As a born and bred Floridian, I’ve all the time felt most at dwelling round water. Beginning on the age of eight or so, I welcomed the exhaustion of aggressive swimming, red-rimmed chlorine eyes changing into my norm. Although I give up earlier than highschool, one thing occurred throughout all these practices that linked me to the sensation of being in or close to water—a lot in order that I felt noticeably much less relaxed after I moved inland for faculty.
What I’d later study is that it’s not only a “me” factor: Research present that common publicity to blue areas—which embody waterscapes and their environment—can increase your well-being. In actual fact, that’s the impetus behind “blue thoughts principle,” which not too long ago blew up on TikTok however was conceptualized in 2015 by marine biologist Wallace J. Nichols in his titular ebook Blue Thoughts (the subtitle of which says all of it: The Stunning Science That Exhibits How Being Close to, In, On, or Beneath Water Can Make You Happier, More healthy, Extra Linked, and Higher at What You Do).
If you’re in or round water, you enter what marine biologist Wallace J. Nichols calls the blue thoughts, a mildly meditative state of peacefulness and satisfaction.
The thought behind blue thoughts principle? If you’re in or round water, you enter what Nichols calls the blue thoughts, a mildly meditative state of peacefulness and satisfaction. You’re calmer, extra relaxed, and really feel extra linked to your self and others.
Blue Thoughts grew to become a bible of types for me in school, because it outlined and defined the science behind a sense that I’d all the time suspected to be true: I’m only a happier model of myself after I’m close to water. It’s why I moved to Honolulu, Hawaii, post-graduation, the place I might be surrounded by the ocean. And after brief stints in locations like New York Metropolis and Park Metropolis, it’s what additionally introduced me again to Honolulu this yr.
All through my time in Hawaii, I’ve all the time assumed the proximity to the shoreline can be sufficient for me to really feel relaxed—that hours spent strolling or mendacity on the sandy seaside would do the trick. (And definitely, my psychological state has been higher whereas I’ve had easy accessibility to the coast than it was after I lived in land-locked locations.) Nevertheless it wasn’t till a visit to Iceland this previous spring impressed me to attempt immersing myself in the ocean daily that I skilled probably the most profound well-being results of the blue thoughts.
How Icelanders reap the advantages of blue thoughts principle
In Iceland, the daylight will depend on the season due to the nation’s proximity to the Arctic Circle. Throughout the summer time, it’s shiny for a lot of the day, and blackout curtains are aplenty. Throughout the different seasons, nevertheless, the solar may solely emerge for a number of hours a day. However whilst you may anticipate Icelanders to expertise seasonal affective dysfunction (SAD) at a comparatively excessive charge, research present the precise reverse: Charges of SAD are markedly decrease in Icelanders than they’re in different populations. In actual fact, Iceland was even ranked the third happiest nation on the planet within the 2023 World Happiness Report, slotting in simply behind Finland and Denmark.
Whereas a few of this Icelandic resilience to the tough local weather could also be as a result of a genetic heartiness solid over generations, College of Iceland professor of folkloristics and ethnology Hafstein Valdimar Tryggvi, PhD, has extensively contested that the rationale Icelanders expertise such excessive ranges of well-being in gentle of the gloomy circumstances is their affinity for bathing in geothermally heated swimming pools year-round.
In Iceland, each city has an out of doors public pool (of which there are greater than 120), which research present to be the most-frequented gathering locations nationwide. Since 1934, swimming instruction has been required in all Icelandic colleges, so the follow is ingrained early, and Icelanders are identified to layer swimming into their every day lives.
“Your coronary heart charge can lower, and you’ll really feel much less burdened [when in or near water].” —Olivia McAnirlin, PhD, co-director of Clemson College’s Digital Actuality & Nature Lab
Such ample publicity to water might have soothing powers for Icelanders, because it helps to dial down the “fight-or-flight” (aka sympathetic) nervous system and switch up the “rest-and-digest” (parasympathetic) nervous system in its stead. “Your coronary heart charge can lower, and you’ll really feel much less burdened [when in or near water],” says Olivia McAnirlin, PhD, co-director of the Clemson College Digital Actuality & Nature Lab, an interdisciplinary program which research folks’s connections to the pure world.
