The Wild Minds Podcast

In this conversation, GP Dr Tim Rigg explores how nature, community and healthcare might come together to create a more humane, preventative and scalable model of wellbeing.Tim speaks from his experience as a GP, bringing together clinical practice, social prescribing, nature connection and a wider understanding of what helps people become wellHe explains that around 90–95% of healthcare contact happens in primary care, showing just how important GPs are in shaping the first conversation about health, care and preventionHe suggests that a very large proportion of people coming to GPs are living with chronic disease, stress, anxiety, depression, isolation or other conditions shaped by the environments and systems they live withinThe conversation explores the strengths of Western medicine, especially in acute illness, trauma and emergency care, while also asking whether it is less equipped to address root causes, prevention and the conditions of a healthy lifeTim shares how the pioneering social prescribing work in Frome helped reveal the importance of community, belonging and purpose in supporting people’s healthOne striking statistic from Frome was a reported 40% relative reduction in hospital admissions compared with a neighbouring area, suggesting that community-based approaches may have a significant role to play in reducing pressure on the systemThe episode looks at green prescribing not as simply telling people to “go for a walk”, but as a structured, supported and clinically credible pathway from the GP consultation room into nature-based wellbeing programmesA key part of the emerging model is making it easy and safe for GPs to signpost patients, while trained nature-based practitioners manage screening, safeguarding, delivery and ongoing supportThe conversation explores why nature-based work may help through regulation of the nervous system, sensory connection, beauty, awe, movement, stillness, meaning, community and relationship with the more-than-human worldTim’s work is also about collaboration, bringing together GPs, Primary Care Networks, nature-based practitioners, social prescribing link workers, universities, funders and local green providersAt the heart of the episode is a hopeful question about scale - how do we move from inspiring local projects to a joined-up, evidence-informed, nationally accessible pathway that supports people, practitioners, communities and the NHS?Shownotes:https://theoutdoorteacher.com/podcasts/episode-95-what-if-your-gp-could-prescribe-nature/Music by Geoff Robb: www.geoffrobb.com Please Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple PodcastsIf you have enjoyed today's episode, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This really helps me to spread the word to more people like you, and to empower more people to take their practice outdoors!Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then let me know what you loved most about the episode!Also, if you haven’t done so already, "follow" the podcast, as if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out.Mentioned in this episode:The Green Health Virtual Gathering 2026Embedding Nature in Practice - From Vision to Delivery This gathering brings together psychiatrists, psychologists, psychotherapists, GPs, allied health professionals and NHS leaders exploring how nature-informed approaches can be implemented safely and credibly within real-world healthcare settings. https://circleofliferediscovery.com/gathering

This week, I am in conversation with Linda Buzzell who is a psychotherapist, ecotherapist, author, and pioneer in the field of ecopsychology, working at the intersection of psychology, ecology, and culture since the late 1990s. Linda co-edited 'Ecotherapy: Healing with Nature in Mind' with Craig Chalquist and has written widely on the ecological crisis as both a psychological and spiritual challenge.In this episode, we explore what ecotherapy truly means - not as a treatment or technique, but as a way of healing our relationship with the living Earth. We talk about nature as therapist, community as medicine, and what it means to move from a culture of domination to one of partnership and reciprocity.Topics include:Ecotherapy as healing our relationship with our home world.Level one vs level two ecotherapy from personal benefit to reciprocal, culture-shifting practice.Nature as the ultimate therapist practitioner as catalyst, guide, witness.Eco-psychotherapy within clinical practice and the wider, community-facing field of ecotherapy.Zookosis in animals as a mirror for human nature-deficit and why habitats matter for sanity.Evidence beyond exercise research showing green and blue contact improves mood and health.Caution on “nature prescriptions” moving beyond individual fixes to place, community, and systems.Rooting in place bioregionalism, terra psychology, and rebuilding bonds with land.Decolonising therapy learning from Indigenous wisdom without appropriation and with repair.From dominator culture to partnership Riane Eisler’s lens and McGilchrist’s hemispheres.Eco-spirituality reclaiming the sacred through seasons, ceremony, bodies, and relational awe.The path of hope small groups, community ecotherapy, and standing together for the living world.Shownotes: https://theoutdoorteacher.com/podcasts/episode-77-the-deeper-work-of-ecotherapy-with-linda-buzzell/Music by Geoff Robb: www.geoffrobb.com Please Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple PodcastsIf you have enjoyed today's episode, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This really helps me to spread the word to more people like you, and to empower more people to take their practice outdoors!Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then let me know what you loved most about the episode!Also, if you haven’t done so already, "follow" the podcast, as if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Mentioned in this episode:The Green Health Virtual Gathering 2026Embedding Nature in Practice - From Vision to Delivery This gathering brings together psychiatrists, psychologists, psychotherapists, GPs, allied health professionals and NHS leaders exploring how nature-informed approaches can be implemented safely and credibly within real-world healthcare settings. https://circleofliferediscovery.com/gathering

