The potential synergistic effects between psychedelic administration and nature contact for the improvement of mental health

Nature relatedness — a stable, trait-like sense of oneness with the natural world — and direct contact with nature have each been associated with broad benefits for mental health, including reductions in rumination, negative affect and stress, and increases in mindfulness-related capacities, connectedness and well‑being. Earlier research suggests that these psychological processes overlap with those reported after administration of classical serotonergic psychedelics (notably substances acting at the 5-HT2A receptor such as psilocybin), which have been linked to sustained increases in nature relatedness, openness, mystical or transcendent experiences, and improvements in clinical and non-clinical measures of psychological health. Gandy and colleagues set out to review and synthesise evidence for potential synergistic effects between therapeutic psychedelic use and nature contact. The paper argues that incorporating nature-based settings and practices—particularly during preparation and integration phases of psychedelic therapy—could amplify shared therapeutic mechanisms, increase the likelihood that participants adopt nature-based habits, and thereby provide an additional pathway by which psychedelics contribute to improved mental health. The authors also consider practical and safety constraints and propose avenues for future research and clinical models focused on enhancing nature relatedness.

The review brings together evidence across several topical domains to support the proposition that psychedelics and nature contact operate through overlapping mechanisms relevant to mental health. Nature contact and nature relatedness: Contact with natural environments is associated with reductions in anxiety, depression, stress and rumination, and with improvements in mood, attention restoration and vitality. Even brief exposure (for example, 5–10 minutes) to natural settings can improve psychological well‑being. Separately, nature relatedness (one's enduring identification with nature) correlates with eudaimonic well‑being, life meaning, positive affect, resilience and pro‑environmental attitudes. The authors note that nature relatedness appears relatively stable and resistant to change, making interventions that produce sustained increases valuable. Neurobiological overlap: Evidence cited suggests parallel effects of nature contact and psychedelics on large‑scale brain organisation. Walking in forested environments increases functional connectivity relative to urban walking, while psychedelics acutely reduce modularity and enhance global connectivity, with some effects persisting for weeks. Both interventions are reported to reduce rumination and dampen activity in nodes of the default mode network (DMN); specifically, nature exposure appears to reduce subgenual prefrontal cortex (sgPFC) activity, while intravenous psilocybin acutely decreases blood flow and metabolism in the sgPFC and posterior cingulate cortex (PCC). Psychological mechanisms: The authors review several psychological constructs shared by psychedelics and nature contact. Connectedness—an empathic, embodied closeness to self, others and the wider world—is increased by both, and ego‑dissolution or unitary experiences under psychedelics are strongly associated with subsequent increases in nature relatedness. Mystical‑type and transcendent experiences occur in natural settings and under psychedelics and predict improvements in psychological well‑being; mystical experiences in nature have been linked particularly to increased pro‑environmental behaviour. Psychedelics and nature both elicit awe, which correlates with greater life satisfaction, prosociality and reduced negative affect. Both reduce negative affect over the longer term, which is relevant for mood and substance‑related disorders. Mindfulness capacities are enhanced by psychedelics and by nature contact; these capacities mediate reductions in rumination and support recovery in depression, addiction and PTSD. Finally, psychedelics can increase personality traits such as openness and absorption and decrease neuroticism, traits that are associated with more positive responses to nature. Practical and therapeutic considerations: The review discusses how natural settings could benefit psychedelic therapy. Natural environments may be more psychologically soothing, reduce anticipatory anxiety (a predictor of challenging psychedelic experiences), and foster ‘soft fascination’ and present‑moment attention that supports therapeutic processing. The authors argue that nature elements can be incorporated even when sessions must occur indoors (plants, nature imagery, biophilic design, hybrid sheltered structures) and that the degree of nature immersion could be titrated to individual needs. Preparation and integration: Gandy and colleagues outline specific nature‑based practices for preparation and integration: horticultural rituals (weeding, planting) as metaphors for inner work; Shinrin‑Yoku (forest bathing) and awe walks to consolidate feelings of wonder and connectedness; outdoor ‘walking and talking’ therapy; barefoot grounding exercises; nature journaling; and the development of personalised nature plans to encourage sustained contact post‑session. The authors note practical safeguards (e.g. multiple facilitators outdoors) and the difficulty that severely depressed individuals may have accessing nature, arguing that integration work could help establish nature habits as a durable resource. Constraints and implementation issues: The paper highlights barriers to holding psychedelic sessions outdoors, including privacy, disturbances, weather and safety concerns, and emphasises legal and regulatory constraints around Schedule 1 substances. The authors also describe more contained solutions (biophilic indoor spaces and screens depicting nature) and mention initiatives planning to use sheltered nature‑based facilities.

The authors interpret the collected evidence to suggest a plausible synergistic relationship: nature contact could augment key therapeutic mechanisms engaged by psychedelics—reducing rumination and negative affect, increasing mindfulness, eliciting awe and mystical‑type experiences, and enhancing a general sense of connectedness—and thereby potentially increase the therapeutic yield of psychedelic therapy. They propose that maximising increases in nature relatedness might itself be an independent, complementary pathway to mental health improvement following psychedelic treatment. Relative to earlier work, the paper emphasises the convergence of neurobiological, psychological and behavioural findings linking both interventions to similar outcomes, and it extends the clinical discourse by proposing concrete ways to incorporate nature into preparation and integration phases, and in some cases into the psychedelic session proper if safety and privacy can be assured. The authors also suggest developing a distinct therapeutic model aimed specifically at treating 'nature disconnection', including a staged approach that moves from indoor, inward‑focused sessions toward outwardly focussed sessions in natural settings as participants gain experience. Limitations and uncertainties are acknowledged. The review notes practical, legal and safety barriers to outdoor psychedelic sessions and cautions that not all participants will find nature immersion appropriate; some may prefer indoor clinical environments for difficult therapeutic work. Measurement issues are raised: short scales may suffer ceiling effects and the authors recommend using validated instruments such as the NR-6 or the longer Disposition to Connect with Nature scale, alongside attitudinal and behavioural measures of environmental concern and lifestyle. The authors call for empirical studies that conduct fine‑grained assessments of settings, carefully evaluate potential risks, and test whether nature‑based elements concretely augment clinical outcomes and sustain behaviour change.

Gandy and colleagues conclude that nature‑based settings and practices have potential to enhance preparation and integration phases of psychedelic therapy and, under appropriate safety conditions, might be used for psychedelic sessions themselves. They argue that combining psychedelic administration with intentional efforts to increase nature relatedness could reduce anxiety and rumination, boost mindfulness, and foster awe and connectedness, thereby constituting an additional pathway to improved mental health. The authors recommend future empirical work to evaluate these propositions with sensitive measurement of setting characteristics, nature relatedness and environmental attitudes, and with careful attention to safety and implementation constraints.