Analysis has additionally discovered that the sensory inputs of pure settings (like blue areas)—say, the distinction of blue ocean towards the horizon or the lapping of waves—have a method of passively centering your consideration, resulting in higher readability of thoughts. And there’s additionally the potential for experiencing awe whereas submerged in a pure physique of water; this will put the mind in a “self-transcendent” state, that means it’s centered much less on itself and extra in your existence as one half of a bigger complete. The outcome: a extra optimistic temper and stronger emotions of reference to others.
Although Dr. McAnirlin notes that a few of these advantages encompassed by blue thoughts principle might be channeled by experiences akin to watching waves lap the shore and even listening to a recording of beachy sounds, she contends that the Icelandic follow of recurrently dipping within the water can maximize the wellness-boosting results.
Certainly, Dr. McAnirlin’s co-director on the Clemson Digital Actuality & Nature Lab, Matthew Browning, PhD, says that some great benefits of being in the water go far past what’s seen and heard. “In addition they embody participating in bodily exercise, experiencing useful adjustments within the cardiovascular system [during cold immersion], and absorbing vitamin D from daylight.” It’s no marvel Icelanders have taken to the water so readily.
Experiencing Icelandic bathing tradition firsthand
After I had the chance to go to Reykjavík, Iceland on the inaugural flight of a low-cost airline route from Washington, D.C. this spring, I could not wait to take a dip within the beloved Sky Lagoon. This explicit pool is full of scorching geothermal water pumped from beneath the Earth’s floor and combined with cool freshwater, and it’s constructed into cliffs overlooking the ocean in a method that immerses its guests in nature.
Wading into the water of the Sky Lagoon for the primary time, I rapidly entered a state of awe, feeling a rising sense of oneness with the world round me—and the good friend who’d include me. As we alternated between deep dialog and cozy silence, I discovered that I felt freer in speaking to her than I’ve in different settings, like we have been bonding over the shared expertise of magnificence and luxury.
For so long as I moved languidly by means of the pool, my ideas took on a dreamy texture. Every little thing from the jagged rocks to the grassy hills to the opposite folks swimming round me appeared smooth and welcoming. And the heat of the water (a toasty 100 to 104° Fahrenheit) was deeply enjoyable.
It’s customary to pair a dip within the Sky Lagoon with a multi-step spa ritual, however my good friend and I lingered for near an hour earlier than shifting by means of the opposite steps: a chilly plunge, heat sauna, chilly mist, physique scrub, cloudy steam room, and bathe.
What actually acquired me was the sensation of being immersed within the heat water of the lagoon, effortlessly buoyant.
What actually acquired me, although, was the sensation of being immersed within the heat water of the lagoon, effortlessly buoyant. The water each lulled and refreshed me—and by the point our slot was over, my fingers had pruned, our taxi was outdoors ready for us, and we have been nonetheless within the lagoon profiting from each second we had left.
All I may suppose was: What if I, like so many Icelanders, made a dip within the water part of my every day ritual, too? In spite of everything, I had no excuse to not attempt: I dwell inside a couple of minutes’ drive of the ocean, in Honolulu, which meant it could take solely minimal effort to see what may come of feeling that buoyant sensation daily. So, I made a decision to problem myself to get into the water every day for 30 days straight this summer time.
My experiment with blue thoughts principle: Getting right into a physique of water daily for a month
Week 1
Throughout the first week of my blue-mind problem, my enthusiasm usually made it straightforward for me to hop into my automotive within the afternoon and head to the ocean (a 15-minute drive, although generally longer with Honolulu site visitors). Then there have been the times I merely needed to drift there and be nonetheless, people-watching the shore or bobbing within the waves. I’d all the time been unhealthy at meditation, and this felt like a useful substitute.
