Contents
Smelling, looking and feeling the ocean close by reduces anxiety and helps make decisions
Psychology
The proximity to the sea helps to disconnect, favors concentration and creative thinking, improves cognition and decision-making and contributes to our calm with its relaxing qualities.
“Many people attack the sea, I make love to it.” This phrase from Jacques Costeau, oceanographer, marine biologist, researcher and great popularizer of the wonders of the underwater world, is timely in the World Oceans Day, a date promoted by the United Nations that this year has the motto ‘The ocean: life and means of subsistence’ and whose objective is to remember the important role of the oceans in daily life as lungs of the planet, a source of food and medicine and part fundamental of the biosphere. But also being close to the ocean reports psychological benefits and positive effects both physically and mentally, according to Aída Rubio, director of the Psychology Service at TherapyChat, especially in a context of pandemic, in which a large part of the population that frequently visited coastal areas has been forced to spend much more time than usual away from the sea. “When we are in natural environments, such as the ocean, we experience improvements in mood, but also in the immune system and blood pressure. There is, in fact, research that links natural environments with the reduction of stress and depression, ”says Rubio.
But in addition to this overall positive effect, Therapychat experts describe other benefits such as its ability to help us disconnect, increase concentration and creative thinking; its effect on the improvement of cognition and decision making; its influence on increasing awareness of the environment and ourselves and its relaxing qualities. Let’s see each one of them.
Helps to disconnect
Sometimes we are inundated with chains of negative thoughts that interfere with our mood. The ocean helps cut these dynamics thanks to three factors. The first has to do with the very state of relaxation that it causes. The second occurs because it improves the functioning of the prefrontal cortex and the last is due to the fact that when we are in front of the ocean or the sea, we are normally leaving the usual environments in which our biggest day-to-day problems are generated. And this supposes, therefore, a break in our routine.
Increase concentration
That calm state That propitiates the contemplation of the ocean helps us to concentrate more easily. As they explain in Therapychat, when we are calm, we can turn our gaze towards ourselves, so we can concentrate better and, thus, improve our reflective processes.
Improve awareness
The sea induces a meditative state mild, which contributes to our being able to become more aware not only of our environment but also of ourselves. This state is defined, as Rubio clarifies, as an attitude of simply being in the present moment. This means that the judgments we can establish about what we are perceiving decrease and that leads us to a lower probability of occupying that moment with future anxieties or memories of the past.
Drive decision making
Natural environments, especially the sea, allow the brain to oxygenate better. The air we breathe is purer and that stimulates a better functioning of the prefrontal cortex, responsible for decision-making, reasoning and evaluating situations.
Has a relaxing effect
The sea is a mighty balm for the mind. Just by observing it and listening to the sound of the calm waves or breathing in its aroma, it can contribute to increase relaxation, but it is also that it also physically relaxes when we swim in it, since our weight is lighter. It is not surprising that the images and sounds of the sea are one of the most used resources to support meditation exercises and to induce sleep to those who resist them.
Color, instinct and movement: keys to its beneficial effect
The positive effects on the mind and body seem clear, but why are they and how does their influence reach us through the senses? The answer is in its color, in its movement and in its relation to instinct.
El color the sea influences us. According to Eva Heller, a sociologist and psychologist who developed the ‘Theory of Colors’, there is a relationship between colors and feelings. But also this relationship is not accidental, but is a universally extended and entrenched fact in our subconscious. This ‘Color Theory’ reveals that the azul inspires feelings and concepts such as sympathy harmony peace Trust and the faithfulness, Or the reason and the concentration. And, what is more curious, it is the only color that does not have any negative feelings associated with it. It is also interesting to wonder, according to Therapychat, if this association so deeply rooted in the human being comes from the fact that blue is the predominant color in the sky and in the oceans, or if we feel that way when looking at them because of their color.
The movement of the ocean. Ocean wave motion has been shown to have the ability to induce increased alpha wave activity in our brain, typical waves of relaxation states. They are also typical waves of states of mental clarity and concentration that promote creative thinking. In addition to observing and enjoying the ocean, this state can also be promoted through breathing exercises, mindfulness or yoga.
The affinity with nature. We are animals and in our instinct there is the belonging to nature. We recognize ourselves in natural environments, perhaps connecting with parts of us that we have asleep in our day to day full of noise and XNUMXst century tasks.