How Nature Heals Us

Hidden Brain

Hidden Brain Media

Arts, Science, Performing Arts, Social Sciences

4.6 • 40.4K Ratings

🗓️ 3 November 2025

⏱️ 65 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

We've known intuitively for centuries that spending time in nature can give us a boost. But it’s only recently that scientists have begun to identify exactly what it is about the outdoors that has such a powerful effect on our mood and our minds. This week, psychologist Marc Berman explores how spending time in nature can actually undo some of the harmful effects of our modern lives.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Feeling a little frazzled as 2025 comes to a close?
0:04.0	Put your to-do list on pause and join me for an evening of science, storytelling, and connection.
0:10.6	I'm bringing Hidden Brain's perceptions tour to the Orpheum Theater in Los Angeles on November 22nd.
0:17.6	I'll be sharing seven key psychological insights from the first decade of the show.
0:21.9	To get your tickets, go to hiddenbrain.org slash tour.
0:27.3	I'm also excited to announce that we are adding more dates to the tour for 2026.
0:32.6	I'll be in Philadelphia on March 21st and New York City on March 25th.
0:38.6	Hidden Brain listeners get first cracket tickets to those shows.
0:41.8	The pre-sale begins at 3 p.m. Eastern on November 3rd and runs through November 5th.
0:47.7	To get your tickets to our 2026 shows, go to HiddenBrain.org slash tour and use the promo code, Brain. No promo code is needed after
0:57.5	November 5th. I hope to see you there, and here's today's show.
1:05.8	This is Hidden Brain. I'm Shankar Vedant. When we are facing struggles with our thoughts or our emotions,
1:13.3	many of us turn first to medication or therapy as solutions. The share of American adults
1:21.5	reporting they took prescription drugs for mental health conditions stood at 19% in 2022.
1:28.3	That's according to an analysis of government data by the Kaiser Family Foundation.
1:34.3	That's millions of people taking drugs for anxiety, for depression, for attention deficit disorder.
1:41.3	Millions more are in therapy, working through their challenges with a counselor.
1:47.0	For many people, such measures are enormously helpful, even essential. At the same time, it may be the case that we are overlooking a potential source of relief that is literally right
2:02.0	outside our door. This remedy costs nothing, has no known side effects, and is often
2:09.0	delightfully pleasant. We are talking about spending time in nature.
2:26.3	The capacity of the natural world to soothe and refresh our sensibilities has been known for centuries. But it's only recently that scientists have begun to identify exactly what it is about the outdoors
2:32.3	that has such a powerful effect on our moods and our minds.
	...

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