Week 2
Throughout the second week, my dips within the ocean had extra selection. Some days, my problem meant wading into the water absolutely clothed after a sweaty run. Different days, I took my exercise to the water in a full-on swim, tracing laps within the shallow surf till I’d hit a sure time threshold.
A ebook I like, Why We Swim by Bonnie Tsui, says that we are able to expertise a novel state of circulate—the feeling of being “within the zone,” by which you might be each absorbed by and solely centered on one thing—whereas submerged in water, and that an evolutionary want for survival maximizes the potential for getting into a circulate state whereas swimming.
As I swam for brief bursts throughout this second week of my problem, I developed a brand new appreciation for the circulate state of swimming. I centered on the feeling of water cradling my physique and waves lapping at my heels, of endorphins coursing by means of my system whereas I labored my muscular tissues. Unable to take heed to music or in any other case distract myself, I used to be instantly, startlingly current, however usually misplaced my grip on time: fully within the zone.
Week 3
By this level, admittedly, I began getting bored with my drive, extra particularly discovering parking close to the seaside. I discovered myself pondering: Wouldn’t a bathe have the same impact as wading into the ocean? Didn’t that rely as being in water?
Whereas this blue-mind problem was new to me, upon sharing it with a number of associates, a number of of them talked about having made the same wager with themselves after they’d first moved to Honolulu. However issues acquired in the way in which. Visitors down the boulevard was a catastrophe after work. Wouldn’t it’s a lot simpler to simply—not?
As I satisfied myself to proceed with my newfound ritual regardless, the advantages grew to become extra concerning the private nature of the problem and fewer concerning the water. I used to be blocking particular time to be away from my telephone and distractions, for one. It was additionally a aware time I’d mapped out to take heed to my physique. I all the time felt small and quiet and a part of the pure circulate of issues throughout my ocean dips, even when I may solely spare thirty seconds or so.
Week 4
The fourth and remaining week of my problem felt notably important as a result of I used to be touring to a lakeside cottage on the east coast and due to this fact jet-lagged. And it was additionally my busiest work week of the yr, a time after I knew I’d be glued to my pc, feeling unable to commit any time or consideration to hopping within the lake.
However, fortunately, that lake was solely steps away, which made staying dedicated to my problem even much less time-consuming than it had been at dwelling. And the change of surroundings infused my every day dips with new that means—although one evening, I almost forgot and needed to soar into the lake near midnight, which become a giggly skinny dip.
The takeaway from my experiment with blue thoughts principle
My every day blue-mind-inspired routine supplied a potent state change—a relaxing, mind-clearing interruption to the monotony of working from dwelling. If there’s one factor I hate, it’s realizing I’ve been inside all day, and the solar’s about to go down. Day by day water immersion grew to become a remarkably environment friendly method to do all of the issues that make me really feel instantly refreshed: getting outdoors, being constant, and maybe most poignantly, channeling the awe of the pure magnificence round me.
Plus, one thing about toweling off after every dip gave me that very same satisfying feeling of wrapping up a fast exercise—that full-body exhale of committing to being damp (besides with salty sea water, within the case of my problem, as an alternative of perspiration). Perhaps that’s what made my muscular tissues unclench and my limbs really feel unfastened and cozy for the remainder of the day, even when my ocean dip had lasted only a few seconds.
Whereas I did join a membership at a pool near my dwelling when the 30 days ended, and I nonetheless spend most days hurtling all the way down to the shore when I’ve a spare second, I haven’t made it out to swim daily since (although the thought is much more interesting since finishing the problem). Regardless of months of being a tragically unhealthy surfer, I’ve additionally resolved to enterprise out on my board almost every day, even when meaning getting humbled by the whitewash. Simply don’t ask me to chilly plunge recurrently (but).
