what I already suspected: that getting outside not only changes your mood, but transforms your entire physiology. These are fractal patterns signaling the safety of your amygdala. Cortisol drops in real time. It’s your nervous system doing something he really can’t do inside.
To dig deeper, I spoke with Clara Schröderan ecotherapist and best-selling author, who introduced me to an idea I hadn’t considered: that our mental health crisis might be, at root, an ecological crisis.
Clara Schroeder is an ecotherapist, speaker, and bestselling author of Re-Nature: How Nature Helps Us Feel Better and Do Better. Clara’s expertise has been trusted by leading organizations including UCSF, Microsoft, Women in Cloud, Terumo Neuro, and Aura Health. She holds a master’s degree in psychology and education from the Spirituality Mind and Body Institute at Columbia University, led by renowned clinical psychologist Dr. Lisa Miller. As a Certified Ecotherapist, Institute Certified Mindfulness Teacher, Co-Active Professional Coach, and Wilderness First Responder through NOLS, she offers a grounded, science-based path to sustainable transformation.
The nature-mental health connection, explained
Research on this goes back further than you might think. In the 1990s, Japanese scientists began studying what they called “forest bathing” — the practice of intentionally spending time in nature — and discovered something striking: Stress hormones dropped, blood pressure dropped, and heart rates slowed. The results were consistent enough for follow-up studies to replicate them in different populations and methodologies. Even a fifteen minute walk outside was enough to move the needle.
Why nature seems safe for your brain
But why? Clara points out something most of us have never heard of: fractal patterns. “Fractal patterns are repeating rhythmic patterns found in nature,” she explains: ocean waves, tree branches, flower petals. “They signal predictability to the amygdala, which reduces stress hormones such as cortisol.” In other words, your brain recognizes nature as safe. The amygdala, responsible for detecting threats, calms down in green spaces in a way that it simply cannot in an urban environment overstimulated by noise, traffic, and crowds.
Implications go beyond stress
Studies of depression have found that patients who walked in nature reported significantly reduced symptoms compared to those who walked in urban settings. Research on post-operative patients found that even images of trees and water reduced painkiller requirements and anxiety during recovery. And for people living in cities – where mood disorders and anxiety are significantly more common – Clara’s framework is different: “The amygdala is often overstimulated and always ‘on’ in urban environments. Chronic dysregulation of the nervous system, she says, is one way that disconnection from nature manifests itself physically.
A more personal argument
Clara’s own journey through this work adds another dimension. During her recovery from a head injury, most of her normal feel-good routines were taken away. What remained was attention: to the way sunlight streamed through a window, to the birdsong, to the slow arrival of spring. “The greatest teaching that nature has given me during my healing,” she says, “is that nothing stays the same and that everything should not be rushed.” It’s a quieter argument for nature than the cortisol studies, but in some ways more compelling.
What the mental health crisis really is
This more discreet argument extends to something broader. Clara offers a reframing worth considering: our mental health crisis is not just psychological, it is ecological. “We live in a society that is increasingly disconnected from the natural world,” she says. The more digitally connected we are, the more ecologically disconnected we are. This is not an argument against technology, she is quick to clarify, but an argument for balance – to return, with intention, to what is real and alive outside our door.
The good news, she says, is that the solution doesn’t have to be dramatic. “It can be as simple as taking a walk at the end of the day or caring for a houseplant in your apartment. Any step toward connecting with nature will inevitably improve mood and well-being.”
How to bring nature in when you can’t go outside
This is where Clara’s work becomes most practical and accessible. For anyone who can’t easily access green spaces, whether because of where they live, how long they work, or other obstacles, she offers a different entry point: bringing nature to you.
One of her favorite tools is a nature grounding meditation, in which you visualize being in a nourishing natural setting. She made one available for free on his website. But if meditation isn’t your thing, there are other ways. Clara suggests creating a natural altar at home: a small arrangement of natural elements, shells, stones, dried flowers, seasonal branches, that you maintain and modify over time. It’s a simple practice, but it has a significant effect: it makes you a participant in the seasons rather than just a spectator.
It also highlights something that most of us completely overlook. “Remember, the weather is a part of nature, just like the water in your tap. It’s all part of a larger ecosystem that we also belong to. The trick is to pay attention and expand our awareness to include the cycles of nature.”
Ecotherapy as a way of life
What Clara most wants people to understand is that ecotherapy is not a wellness intervention that you plan and then move on from. “It’s also a way of life,” she says. “Ecotherapy practices will teach you to reevaluate your belonging to the greater planetary ecosystem and, if you really lean into the work, to reveal things about your purpose and dreams as well.”
Nature, in this setting, becomes something you turn to like you might turn to a therapist or a coach, except that it is available every morning, every season, every time you notice light moving through a window. The practice is less about adding something new to your life and more about paying different attention to what already exists.
Your sign to get out
I came to this research looking for a scientific explanation for something I already knew to be true. What I found was bigger than that: a whole framework for understanding why the walk always works, why light through a window can move something, why a handful of wildflowers on a counter changes the mood of a room. Science confirms it. But honestly? You already knew that.
This article was last updated on June 14, 2026 to include new information.
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