Eco-Therapy: How Nature Regulates Your Nervous System and Improves Mental Health
Discover how eco-therapy encourages nervous system regulation by reducing stress, boosting serotonin, and reconnecting us with the natural world.
Reclaiming Our Connection to Nature
Currently, Americans average over seven hours of screen time per day. We Zoom, scroll, e-mail, and binge watch with increased fervor—we even attend therapy virtually! Our screens bombard us with blue light, content overload, and information fatigue. This overstimulation depletes our nervous systems, leading to anxiety, depression, and emotional dysregulation.
What if I told you there was a way to help mitigate the negative side effects of the Screen Age? A way that’s right outside our front doors. In 1984, Edward O. Wilson created “The Biophilic Hypothesis,” which states that since humans evolved in close contact with nature, it has shaped our entire physiology and psychology. Our senses, emotions, and cognitive processes are completely attuned to the natural world. As we have moved away from spending time outside, we lose this attunement and our mental health suffers.
It’s time to reconnect to our true nature. Spending time outdoors can improve concentration, reduce stress, enhance creativity, and regulate your nervous system. It’s time to heal through the most sacred and ancient tool, our natural world.
The Benefits of Eco-Therapy for Nervous System Regulation
When our nervous system is on high alert, our sympathetic nervous system (the fight, flight, freeze or fawn response) is activated. It is impossible for us to regulate, heal, or process trauma when this is engaged. Eco-therapy can immediately catalyze our parasympathetic nervous system, which encourages us to “rest and digest.” This creates a sense of safety in our body for healing to begin.
Therapy in natural settings promotes this deep sense of “somatic safety.” Soothing auditory, visual, and tactile cues allow stress and tension to release from our bodies. Trauma-informed eco-therapy employs tactics like mindfulness, walk-and-talks, or forest-bathing that allow our overburdened nervous systems to downshift.
Do you ever feel like you can finally take that breath you’ve been holding in all day, or maybe all week, once you’re outside? Research says your intuition is right. Eco-therapy can help us find that deep exhale we constantly crave.
Serotonin, Cortisol, and the Brain on Nature
Calm, clear, and regulated—this is your brain “on nature”. Your thoughts slow, your mood lifts, and your stress seems to melt away. This is not just an illusion conjured by peaceful sounds and time away from your to-do list. This is our biochemistry reacting to our original, long forgotten, anti-depressant.
Being outdoors can specifically cause one major chemical shift—it increases our serotonin and decreases our cortisol. Cortisol rises when we experience chronic stress, trauma, or whenever we are in our “fight, flight, freeze or fawn” response. Cortisol can contribute to anxiety, depression, irritability, and difficulty concentrating. Experts say that spending just 20 minutes in nature can drastically decrease your cortisol and relieve many of these symptoms.
Serotonin is a neurotransmitter primarily associated with mood regulation, emotional stability, and feelings of happiness and calm. Sunlight on our skin and eyes, fresh air, natural movement, and even the microorganisms in the soil can all increase serotonin. Serotonin promotes sustained well-being and lasts longer in our systems than other neurotransmitters like dopamine, which instead promotes a short-term reward cycle. Building serotonin by spending time in nature reduces symptoms of anxiety, depression, and other mental health disorders.
Increased serotonin + decreased cortisol = better mental health. Nature-based therapeutic practices give you both!
Simple Ways to Reconnect with Nature
Nature based healing can be formal or informal. Eco-informed therapists use these tactics in tandem with other modalities to conduct psychotherapy. But taking some time for yourself outside can be just as healing.
Walk-and-Talk Therapy
Some therapists* will conduct sessions while walking, often on trails
Therapeutic Horticulture
Incorporates plants and gardening into therapy to facilitate growth
Forest Bathing (also called Shinrin-Yoku)
The Japanese practice of immersing oneself in the forest through sensory engagement
Mindfulness Practices
Walking meditation, nature journaling, listening to birds, cloud-counting
Being barefoot on the earth may decrease inflammation and regulate circadian rhythms
*We are accepting new clients for Walk-and-Talks in the Chapel Hill / Durham area!
Remember: You Are a Part of Nature, Not Apart From It
Ever heard of the saying “a little dirt don’t hurt?” Well, now we know how true that is. In fact, getting outside, getting dirty, moving our bodies, and literally soaking up the sun can improve our mental health drastically. So, whether it’s in big or small ways, make sure to get yourself back to nature. Your nervous system will thank you.
Schedule a free consult today to get started with eco-therapy.
References
Balmumcu, A., & Pekince, G. D. (2023). Effects of forest bath (Shinrin-Yoku) and forest therapy (Shinrin-Ryoho) on women's health. Psikiyatride Güncel Yaklaşımlar, 15(1), 62–69. https://doi.org/10.18863/pgy.1083096
Chevalier, G., Sinatra, S. T., Oschman, J. L., Sokal, K., & Sokal, P. (2012). Earthing: Health implications of reconnecting the human body to the Earth's surface electrons. Journal of Environmental and Public Health, 2012, Article 291541. https://doi.org/10.1155/2012/291541
Hunter, M. R., Gillespie, B. W., & Chen, S. Y. (2019). Urban Nature Experiences Reduce Stress in the Context of Daily Life Based on Salivary Biomarkers. Frontiers in psychology, 10, 722. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.00722
Marshall, L. (2019, May 9). Why dirt may be nature’s original stress-buster. CU Boulder Today, University of Colorado Boulder. https://www.colorado.edu/today/2019/05/09/natures-original-stress-buster
McLean Hospital. (n.d.). Nature’s brain‑changing effects. McLean Hospital. Retrieved July 9, 2025, from https://www.mcleanhospital.org/essential/nature
Summers, J. K., & Vivian, D. N. (2018). Ecotherapy – A forgotten ecosystem service: A review. Frontiers in Psychology, 9, Article 1389. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2018.01389
Wilson, E. O. (1984). Biophilia. Harvard University Press.
