Nature, and being in nature, is soothing and palliative because your sophistication/environment ratio goes to infinity.
At any point, you can be in an environment (city, highway, coffee shop) and you have a certain level of sophistication, and no matter how sophisticated you are, there's a ratio to the environment you are in. Quiet main street in your home town ? Very high ratio. Formal wedding in a foreign country surrounded by strangers ? Low ratio. Stress. Uncertainty.
But in nature, no matter how unsophisticated you are, the "nature" you are in is (essentially) zero complexity (at least in terms of technology and cultural sophistication). So the ratio goes to infinity. No matter what.
Nature, and being in nature, is soothing and palliative because your sophistication/environment ratio goes to infinity.
At any point, you can be in an environment (city, highway, coffee shop) and you have a certain level of sophistication, and no matter how sophisticated you are, there's a ratio to the environment you are in. Quiet main street in your home town ? Very high ratio. Formal wedding in a foreign country surrounded by strangers ? Low ratio. Stress. Uncertainty.
But in nature, no matter how unsophisticated you are, the "nature" you are in is (essentially) zero complexity (at least in terms of technology and cultural sophistication). So the ratio goes to infinity. No matter what.
That's probably nice for a brain...