Kathy Willis interview: How the healing powers of botany can reduce anxiety and boost health

We all know that being in nature is good for our health and mental well-being. But how does it work its magic? For example, what explains the finding that, following gall bladder surgery, people who could see a verdant scene from their hospital window recovered three times faster and needed far less pain medication than those who only looked out over a brick wall?

It is this puzzle that led botanist Kathy Willis on a recent mission. The former director of science at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in London and current professor of biodiversity at St Edmund Hall, University of Oxford, says that what she discovered has changed her life. In her new book, Good Nature, she explores the growing body of research revealing what happens in our brains and bodies when we interact with nature. We tend to see ourselves as a visual species, but it turns out that the benefits we get via other senses – smell, sound, touch and a mysterious “hidden sense” – are just as impressive, sometimes more so. There is still lots more to discover, but, as she tells New Scientist, we have already learned plenty that can improve our lives.

Kate Douglas: What happens when we look at nature?

Kathy Willis: It induces different pathways in our bodies. Our heart rate and blood pressure fall, stress hormones like adrenalin decrease and our brainwave activity is heightened in areas showing we are calmer and more clear-minded.

Are there certain “natural” colours we should seek out?

When you look at these physiological markers of calmness, it’s green-and-white leaves, and yellow or white flowers…