Nature Is Medicine. Why Your Nervous System Needs Green Time
PREFACE:
This article is part of our Mode Healthcare series, inspired by the Lululemon Global Wellbeing Report 2024. In this piece, we step outside—and into the science of how natural environments restore not just mood, but biology.
The modern world is beautifully engineered. It’s also a little unnatural. Concrete underfoot. Fluorescents overhead. Timelines, deadlines, screen time. Amidst this, the body remembers something older. Trees. Light. Stillness. Water.
According to the report, people who spend time in nature—especially with others—report an 18% increase in overall wellbeing. That’s not a wellness cliché. That’s data-backed medicine.
YOUR NERVOUS SYSTEM WANTS A FOREST
Natural environments reduce sympathetic nervous system activity (the fight-or-flight mode), lower cortisol levels, improve blood pressure, and enhance immune cell function. Time in nature also stimulates the vagus nerve, which governs rest, digestion, and emotional regulation.
In other words, green space is not a luxury. It’s a form of physiological calibration. A reset button, freely available, often just outside your door.
WHAT WE SEE AT MODE
We work with patients across urban and regional settings, and one consistent finding is this: those who have access to—and actively use—natural environments in their weekly routines experience faster recovery, steadier moods, and better sleep. That’s why our care plans don’t stop at prescriptions. We prescribe barefoot walking. Saltwater swims. Gardening. Forest time. Sunlight with your morning tea. This isn’t escapism. It’s clinical support for your nervous system, in its native habitat.
At Mode, we use the full toolkit of human health
Including what’s outside. If you’re feeling overstimulated, anxious, or simply numb, nature can be part of your return. We’ll guide you in building a lifestyle that works with your physiology—not against it.
We have clinics in Bunbury, Dunsborough, Perth, Bangalow and nationally with our Telehealth Clinic.
Start with a free 20-minute nurse consult to see if Mode is right for you—or book directly with one of our expert doctors to begin treatment today.
