An Hour in Nature
Autumn Hruby is a founder, visionary and creative force. In 2015 she founded her company Hesperios, which specializes in contemporary lighting, knitwear, textiles and printed matter. Autumn approaches what she holds dear with a deep dedication and artistic spirit. We are thrilled to feature our friend and innovator for our Koala Eco Hour in Nature.
Is there a sound in nature that you believe everyone should hear at least once in their lifetime?
A group of friends skipping stones across a frozen lake at the same time.
What are your fondest memories of spending time in nature?
My earliest negotiation with my father was his promise that if I got straight A’s, we’d go camping, build forts, and make campfires in the Sierras. We always went. Best win-win. My mom has always wanted to hike. Ever since I can remember, she’d say, “Let’s go on a walk,” and her walks meant you came back when the sun was going down. When I’m in Ojai, I walk five miles a day with my dogs on the East End Preserve trail, and it’s wonderful.
What’s your favourite thing to do in nature?
Cycling across regions. Walking trails. Kayaking. Being on a beach. Reading or writing in the sun near wildflowers. Walking the length of a river. Sitting in silence.
How do you bring nature into your home?
Most of what I make is from wool, paper, and stone. Materials that age and breathe. I replaced everything in my house and studio with Koala Eco. I’ve driven my trees across the country in a semi-truck. I go to great lengths to bring nature with me—and to protect it wherever I land. Living things are doing the quiet work of holding us together.
In what ways can ecotherapy practices be integrated into mainstream mental health treatments? What benefits could this bring?
I read two books last year by Benjamín Labatut, The Maniac and When We Cease to Understand the World. My mind often traces back to the way he described “climatic therapy” at the sanatorium run by Dr. Otto Herwig in the 1920s. The hospital architecture in Arosa, high in the Swiss Alps, was a place where altitude, oxygen, light, and silence were part of the treatment—Erwin Schrödinger convalescing from tuberculosis, patients recovering not through intervention alone, but through exposure to fresh air and high altitude, rest and silence, nutrition, routine, and sunlit rooms.
We take for granted these complex sources of energy that are profoundly effective. Integrating ecotherapy means designing mental health care—its spaces, rhythms, and practices—around elemental forces rather than treating nature as an adjunct. The benefit is not novelty, but alignment: systems of care that work with the body and mind instead of against them.
For me, the question is how nature becomes not a supplement, but a core condition of treatment.
