The Role of Nature in Mental Health: Why “Touch Grass” Might Actually Be Good Advice
There’s a phrase that floats around the internet when someone is spiraling, overthinking, or spending a little too much time in the comment section: “Go touch grass.”
It’s usually said as a joke, and sometimes as a not-so-gentle way of telling someone they’ve lost the plot. But like many funny internet phrases, there’s a little truth tucked inside it. Sometimes, we really do need to step away from the screen, the noise, the mental loops, and the constant stream of information and let our bodies remember that we belong to an actual, physical world.
Not because nature is a cure-all. Not because a walk outside magically solves anxiety, depression, grief, burnout, trauma, or the very real stressors of being a human. But because our minds and bodies were not built to live entirely in fluorescent lighting, inboxes, group texts, social media feeds, and mental to-do lists.
Sometimes our nervous systems need something simpler.
A patch of sunlight. A breeze. The sound of leaves moving. A dog sniffing the same spot for an unreasonable amount of time. The feeling of your feet on the ground. The reminder that not everything is urgent, even if your body has been living like it is.
Why Nature Can Feel So Regulating
In therapy, I often talk with clients about how anxiety can pull us out of the present moment. The mind starts scanning for what could go wrong, what someone meant, what we should’ve said, what we need to prepare for, or how we can prevent discomfort before it happens. Before we know it, we’re not really here anymore. We’re in a future conversation, a past mistake, or a made-up worst-case scenario that feels very real in the body.
Nature has a way of gently interrupting that.
When you step outside and notice the sky, the trees, the temperature, or the sounds around you, your attention has somewhere else to land. Not in a forced, “just be mindful” kind of way, but in a more organic way. The natural world gives your brain something to orient toward that isn’t a problem to solve.
Research has linked time in nature and access to green space with improved mood, lower stress, better attention, and overall mental well-being. The American Psychological Association has also highlighted that exposure to nature is associated with benefits like improved attention, lower stress, and better mood. A 2021 review on nature exposure and health noted connections between green space and improved mental well-being, overall health, and psychological restoration.
Again, this doesn’t mean nature replaces therapy, medication, community, rest, boundaries, or meaningful support. But it does mean that nature can be one accessible way to support the nervous system, especially when we’re feeling overstimulated, disconnected, or emotionally flooded.
Nature Helps Us Come Back to the Body
A lot of anxiety lives in the mind, but it also lives in the body. Tight chest. Shallow breathing. Tense jaw. Restless energy. Stomach knots. That wired-but-tired feeling where you’re exhausted but somehow still buzzing.
Being outside can help us reconnect with the body in a way that feels less clinical and less effortful. You don’t necessarily have to sit perfectly still, close your eyes, and meditate. You can walk. Garden. Sit on your porch. Drink coffee outside. Look at clouds. Put your bare feet on the grass if that feels good and not like a sensory nightmare.
The point isn’t to perform calm. The point is to give your body cues of safety, spaciousness, and connection.
Sometimes the nervous system needs less thinking and more sensing. What do you see? What do you hear? What do you smell? What do your feet feel underneath you? Is the air warm, cool, humid, crisp? Can you let your eyes soften and look farther into the distance instead of focusing on a screen twelve inches from your face?
These tiny shifts can matter. They can help your body understand, “I’m here. I’m in this moment. I don’t have to solve everything right now.”
The Mental Health Benefits of Green Space Aren’t Just About Exercise
When people talk about getting outside, it can quickly turn into advice about movement: go for a walk, take a hike, exercise more, get your steps in. And movement absolutely can support mental health. But nature’s benefits aren’t only about exercise.
Sometimes sitting under a tree counts. Sometimes looking out the window at something green counts. Sometimes tending to a plant counts. Sometimes standing outside for three minutes between clients, meetings, errands, or parenting demands counts.
A 2023 meta-analysis found that higher green space exposure may be helpful in preventing depression and anxiety, and other reviews have connected green and blue spaces with psychological restoration, life satisfaction, and stress reduction. Even when access is limited, the invitation is not necessarily to overhaul your life. It might simply be to notice where nature already exists around you and let yourself take it in.
