EP 59: Return to Nature–The New Science of Us and the Outdoors, featuring Author and Environmentalist Emma Loewe

Author Emma Loewe smiling to the camera wearing a blue shirt

For today’s episode, I’m chatting with writer, editor and environmentalist Emma Loewe about her book “Return to Nature: The New Science of How Natural Landscapes Restore Us.” Return to Nature is a guidebook that draws on the new science and ancient wisdom of why building deeper relationships with nature makes us healthier in our body, mind and spirit. Emma is MindBodyGreen’s senior sustainability editor and the co-author of the Spirit Almanac. She received her B.A. in Environmental Science & Policy with a specialty in environmental communications from Duke University. Her work has been featured in Bloomberg News, Forbes, and Marie Claire, among others.

In this conversation, we discuss: what Emma’s relationship was like to nature as a child, what inspired her to write Return to Nature, the unique way this guidebook is organized, an overview and a practice for each of the eight landscapes featured in her book, how we can have powerful nature experiences even in the most urban environments, how writing the book transformed Emma’s relationship to the more-than-human world, and of course, the last five questions.

This interview was recorded last May, and I’m so thrilled to finally release it for all of you to enjoy. If you’re interested in the science behind what makes our relationship with the natural world so important and essential, you’ll love this book and hopefully, this conversation.

Resources

Show Notes

Emma’s relationship to nature as a child
What inspired Emma to write her book “Return to Nature”
The reasons she organized “Return to Nature” by a series of eight distinct landscapes
The intention around using the word “return” in the title
Crafting a new definition of “wellness”
An overview and practice for each of the 8 landscapes (parks and gardens, oceans, mountains, forests and trees, ice and snow, desert, rivers, cities and built environments)
Why accessibility matters when it comes nature relationship
All about awe
How we can all find our “desert eyes”
How people living in cities can still have powerful experiences in nature
Micro-dosing on nature: How small is too small when it comes to building deeper nature-relationship
A passage from “Return to Nature” that represents kinship and belonging
How writing the book changed Emma’s relationship with the more-than-human-world
The last five questions