How The Beach Is Good For Your Brain

Alleviate Stress and Heal Your Brain

Dear friends, travelers and seekers of adventure,

We’ve got fantastic news, the beach is good for your brain! Really, it’s true and even backed up by science. You can find out how in the article linked below, but the gist of it is this:

Location is everything. Recharging our minds is as important as recharging our bodies. Just by practicing on a beach near the ocean we get to do both without even having to think about it. We have a tendency to think of being healthy as a physical practice first, if we take care of our bodies a healthy mind will follow, right? Turns out our bodies need us to take care of our minds too and there’s no better place to do that than on the beach:

“These slow, whooshing noises are the sounds of non-threats, which is why they work to calm people,” says Orfeu Buxton, an associate professor of biobehavioral health at Pennsylvania State University. “It’s like they’re saying: “Don’t worry, don’t worry, don’t worry.” The sound of waves can help you achieve a meditative state, which is proven to heal and strengthen your brain.

We are a microcosm of the macrocosm (trite, I know, but it is true!). We talk a lot about following the breath when we practice yoga, to find fluidity by feeling the breath move the body in waves like water. We start to weave and unwind our way through a practice in that magical place we call ‘flow’ and our breath and body start to move harmoniously and give the mind a rest. It’s incredible to feel that watery, wave-like quality of our breath while listening to the sound of the waves and feeling and tasting the salty ocean air while on retreat oceanside.

And we haven’t even talked about what their research reveals about the color blue or how inhaling salty, ocean air relieves depression:

“Subsequent studies have found that the act of negatively ionized air — the kind you receive when you get outside for a gulp of fresh air — can alleviate symptoms of seasonal affective disorder (SAD).”

Or how walking barefoot in the sand keeps us grounded:

“The earth is negatively charged, so when you walk barefoot, you’re connecting your body to a negatively charged supply of energy. The result is one that many of us feel as soon as we kick off our shoes. Walking barefoot on the beach can trigger tingling warm sensations produced as a result of us “grounding” to earth.”

Read the article here: How the Beach Benefits Your Brain, According to Science and then click on the button below to register for your week of brain-boosting, oceanside yoga!

Bring a friend or family and save $125 each on upcoming 2018 retreats: ITALY November 3 – 10 /// TULUM November 24 – December 1.

Laurel and Melissa

Come Alive Through Travel.