Walk with SMB: The Three Environments We Live In

What environments shape your day? In this walk episode of Rooted: A Podcast About Nature & Wellbeing, Susan explores a simple but powerful idea: most of us move through three environments every day — the natural environment, the built environment, and the artificial environment. Nature surrounds us with living systems that regulate and restore. Built environments provide the structures that organize our lives. Artificial environments — screens, platforms, and digital tools — increasingly hold our attention. Each environment serves a role. But they operate in very different rhythms. Through reflection and the story of the alder tree, a species known for quietly strengthening the ecosystems around it, Susan considers how these environments influence our attention, energy, and sense of grounding. Rather than offering prescriptions, this episode begins with a simple practice: noticing the environments we move through and what we experience in each one. Sometimes the first step toward feeling more rooted is simply paying attention. 🌿 Reflection for listeners: Over the next few days, notice the environments you move through. When are you in the natural environment? The built environment? The artificial environment? What shifts in how you feel as you move between them?