Articles
As I would later come to study in the Master’s of Applied Positive Psychology (MAPP) program at the University of Pennsylvania, these experiences of nature connection are more than poetic; they’re scientifically meaningful. And small intentional interventions can offer us one path forward as we seek to reconnect to the rhythms of nature, noticing the beauty, connection, and love it offers.
There have likely always been fierce debates about what well-being means. When Aristotle opined on the topic a couple of millennia ago, he was writing a treatise about ethics (ca. 350 B.C.E./1994). Some say he was writing to his son, Nicomachus (Natali, 2013). Think of it as a father’s guide on how to live a good life—something worth paying attention to if your father happens to be one of the most influential thinkers in Western civilization.
Whether walking home from work on that first warm spring day or taking a trip to a national park, being in nature just feels right. Although environmental psychology has been around for half a century and people have mused over the feelings and experiences of being in nature for even longer, in many ways, positive psychology has only relatively recently ventured into the nature conversation. With the proposed third wave of positive psychology and Mike Steger’s (2025) call for a regenerative positive psychology, more and more of us are considering the role of nature in well-being, especially in this time of climate collapse and environmental degradation.
