Dominik Eulberg’s happiest moments with the greatest artist of all – nature, and how it enhances mental health

Dominik Eulberg rose to fame as a DJ, but he is now also a renowned science communicator, biodiversity ambassador and author. He recognizes and appreciates the beauty of nature: it is his personal source of strength, relaxation and inspiration. He uses it to create unique and artistic music that passes this positive energy on to other people. In order to help as many people as possible understand the beauty of nature, the biologist uses his reach as a DJ for environmental education, for more nature conservation and for species protection.

It is already the afternoon, but Dominik Eulberg is only just out of bed. “Good morning,” he says. At 3 p.m., hair still slightly disheveled. For Eulberg, this is totally normal. He is nocturnal; 3 p.m. is the morning to him. He tells us that even as a child, he struggled to go to bed early - especially to get up early.  He also claims to have only attended very few morning lectures back when he was a student. “It’s innate in me,” he says: “My metabolism has always been tuned to night mode.” Now in his mid-forties, he can simply set his own rhythm.

Even Eulberg is coming to appreciate this more and more. He spends a lot of time in nature every day – and every day is different. In winter, bramblings, common goldeneyes or Bohemian waxwings can be spotted in Westerwald where he lives. There is a resting area popular with cranes nearby. He helps toads to cross the road at night and has set up various biotopes in his garden. He breeds caterpillars and still has a very clear memory of seeing his first purple emperor: “When the light refracted off its wings, they took on a bluish-purple shimmer,” he says. In moments like these, he describes nature as “the most cost-effective key to happiness”.

As such, nature also plays an important role for his mental health: “I need quiet to recharge my inner batteries,” says Eulberg. He adds that, after a walk in the fresh air, people would often tell him how good they now feel. “I find that absurd,” he says. Why? “Because we do recognize that spending too much time in front of screens is bad for us. But despite knowing this, we do it anyway.” He reckons the human body is designed to walk at least ten kilometers outside every day. It needs the oxygen, the light and the vitamin D that it produces when out in sunlight. “Just seeing the color green increases well-being,” the biologist explains. Spending three hours in the fresh forest air can cut stress hormones by up to half. He therefore likens unwinding outdoors to a muddy puddle: at first, everything is churned up from the stresses of daily life. But in time, the mud settles down and the water becomes clear again.