Notice How Time in Nature Makes You Feel

A few months ago I had the pleasure of meeting the filmmaker Nitin Das. Nitin is the creator of the Healing Forest, a site dedicated to helping people connect with nature and lead calmer, healthier lives.

Nitin was traveling through the U.S. to meet and interview people who were also interested in nature practices. Nitin and I met up in New York City to discuss the challenges and benefits of connecting to nature in urban spaces. I described my view that many New Yorkers believe that nature isn’t here or that it doesn’t “count.” We had conversations about our shared interest in shinrin-yoku (the Japanese art of “forest bathing”) and how these ideas might interest pragmatic city-dwellers.

Nitin’s new short film, How Forests Heal People, is the outcome of his travels in the U.S. It’s a beautiful meditative film about how nature affects us. (You can glimpse me…