Why Nature Feels So Healing: A Thought on Anxiety, HSPs & the Nervous System
Perhaps I'm writing this as much for myself as anyone else.
I just came out of the surf before sitting down to write this, and I noticed something I've noticed a hundred times before. There was this heaviness I walked into the ocean with, and when I got out, it had lifted. I don't know exactly how to explain it without sounding a little woo-woo, but it genuinely feels like the ocean recalibrates something in me. The forest does the same.
Over the years, between struggling with anxiety since I was a kid and now owning a nature spa, I've started noticing patterns. The people I resonate with most—massage therapists, artists, musicians, yoga teachers, herbalists, therapists, and many of our guests—often seem to be deeply sensitive people. Of course, not everyone in these professions struggles with anxiety, but enough do that I've found myself wondering if there's a connection.
Being a highly sensitive person isn't just about feeling emotions more deeply. I think it's also about taking in more of your environment. More noise. More conversations. More tension in other people. More stimulation.
If that's true, then I don't think we can ignore the world we've built around ourselves. We live surrounded by phones, traffic, constant notifications, endless information, and a level of stimulation that I don't think our grandparents—let alone our ancestors—ever experienced. Sometimes I wonder if anxiety isn't always because something is wrong with us. Maybe, at least in part, it's because we're trying to function in an environment our nervous systems were never designed for.
Maybe that's why I keep coming back to nature.
One of my favourite parts about creating Stillwater has been reading the research and realizing that it keeps confirming things I already felt in my gut. Forest bathing has been shown to lower stress and improve wellbeing. Researchers have found that even listening to birdsong can help encourage a parasympathetic, or "rest and digest," response. Spending time in green spaces has been associated with improvements in mood and mental health.
I find that fascinating because I didn't build a nature spa after reading the literature. I built it because something in me already knew that nature was part of the treatment. The research simply gave language to something I'd been feeling for years.
When people ask what makes Stillwater different, I don't think it's just the massage. It's that I don't see nature as the backdrop to the experience. I think nature is part of the treatment itself. The walk through the forest. The smell of cedar after it rains. The birds. The sound of the wind moving through the trees. The ocean just beyond the trail. I think all of it matters.
I don't think nature cures anxiety. I wish it were that simple. But I do think it's something many of us are profoundly missing. For me, the ocean, the forest, and quiet places don't just feel relaxing—they feel necessary.
Maybe that's especially true for highly sensitive peoples, or maybe our nervous systems are simply remembering the environment they evolved in.
(The term "highly sensitive person" (HSP) describes people who tend to process sensory information more deeply and are often more aware of subtle changes in their environment.)
