I Dipped or Swam in a Body of Water Every Day for a Month To Test the Wellness-Boosting ‘Blue Mind Theory’—Here’s What I Learned

As a born and bred Floridian, I’ve at all times felt most at residence round water. Beginning on the age of eight or so, I welcomed the exhaustion of aggressive swimming, red-rimmed chlorine eyes turning into my norm. Although I give up earlier than highschool, one thing occurred throughout all these practices that related me to the sensation of being in or close to water—a lot in order that I felt noticeably much less comfortable after I moved inland for faculty.

What I’d later be taught is that it’s not only a “me” factor: Research present that common publicity to blue areas—which embody waterscapes and their environment—can enhance your well-being. In truth, that’s the impetus behind “blue thoughts idea,” which just lately blew up on TikTok however was conceptualized in 2015 by marine biologist Wallace J. Nichols in his titular guide Blue Thoughts (the subtitle of which says all of it: The Shocking Science That Exhibits How Being Close to, In, On, or Below Water Can Make You Happier, More healthy, Extra Related, and Higher at What You Do). 

While 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 idea? While 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 comfortable, and really feel extra related to your self and others.

Blue Thoughts turned a bible of kinds for me in faculty, because it outlined and defined the science behind a sense that I’d at all times 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 at all times assumed the proximity to the shoreline can be sufficient for me to really feel comfortable—that hours spent strolling or mendacity on the sandy seashore would do the trick. (And positively, 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 every single day that I skilled probably the most profound well-being results of the blue thoughts.

How Icelanders reap the advantages of blue thoughts idea

In Iceland, the daylight relies on the season because of the nation’s proximity to the Arctic Circle. Through the summer season, it’s vivid for many of the day, and blackout curtains are aplenty. Through the different seasons, nevertheless, the solar would possibly solely emerge for just a few hours a day. However whilst you would possibly 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 truth, 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 because of a genetic heartiness solid over generations, College of Iceland professor of folkloristics and ethnology Hafstein Valdimar Tryggvi, PhD, has broadly 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 outside 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 faculties, so the apply is ingrained early, and Icelanders are identified to layer swimming into their each day lives.

“Your coronary heart charge can lower, and you’ll really feel much less harassed [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 harassed [when in or near water],” says Olivia McAnirlin, PhD, co-director of the Clemson College Digital Actuality & Nature Lab, an interdisciplinary program which research individuals’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 larger readability of thoughts. And there’s additionally the potential for experiencing awe whereas submerged in a pure physique of water; this could put the mind in a “self-transcendent” state, which means it’s targeted much less on itself and extra in your existence as one half of a bigger entire. The consequence: a extra constructive temper and stronger emotions of reference to others.

Although Dr. McAnirlin notes that a few of these advantages encompassed by blue thoughts idea will be channeled by experiences comparable to watching waves lap the shore and even listening to a recording of beachy sounds, she contends that the Icelandic apply of commonly 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 the benefits of being in the water go far past what’s seen and heard. “In addition they embody participating in bodily exercise, experiencing helpful modifications 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 stuffed with sizzling geothermal water pumped from beneath the Earth’s floor and blended 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 buddy 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 had been bonding over the shared expertise of magnificence and luxury.

For so long as I moved languidly by way of the pool, my ideas took on a dreamy texture. Every part from the jagged rocks to the grassy hills to the opposite individuals swimming round me appeared mushy 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 buddy and I lingered for near an hour earlier than transferring by way of the opposite steps: a chilly plunge, heat sauna, chilly mist, physique scrub, cloudy steam room, and bathe.

What actually obtained me was the sensation of being immersed within the heat water of the lagoon, effortlessly buoyant.

What actually obtained 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 had been nonetheless within the lagoon profiting from each second we had left.

All I might suppose was: What if I, like so many Icelanders, made a dip within the water part of my each day ritual, too? In any case, I had no excuse to not attempt: I dwell inside a couple of minutes’ drive of the ocean, in Honolulu, which meant it will take solely minimal effort to see what would possibly come of feeling that buoyant sensation every single day. So, I made a decision to problem myself to get into the water every day for 30 days straight this summer season.

My experiment with blue thoughts idea: Getting right into a physique of water every single day for a month

Week 1

Through the first week of my blue-mind problem, my enthusiasm typically made it straightforward for me to hop into my automotive within the afternoon and head to the ocean (a 15-minute drive, although typically longer with Honolulu visitors). Then there have been the times I merely wished to drift there and be nonetheless, people-watching the shore or bobbing within the waves. I’d at all times been dangerous at meditation, and this felt like a useful alternative.

Week 2

Through 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 guide I like, Why We Swim by Bonnie Tsui, says that we will expertise a novel state of movement—the feeling of being “within the zone,” during which you’re each absorbed by and solely targeted on one thing—whereas submerged in water, and that an evolutionary need for survival maximizes the potential for coming into a movement state whereas swimming.

As I swam for brief bursts throughout this second week of my problem, I developed a brand new appreciation for the movement state of swimming. I targeted on the feeling of water cradling my physique and waves lapping at my heels, of endorphins coursing by way of my system whereas I labored my muscle tissue. Unable to take heed to music or in any other case distract myself, I used to be instantly, startlingly current, however typically misplaced my grip on time: fully within the zone.

Week 3

By this level, admittedly, I began getting uninterested in my drive, extra particularly discovering parking close to the seashore. I discovered myself pondering: Wouldn’t a bathe have an analogous 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 just a few associates, a number of of them talked about having made an analogous wager with themselves after they’d first moved to Honolulu. However issues obtained in the best way. Site visitors down the boulevard was a catastrophe after work. Wouldn’t or not it’s a lot simpler to only—not?

As I satisfied myself to proceed with my newfound ritual regardless, the advantages turned extra in regards to the private nature of the problem and fewer in regards to the water. I used to be blocking particular time to be away from my cellphone and distractions, for one. It was additionally a acutely aware time I’d mapped out to take heed to my physique. I at all times felt small and quiet and a part of the pure movement of issues throughout my ocean dips, even when I might 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 subsequently 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 dedicate 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 residence. And the change of surroundings infused my each day dips with new which means—although one evening, I almost forgot and needed to leap into the lake near midnight, which was a giggly skinny dip.

The takeaway from my experiment with blue thoughts idea

My each day blue-mind-inspired routine offered a potent state change—a relaxing, mind-clearing interruption to the monotony of working from residence. If there’s one factor I hate, it’s realizing I’ve been inside all day, and the solar’s about to go down. Each day water immersion turned a remarkably environment friendly strategy 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 muscle tissue 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 residence 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 every single day since (although the thought is much more interesting since finishing the problem). Regardless of months of being a tragically dangerous surfer, I’ve additionally resolved to enterprise out on my board almost each day, even when which means getting humbled by the whitewash. Simply don’t ask me to chilly plunge commonly (but).