Health & Wellness
Photos by Dr. Azra Bertrand
Let Nature be Thy Medicine: Nature Therapy in Appalachia
By Dr. Azra Bertrand
What if I told you there was a miracle pill that would lower your blood pressure, reduce heart disease, help prevent cancer, stabilize your mental health, ease inflammation in your joints, improve your thinking and help you in one hundred other ways, all without any side effects? A therapy that’s scientifically validated in more than three hundred studies, and is absolutely free. Would you believe me?
This therapy is real, but it’s not a pill—it’s nature. That’s right. And, what better place to experience ecotherapy than the mountains of western North Carolina in springtime?
Nature therapies go by a half-dozen different names, including green therapy, “forest bathing,” and the newly emerging field of ecosomatics. What they have in common is the understanding that exposure to any natural environment is profoundly healing. A 2022 study published in Frontiers of Psychology showed the beneficial effects on mental and physical health extend to having potted plants in your home or office, or even having a view of trees out your window.
We are biophilic beings. Our biology innately thrives with ecological contact. We are designed for nature, and by nature. Every atom in our body comes from the Earth of course, and every bit of energy in our bodies originally came from the sun, transformed into a useable form by plants.
New studies are coming out every month, reaching into children’s health and education. It turns out that when children spend two to three hours outside every day, academic performance improves across the board—in math, reading, sciences, languages and social studies. Attention and behavior improve, and anxiety levels are reduced. And, that’s only the tip of the iceberg. It’s why some of the best public education programs in the world, including in Finland, Estonia, and Singapore, explicitly weave nature-connection time into their curricula.
Why is this not headline news? Is it too easy, too enjoyable, too simple to believe?
As a retired family physician, an author, a nature-based healing educator, and a father of a child in an outdoor school, I can attest first-hand to the healing power of the natural world. Like so many other doctors, I spent years chasing the symptoms of my patients, when the root cause was staring us in the face—disconnection from nature and natural lifestyles.
The foundations are simple. Eat real, fresh foods instead of ultra-processed ones. Get out into a city park, a field, a beach, a forest for a short walk every day. Most importantly, get some early morning sunlight and dim down the lights in the evening to bring your circadian rhythm into balance. It may not solve all your problems, but it will make a world of difference.
We’re so lucky here in WNC, surrounded by the Pisgah and Nantahala National Forests. Their one million acres of wild mountain forests are the beating heart of Appalachia. They’re healing all of us, body and soul, just by their presence. If you live here, or are visiting, it’s almost certainly the nature that drew you. It definitely did me.
I grew up in Greensboro, NC, but the mountains always had my heart. The moment I got my driver’s license, I started driving to WNC for weekend backpacking trips. In my third year of medical school, while my friends were taking that extra neurology elective, or surgery subspecialty rotation, I used my free time to lead young people on multi-week treks on the Appalachian and Mountains-to-Sea Trails. Those kids’ lives were forever changed, as was mine; the forests heal with a breadth and precision rivaling the best of modern medicine.
Western North Carolina is becoming a center for ecotherapies—a bloom of practitioners and retreat centers are making this area their home. Over the last five years, I’ve dedicated my professional career to teaching nature-based, ecosomatic healing and health coaching, and offering retreats on our land, including holding community healing events after Hurricane Helene in 2024.
Ready to begin your nature therapy? Here are 4 ways to get started:
1. Take an outdoor break each day, even if just for a few minutes. Take some full, deep breaths and cast your gaze toward the trees and mountains. It will begin to clear your mind right away.
2. Place living plants in your home. They relax your nervous system and bring beauty into the environment.
3. Take a walk in our local forests or by the rivers. It will lower your stress levels and improve your sense of wellbeing.
4. Take five minutes to stand or walk barefoot on the grass first thing in the morning. It will set your circadian rhythms, and help bring electrical balance between your body and the Earth.
Dr. Azra Bertrand is a retired physician, award-winning author, ecosomatic health coach and educator. You can connect with him through his website www.AzraBertrand.com and on Instagram. All photos courtesy of the author.