The Benefits of Eco Therapy for Your Health

The main benefits of eco therapy, which just means planned time in nature, are lower stress and a possible boost to your immune system. Small forest-bathing studies have linked time among trees to lower levels of a stress hormone and more activity in immune cells, according to a 2017 review. It doesn’t replace care from a mental health professional, but it is a cheap, easy thing to add alongside it.

Updated November 8, 2026.

I spend a lot of time outdoors out of habit, not because it’s part of a wellness routine. Anyone who does knows that a walk through trees feels nothing like a walk through a parking lot, even if they can’t say why. The research below is an attempt to measure that difference. Most of us have also eaten a sad lunch at a desk and then wondered why the afternoon dragged, which is the same thing seen from the other side.

Where the term comes from

Shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing, was popularized in Japan in 1982 by Tomohide Akiyama, a former head of the Japanese Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries. He wanted to get more people into the country’s forests, per Wikipedia. Eco therapy is the bigger umbrella. It covers any planned time outdoors, from forest walks to community gardening, that is meant to help your mood or your body. You may also see it called nature therapy, green care, green exercise or horticulture therapy.

Benefits of eco therapy: what the studies found

A 2017 review in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health pulled together the research on forest bathing. It points to work in Japan by Qing Li’s team. In those studies, forest trips raised the activity of natural killer cells, which are immune cells that go after cells infected by a virus, compared with trips to the city. A study in South Korea of people with stage 1 hypertension (the earliest stage of high blood pressure) found a significant drop in salivary cortisol, a stress hormone. In a study of 20 people with COPD, a long-term lung disease, signs of inflammation and stress hormones fell after time in the forest.

The same review is honest about its limits. Most of the studies had fewer than 20 people, and many of them were healthy young men at universities. The authors also say there isn’t much research in Western populations and ask for longer studies there.

Types of eco therapy

A stroll on the beach or a hike in the woods can count as eco therapy. Some forms are more formal and run by a trained professional. Here are the main kinds.

Community gardening and farming

Gardening with neighbors on shared land mixes steady, easy movement with time around other people. It also teaches practical skills, like looking after soil and growing vegetables or herbs, that make being outdoors feel less strange. Some programs go a bit further and add basic farming, like tending crop beds or small livestock. Bending, lifting and walking between beds adds up to more activity than it looks like. Our post on gardening for stress relief goes deeper if this one sounds like you.

Wilderness and adventure therapy

Adventure or wilderness therapy pairs outdoor challenges, like hiking and camping, with guided emotional support. It is often used with teenagers and young adults who do better with hands-on structure than with sitting and talking. The activities can include group problem-solving tasks along with the hikes. Anyone who has gone a whole weekend without their phone knows how long the hours suddenly feel, and that gives room to think. The physical work of setting up camp or finishing a hike burns off tension that talking alone doesn’t touch.

Park prescriptions

Some health care providers now write nature into routine care, the way they might suggest exercise. Park Rx America, a small nonprofit, gives doctors, nurses, therapists, counselors and dietitians tools to prescribe park time, and patients can ask for a nature prescription themselves. The prescription itself is simple: walk a trail, sit near water, watch birds. It needs no equipment and no skill, and it fits into most schedules. That makes it one of the easier eco therapy habits to keep up.

Forest bathing, animal therapy and outdoor yoga

Forest bathing is less about how far you go and more about slowing down enough to notice what’s around you. You pay attention to the smell of the trees, the sound of the leaves and the feel of the air on your skin. That is the point of the practice, as opposed to a hike with a destination at the end. Animal therapy, often with horses or dogs, adds a calm presence that rewards patience and focus. Grooming or walking an animal makes you slow down too, and if you’ve ever walked a dog around the block, you know it’s hard to hurry when they want to sniff every tree. Outdoor meditation and yoga take the same breathing and stillness outside. Some programs also ask people to give back to the places they use, like picking up litter or planting trees. One popular version is plogging, which means picking up litter while you jog.

How to start without overhauling your routine

You don’t need a wilderness trip to get some version of this. A short walk on a nearby trail, reading or journaling outside instead of at a desk, or eating lunch outdoors instead of in front of a screen are all small versions of the same idea that you can repeat any day. If you usually work out indoors, you could ride a bike or run on a park path instead. A picnic counts too. Most of us have said we’d get outside more once things calm down, and the calm part rarely shows up, so starting small beats waiting for a free weekend. If immune support is your main goal, our 5 ways to boost your immunity covers the rest of that picture.

This article is for general information only and is not medical advice. Talk to a licensed clinician about your own situation.

Benefits of eco therapy: FAQ

How much time in nature do you need to see a benefit?

Nobody has pinned down a dose. Qing Li’s forest trials, as summarized on Wikipedia, used a few hours of forest walking a day over several days, and the rise in natural killer cells lasted 7 to 30 days afterward. Shorter, everyday outdoor time hasn’t been studied the same way, so treat any regular habit as a reasonable place to start.

Is eco therapy backed by real research, or is it just a trend?

The immune and stress-hormone studies are real and published, mostly from Japan and South Korea. A 2017 review notes that most had fewer than 20 people, many of them healthy young men, and that Western research is thin. Keep your hopes modest and treat the findings as promising.

Can eco therapy replace therapy or medication?

No. Eco therapy is used alongside standard mental health care, not in place of it. If you are managing a diagnosed condition, treat outdoor time as an extra on top of the treatment plan you already have, and talk to your clinician before changing anything about that plan.

What’s the easiest form of eco therapy to start with no planning?

A park prescription is the easiest: a plain walk in a nearby park a few times a week. It needs no equipment, no group and no travel. Groups like Park Rx America also let you ask your own doctor or therapist to write one, which can help it stick.