Where Wellness Grows

Sep 9, 2025

Explore how community design influences wellness, not just fitness trends. Discover the power of local food systems in fostering health and connection, with insights on sustainable practices. Learn about the importance of organic gardening and the relationships it nurtures with the environment. Hear thought leaders discuss how sacred geometry ties into health and community responsibility. This vibrant conversation reimagines spaces for better health and happiness, emphasizing that thriving is a collective endeavor.

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INSIGHT

Place Shapes Wellbeing

Where and how we live fundamentally shapes our stress, connection, and opportunity for wellbeing.
Reinvesting in communities and redesigning neighborhoods can create healthier lives for future generations.

ANECDOTE

Run That Sparked A New Community

Steve describes a run where bulldozers on his family farm prompted him to seek a different way to build community.
That question led him to found Serenbe and pursue biophilic, people-centered design.

INSIGHT

Wellness Is Environmental, Not Just Personal

Wellness is not primarily products or willpower but shaped by environment, community, and nature.
The wellness industry often misleads us into buying solutions when systemic design matters more.

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Most of us know that a sedentary, stress-filled lifestyle can take a heavy toll on our wellbeing. Yet when communities are designed for cars instead of people, when fast food is easier to find than fresh produce, and when green space feels totally out of reach, it becomes increasingly apparent that healthy choices are about so much more than willpower.

In this episode of Start In Your Own Backyard, Steve Nygren explores why true wellness has little to do with fitness trackers, supplements, or trendy diets and everything to do with the environments we live in. From walkable streets and nourishing food to sacred geometry and a deeper connection with nature, the design of our communities profoundly shapes our health and happiness.

You’ll hear from thought leaders like Dr. Phill Tabb on building in harmony with nature, Maria Rodale on the importance of cooking and eating real food, and Professor Alfred Vick on the power of edible landscapes. Along the way, we look at how Serenbe’s organic farm, trail system, and intentional design offer a model where wellness is woven into daily life.

If you’ve ever wondered why the wellness industry leaves us chasing solutions that rarely last, or how our communities themselves can be reimagined to support better health, this episode offers a new perspective on what it means to truly thrive.

Show Notes

Pre-Order Start In Your Own Backyard: Transforming Where You Live with Radical Common Sense by Steve Nygren
Start In Your Own Backyard Substack
Learn more about Serenbe
Serenbe Stories Podcast
Serenbe Urbanism: A biophilic theory and practice of sustainable placemaking by Phillip James Tabb
About Keith Critchlow
Love, Nature, Magic: Shamanic Journeys into the Heart of My Garden by Maria Rodale
Aflie Vick Eats Plants (And Talks Environmental Ethics) on the Serenbe Stories Podcast

Keywords: wellness, community design, Serenbe, biophilic design, walkability, local food, edible landscapes, sacred geometry, health and environment, sustainable living, intentional community, nature connection, regenerative design, public health, placemaking, real food, holistic wellbeing, everyday wellness, trails and green space, healthy communities, Phillip Tabb, Maria Rodale, Alfie Vick, Steve Nygren

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