What Nature Can Teach Us About Healing - with Dr. Beronda Montgomery
About this episode
Jonathan Van Ness and Dr. Beronda Montgomery discuss the healing power of nature and the contributions of African Americans in botany.
Happy Earth Day! This week on Getting Better, Jonathan sits down with plant biologist, author, and educator Dr. Beronda Montgomery for a grounding conversation about nature’s healing power and America’s Black botanical legacy. Together, they explore why reconnecting with green spaces can be so transformative for our mental, emotional, and physical well-being, and how practices like urban gardening and container planting can help us build a more meaningful relationship with the natural world—no sprawling backyard required. Jonathan and Dr. Montgomery also dig into the deeper wisdom held in landscapes, plants, and history itself—examining interdependence, the ways trees and land can testify to the past, and the often-overlooked contributions of African Americans in botany and agriculture, alongside the foundational knowledge of Indigenous communities. They touch on the significance of willow trees, the meaning of Sankofa, and what it means to look back in order to carry wisdom forward in a powerful episode about healing, remembrance, purpose, and the responsibility of growing a better future together. Dr. Montgomery’s new book When Trees Testify: Science, Wisdom, History, and…
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