The Connection Cure: Social Prescribing, Loneliness, and Why Belonging Is Medicine with Julia Hotz | 373

We’re calling BS on the idea that “health” is only pills, trackers, and willpower. In this conversation with journalist and TEDx speaker Julia Hotz, author of The Connection Cure, we dig into social prescribing—evidence-based referrals to movement, nature, art, service, and belonging—that can lower stress, boost mood, and make our lives feel human again. 

Edgy truth: we’ve replaced community with convenience. The remedy? Re-connect to what matters to you and let your nervous system exhale. Julia advises Social Prescribing USA and Walk with a Doc, collaborates with the Solutions Journalism Network, and teaches in medical schools—turning research on connection into care that actually changes lives.

We cover:

• What social prescribing actually is (no, your doctor isn’t forcing you to make friends) and why up to 80% of health is socially determined—think stress, access to green space, and community, not just clinic time.

• The five social-Rx categories: Movement, Nature, Art, Service, Belonging—and how most prescriptions blend at least two.

• A nature-based case study: how a 10-week outdoors program reduced insomnia, rumination, and stress—plus why time in nature can feel like it gives you time back.

• From “shoulds” to want to: questions that surface your personal Rx (awe/flow/glimmers, what lit you up as a kid, and where you’d spend two extra hours a week).

• Turning workouts into joy: travel-style discovery walks at home, walking groups, or pickup games that deliver cardio and connection.

• Blue-zones energy without the gym membership: everyday movement, long chats, shared meals, and community as longevity multipliers.

• The U.S. landscape: why social prescriptions can complement meds (not replace them), and how orgs like Social Prescribing USA and Walk with a Doc are moving this forward.

So whether your version of medicine looks like a morning hike, a pottery class, or finally joining that book club, the point isn’t perfection—it’s participation. Because when we choose connection over isolation and curiosity over compliance, we’re not just improving our health—we’re reclaiming our humanity.

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Connect with Julia:

Website: https://www.hotzthoughts.com/ 

Social Prescribing: https://www.socialprescribing.co/ 

Book:https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Connection-Cure/Julia-Hotz/9781668030349?utm_source=chatgpt.com 

Related Podcast Episodes:

• Loneliness And The Value Of Connection with Kasley Killam | 218 

• The Power of Conscious Connection with Talia Fox | 263 

• The Power Of Connection with Tory Archbold | 105 

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