I already wrote a blog article on how being at the beach and hearing the rhythmic sounds of the ocean can change brain wave activity and thus improve one’s mental health overall (you can read this article here), so now I’m going to dive into other ways that being on the beach is good for your body, brain, and mental health!

The positive effects of the ocean and being on a beach is not a new thing.  In fact, living in Europe during the 1800’s would often find doctors sending their patients to the beach for restorative and curing powers for all kinds of ailments including TB and leprosy.

While this theory has been debunked (thankfully), there have been many new areas of science which have developed which now focus on exactly how nature is beneficial for people.  While environmental psychology focuses on how our brains are hardwired to feel much better outdoors, many of that field’s original studies used green spaces such as parks and forests in which to obtain results.  Environmental psychologists have recently been focused on how blue spaces like lakes and oceans make people feel good–and here are some results which tell us what happens and why (along with some hypotheticals as to why).

• Your first steps onto a beach begins the process of “attention restoration”–your brain registers your surroundings as generally non-threatening (unless of course there are other factors present which would normally alert any person to potential danger) and your body begins to relax.  As you smell the ocean, see and hear the ocean waves, and notice the serenity of the general picture of your environment, your brain concludes it doesn’t have to perform in a demanding way which other kinds of environments may require, and a person can then focus on enhanced feelings of relaxation.
• Here’s a guess researchers have made as to why this occurs:  Expansive views, especially those which bring our eyesight to vast, seemingly endless horizons produce a sense of awe making it seem like our problems may not be as momentous as we thought and that we are part of something bigger in the universe.  This process reduces stress and can get people thinking about a sense of purpose rather than focus on blocks or problems we feel may be holding us back.  It has also been known to produce an increase in more selfless acts.
• Landscapes like this are called “softly fascinating” (not exactly a scientific word but good enough)–while they hold our attention they are predictable and safe enough to allow our minds to relax.
•  Researchers guess that the repetitive nature of waves not only lulls our brainwaves to a more relaxed state, as in meditative awareness, but the repetitive sounds become our focus thus reducing rumination (“I can’t turn off my brain from thinking these bad things”).  Decreasing negative thoughts definitely helps mental health to improve.
• There was a study done in 2020 which found that subjects in blue spaces increased their activity level for longer periods of time compared to subjects in green spaces.  A guess as to why seems to center on the notion that time is perceived as being more “expansive” when in blue spaces thus resulting in people not getting as fatigued as quickly when they were in a blue space.
• More exercise means better sleep–more of it and better quality of it as well.  It is a now known fact that people getting less sleep than 6 hrs. p/night over a period of time have more health problems, so being by the ocean can help us sleep better thus helping to stave off poor health and disease processes.
• Other studies targeting blue spaces and perceived pain levels have shown that pain is felt as less intense when exposed to blue spaces such as pictures of lakes; obviously this is an area which needs lots more attention with the amount of pain management patients needing effective treatment today.

That was a lot of info…thanks for sticking with it to the end.  In short, to be on the road to healing, make going to the beach/lake a must do.  Blue spaces help us to heal in both physical and psychological ways.  Mother Nature seems to know what she’s doing…