In this episode, I’m speaking with Ash Smith, the founder of Windrush Against Sewage Pollution. A retired Detective Superintendent, former angler and scuba diver, Ash has spent the last eight years investigating the truth about what’s happening in our rivers. His love for the natural world, combined with a deep sense of justice, led him to gather a team of committed people from different disciplines to form one of the most effective groups holding water companies and regulators to account.In our conversation, Ash shares what’s really going on with our rivers, the scale of sewage pollution, and the failures of government and regulatory bodies to protect our waterways. This is a passionate, evidence-based discussion, grounded in data that you can find on the WASP website. The Windrush itself flows for 65 kilometers from Gloucestershire into the Thames - but this story reaches far beyond one river. It speaks to the health of our ecosystems, and to our own health as well.Topics include:A vivid picture of what a living, healthy river once was — and how the “new normal” hides a quiet collapse.How WASP (Windrush Against Sewage Pollution) turns citizen science and data analysis into undeniable proof of illegal pollution.The shocking reality of regulators who no longer investigate — and water companies marking their own homework.What happens when public services are sold off and profit replaces purpose.The money trail — how customers fund dividends while private shareholders drain the system.Why some water companies are now in “special measures” and what real accountability could look likeAsh’s journey from detective superintendent to river defender — following the evidence wherever it leads.The quiet power of ordinary people who refuse to look away.How anger can become fuel for change rather than despair.Practical ways to take action — join with others, use local data, and make enough noise to tip the balanceShownotes: https://theoutdoorteacher.com/podcasts/episode-75-the-river-of-truth-with-ash-smith/ Music by Geoff Robb: www.geoffrobb.com Please Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple PodcastsIf you have enjoyed today's episode, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This really helps me to spread the word to more people like you, and to empower more people to take their practice outdoors!Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then let me know what you loved most about the episode!Also, if you haven’t done so already, "follow" the podcast, as if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Mentioned in this episode:The Green Health Virtual Gathering 2026Embedding Nature in Practice - From Vision to Delivery This gathering brings together psychiatrists, psychologists, psychotherapists, GPs, allied health professionals and NHS leaders exploring how nature-informed approaches can be implemented safely and credibly within real-world healthcare settings. https://circleofliferediscovery.com/gathering

My guest today is Suzanne Welch, Education Partnership Manager at the RSPB, the UK’s largest nature conservation charity with over a million members, and in this episode she explores what it would mean to make nature a right in education and why it’s time to rethink the purpose.Suzanne has spent decades in outdoor learning - from taking inner-city children to the Thames foreshore, where subjects like science, history and geography came alive, to now convening national partnerships and influencing education policy. Her work is driven by a vision that every child should have access to high-quality learning in, with and for nature.In this episode Suzanne Welch...Challenges the outdated knowledge-based model and invites a shift toward enquiry and relational learning. Reflects on her early work taking inner-city children to the River Thames and witnessing their transformation outdoors. Emphasises joy, curiosity and presence as the foundations of meaningful learning.Highlights how outdoor experiences naturally connect subjects like science, history, art and geography.Argues that learning shouldn’t be siloed because our minds don’t operate in compartments.Points to the early years sector as an example of where outdoor and child-led learning already works well.Questions about why these principles fade as children move through the education system.Explains how assessment and measurement culture have narrowed what counts as learning.Calls for systemic rather than incremental change and a national conversation about the true purpose of education.Advocates for a statutory right for every child to learn in with and for nature.Notes that equitable access currently depends on postcode school leadership and teacher enthusiasm.Ends with a simple invitation start with one outdoor lesson listen to young people and let hope lead change.Shownotes: https://theoutdoorteacher.com/podcasts/making-nature-a-right-in-education-suzanne-welch/Music by Geoff Robb: www.geoffrobb.com Please Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple PodcastsIf you have enjoyed today's episode, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This really helps me to spread the word to more people like you, and to empower more people to take their practice outdoors!Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then let me know what you loved most about the episode!Also, if you haven’t done so already, "follow" the podcast, as if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Mentioned in this episode:The Green Health Virtual Gathering 2026Embedding Nature in Practice - From Vision to Delivery This gathering brings together psychiatrists, psychologists, psychotherapists, GPs, allied health professionals and NHS leaders exploring how nature-informed approaches can be implemented safely and credibly within real-world healthcare settings. https://circleofliferediscovery.com/gathering

In this episode of the Wild Minds Podcast, I’m in conversation with Mac Macartney, a storyteller, leader, and founder of Embercombe, exploring what it means to live and lead in service to life.In this far-reaching conversation, we explore The Children’s Fire — an ancient principle that no law, decision, or action should harm the young of any species, and how it might transform leadership, education, and our relationship with the natural world.We talk about education rooted in the simple yet radical commitment that no child should leave school without feeling good about who they are, and the power of play as an antidote to a culture that leaves so many children, and adults, masking their pain and feeling worthless beneath the surface.Topics include:Exploring The Children’s Fire — the ancient principle that no decision should harm the young of any species.Reimagining education so no child leaves school without feeling good about themselves.Unpacking the hubris of superiority — how our systems consistently enforce it.The power of play and nature connection as antidotes to hopelessness and masking how we truly feel.Insights from Mac’s leadership company on redefining the purpose of business — beyond profit and growth — and valuing well-rounded human beings.Reflections on indigenous wisdom, community ownership, and leadership rooted in service rather than self-interest.A call to rethink wealth, power, and responsibility so that resources and decisions serve the many, not the few.An invitation to imagine a more joyful, courageous, and humane society.Shownotes:https://theoutdoorteacher.com/podcasts/episode-71-mac-macartney-interviewMusic by Geoff Robb: www.geoffrobb.com Please Rate, Review, & Follow on Apple PodcastsIf you have enjoyed today's episode, please consider rating and reviewing my show! This really helps me to spread the word to more people like you, and to empower more people to take their practice outdoors!Click here, scroll to the bottom, tap to rate with five stars, and select “Write a Review.” Then let me know what you loved most about the episode!Also, if you haven’t done so already, "follow" the podcast, as if you’re not following, there’s a good chance you’ll miss out. Mentioned in this episode:The Green Health Virtual Gathering 2026Embedding Nature in Practice - From Vision to Delivery This gathering brings together psychiatrists, psychologists, psychotherapists, GPs, allied health professionals and NHS leaders exploring how nature-informed approaches can be implemented safely and credibly within real-world healthcare settings. https://circleofliferediscovery.com/gathering