8 Natural Landscapes That Will Restore Your Energy

…you’ll learn how nature, human health, and climate activism interconnect. Emma Loewe, environmental journalist and senior sustainability editor at mindbodygreen, joins the show to share how nature can restore all aspects of your health. You’ll find out how you can reap the benefits of specific nature landscapes, wherever you live or roam.

You’ll come away from this episode with:

• Tips on how to combat stress, anxiety and burnout by being outdoors.
• Actions you can take to conserve the landscapes you care about.
• Mindset shifts that will change the way you think about the climate crisis.

In her new book, “Return to Nature: The New Science of How Natural Landscapes Restore Us,” she’s researched the ways eight distinct nature landscapes improve your physical, mental and spiritual health.

• Parks & Gardens
• Oceans & Coasts
• Mountains & Highlands
• Forests & Trees
• Ice & Snow
• Deserts & Drylands
• Rivers & Streams
• Cities & Built Environments

Emma shares research-backed ways to explore nature now and protect it for the future, including SRT (stress-reduction theory). This theory says that humans are hardwired to relax while looking at environments that have extensive views, areas to retreat, and essential resources like shade and water. Those benefits make your brain work better.

“The cognitive benefits of getting outdoors seem to be very interesting,” Emma says. ‘’A lot of research finds that, once you return inside from a trip outdoors, you score better on things like working memory tests. You tend to have less brain activity in certain regions that are responsible for things like negative self-talk or rumination.”