This feels important because wellness culture can make everything sound like another task. Another morning routine. Another habit to optimize. Another way to fail at being your best self.
That’s not what I mean here.
I’m talking about something gentler. Less “become a person who hikes at sunrise and cold plunges before journaling” and more “can you look at the sky for a minute before opening your email?”
Nature Reminds Us We’re Allowed to Have Rhythms
One of the things I love about nature is that it doesn’t operate with the same urgency many of us carry.
Trees don’t bloom all year. The moon changes shape. The ocean has tides. Animals rest. Seasons shift. Growth is not constant, linear, or endlessly productive.
For those of us who struggle with anxiety, perfectionism, people-pleasing, or the pressure to always be “on,” nature can offer a different kind of mirror. It reminds us that life moves in cycles. There are times for expansion and times for quiet. Times for clarity and times for uncertainty. Times for movement and times for stillness.
This can be especially supportive if you’ve learned to measure your worth by how much you accomplish, how useful you are, how available you are to others, or how well you hold everything together. Nature doesn’t ask you to earn your place. You don’t have to be impressive to sit in the sun. You don’t have to be productive to watch the rain.
You just get to be there.
“Touch Grass” as a Gentle Intervention, Not a Dismissal
Of course, “touch grass” can feel dismissive if someone uses it to minimize your feelings. If you’re really struggling and someone says, “Just go outside,” that can feel like they’re missing the depth of what you’re carrying.
So I’m not using “touch grass” in the dismissive way. I’m using it more like a gentle invitation:
Touch grass when your brain has been living in worst-case scenarios.
Touch grass when you’ve refreshed your email too many times.
Touch grass when you’re deep in comparison and everyone on the internet seems happier, prettier, more successful, more healed, more partnered, more rested, or more “together” than you.
Touch grass when your body feels like it’s bracing for something, but you’re not even sure what.
Touch grass when you need to remember you’re not just a brain with responsibilities. You’re a body. A person. A living being in a living world.
Small Ways to Bring More Nature Into Your Mental Health Care
You don’t need a perfect nature routine. You don’t need a national park. You don’t need hiking boots. You don’t need to suddenly become outdoorsy if you’re not.
You might try stepping outside in the morning before checking your phone. You might take a short walk without listening to anything. You might sit near a window while drinking your coffee or tea. You might buy a plant and actually notice it, not just keep it alive in the background. You might eat lunch outside once a week. You might pause to look at the sunset instead of rushing into the next thing.
You might also bring nature into emotional regulation practices. For example, when you’re anxious, you could step outside and name five things you see, four things you hear, three things you feel, two things you smell, and one thing you appreciate. Not because gratitude fixes everything, but because orienting to the present can help your body come out of threat mode.
And if getting outside isn’t accessible because of weather, location, disability, safety, time, or energy, you can still work with natural cues in smaller ways. Open a window. Look at photos of places that feel calming. Listen to rain sounds. Sit near sunlight. Watch birds from inside. Research is even beginning to explore the mental health benefits of virtual nature exposure when direct access isn’t available.
The goal isn’t perfection. It’s reconnection.
Nature Doesn’t Fix Everything, But It Can Help You Return to Yourself
Mental health is layered. Sometimes we need therapy. Sometimes we need medication. Sometimes we need rest, boundaries, grief work, hard conversations, community, financial support, medical care, or a major life change. A walk outside won’t fix everything that hurts.
But sometimes, nature can help us soften enough to hear ourselves again.
It can give the nervous system a break from constant input. It can remind us that the world is bigger than the thought spiral we’re caught in. It can help us come back into our senses, our breath, our bodies, and the present moment.
So yes, in the gentlest possible way, maybe sometimes the internet is right. Maybe you do need to touch grass. Not because your feelings are silly. Not because you’re overreacting. Not because nature is a magic cure. But because you’re human. And humans need contact with the living world.
Sometimes healing begins with something as simple as stepping outside and letting your body remember: I’m here. I’m allowed to slow down. I don’t have to figure it all out this second.
If this topic speaks to you and you’d like a supportive space to explore it more deeply, I offer virtual therapy for adults and consultation for fellow therapists. You can learn more about my services here.