According to scientific evidence, being at the beach really benefits your brain and mental health.
It could also lead you to a life you love.
A 2012 University of Exeter study found that living within close proximity to a beach improves health and well-being. While not everyone can live near the beach, your summer holiday is an ideal opportunity to prioritise getting outdoors, connecting with the earth, helps you to stay mentally fit and have some valuable time for reflection.
Listening to crashing waves is mildly meditative according to Orfeu Duxton, Associate Professor of Behavioural Health at Pennsylvania University. The sound of waves is calming and non-threatening and has been proven to heal and strengthen your brain.
Studies have shown that the different seaside colours often produce different psychological, emotional and physical effects. The colour blue, for instance, is often used in marketing material to convey a sense of calm. The Global Healing Centre advises individuals to surround themselves with blue to reduce stress. Staring at the sea changes our brainwaves’ frequency and also puts us in a mild meditative state, says Richard Shuster, Clinical Psychologist.
Breathing in the sea air can help your brain because of the negative ions (oxygen ions with an extra electron attached produced via water molecules). Negative ions have been shown to have a pronounced anti-depressant effect and alleviate the symptoms of season affective disorder (SAD).
Grounding, otherwise known as walking barefoot, has been proven to have a number of stimulating benefits to the body and mind. Your feet contain a rich network of nerves and acupuncture points and are able to absorb free negatively charged ions on the earth’s surface, as you walk barefoot on the sand, in much the same way that your lungs are able to absorb ions in the air.
Once relaxed and re-charged, and enjoying the sea view from your sun lounger, you are in good shape to reflect on life and consider how closely aligned your life is with where you would like to be.
It might be helpful to ask yourself:
- What do I love to do?
- What engages and/or intrigues me?
- When am I in flow?
- When does time fly by?
- When do I come alive?
- How often and when do I feel this way in my day to day life?
- What stands out for me?
- What’s needed here?
- How can I move forward with this?
A coach can help you move forward as a thinking companion to help you discover, clarify and align with what you want to achieve.
A coach cares about your success and with you, creates a safe, trustworthy and courageous space to be bold, learn, explore, stretch and take inspired committed action – to create a life you love!
If you would like a 45 minute complimentary phone coaching session, please get in touch with Victoria at victoria@coxenconsultandcoach.com
“Alignment is about matching what we say and do with what we think and feel.
It takes courage but is worth it.”
Jan Elfline
