Will I love The Nature Fix?

The Nature Fix made me think a lot about my beliefs and experiences among trees and how much better I feel when I spend time in parks or wilderness than I do in cities. The book also got me curious about where and how I could spend five hours each month in high quality natural areas away from the hubbub of human activity. Willliams explores research with various nature “prescriptions,” and the five hour “fix” stuck with me as a useful gauge for how I spend my time --> less scrolling and concrete, more duff.

I’ve known on a gut… show more.

I first read this book when I was developing a course for undergraduates at Cornell titled Nature Rx, based on the book I had co-authored. I immediately felt like Florence Williams had written this book just for me. Her tales of traveling to various points in Asia, Europe, and the American southwest to experience firsthand the impact of nature's immersions on humans in various states of health or illness was exactly what I needed to frame the syllabus for this course.

And Williams is more than a casual observer—whether it’s hiking through a Korean forest to gain the benefits of… show more.

In this engaging read, science journalist Florence Williams travels the world to cover the research on the health benefits of exploring the outdoors. What I love about Florence’s writing is her ability to play the guinea pig so that readers can put themselves in her shoes—in this case, hiking boots.

It’s ironic that, as a species, we’ve created technologies that keep us safe and comfortable from nature, but being in nature is shown to make us more emotionally, mentally, and spiritually healthy. The Nature Fix makes a strong case for why our true happiness, health, and creativity aren’t going to be found in screens, but in nature.