The Presence and Power of Blue Spaces
What Are Blue Spaces, How Are They Beneficial to Our Health, and What Lies Ahead
Welcome back to Human Nature. This week, we’re continuing our Way of Water series, where we are diving deep into the human relationship with water. This week, we’re discussing the concept of “blue spaces” and how our relationship with them is important for the future of our society.
In addition, all free weekly posts will now be released on Monday afternoons, changing from our normal Sunday evenings.
Thanks, enjoy.
What Are Blue Spaces
The concept of “blue spaces” refers to natural and man-made bodies of water that positively impact physical and mental health. These can include rivers, lakes, oceans, and even fountains, pools, or other urban bodies of water.
Over the years, the concept of blue spaces has become increasingly of more interest to researchers with mounting evidence that proximity to water has positive mental, physical, and psychological benefits on human health. Even more so than other natural landscapes.
“This is where blue spaces seem to have an edge over other natural environments; water has a psychologically restorative effect,” writes journalist Elle Hunt in an article for the Guardian.
In 2013, researchers tested this idea and conducted a random study on United Kingdom smartphone users, finding that individuals living in marine or coastal areas were significantly happier than those in urban areas.
The exact reasons for this increased happiness are still being studied, but recent research indicates that urban freshwater bodies can protect health and support well-being by masking traffic noise, mitigating summertime temperatures, providing high levels of restorativeness, and providing spaces for improved physical activities.
Even images of blue spaces can have effects on our mental health and wellness. One of the studies cited in Blue Mind shares that participants of a research study preferred photographs of blue spaces over any other type of landscape, and were observed to have positive mental health effects when exposed to these photos.
"Blue spaces provide us with distractions that take our mind away from the day-to-day hassles of life," health psychology researcher Kate Campbell recently told the BBC.
Even the sound of the ocean has a positive effect on our mental health. According to the Marine CoLABoration, the sound of waves can help individuals recover quicker from stressful situations, 37 percent quicker. That may not come as a surprise if you’ve ever sat by the ocean or turned on the ocean sleepcasts on a meditation app.
"The sound of the crashing waves, the smell of salty air, the crunching of sand beneath our toes, the sensations relax our bodies and tell our minds to switch off," says Campbell.
This work and the efforts of researchers to understand blue spaces and their benefits on human health are still widely understudied. The one thing that we do know is that blue spaces are becoming increasingly less common in our urban areas, and we’re possibly losing a vital connection to these important places.
The Move Away from and Back To Blue Spaces
Throughout human existence, we’ve congregated near blue spaces, particularly rivers, lakes, and oceans. This is in large part because proximity to freshwater means access to resources, water transportation, irrigation for farming, and regional or global trade.
For thousands of years, we’ve been cultivating this relationship with water sources and blue spaces. From the river valley civilizations of the Indus, Nile, and Euphrates, to the indigenous peoples of North America whose lives revolved around the Columbia, Mississippi, and Great Lakes.
Our ability to build societies around rivers, lakes, and the ocean has always been a key driver in more innovation, safer livelihoods due to accessible needs (water, fertile soil, etc.), and greater population growth.
In recent years, though, our local landscapes have started to look a lot more urban.
In 2008, the world census officially reported that the majority of people (51 percent) were now living in urban environments, instead of rural ones. Current projections indicate that by 2050, 60 percent of the population will live in urban areas, with low-income economies seeing the largest shift away from rural areas.
This marks a significant change from much of our history, where connection to blue spaces wasn’t a tool for wellness, but a necessary part of life.
This shift is compounded by issues such as climate change, drought, and population growth, making the increasing lack of access to blue spaces a concern for both resource accessibility and wellness.
That’s why efforts are being made to stymie these concerns and incorporate more blue space into local cities, towns, and communities.
For example, organizations such as BlueHealth or BlueZones are working to understand and provide tools on the links between blue spaces, climate, and health. Both organizations are helping local cities, governments, and planners make better infrastructure and policy choices with blue spaces in mind.
Other programs, such as Un Mar De Colores, are using blue spaces to promote therapeutic benefits for children. They offer the opportunity for underrepresented individuals and communities to recreate in the ocean, helping drive a deeper connection to nature and enjoy the benefits of water.
Although efforts like these are still new and growing around the world, they provide some hope that we can return to our evolutionary roots and continue to live in close connection with our planet’s blue spaces.
Let’s Talk About the Uneven Access to Blue Spaces
One of the most eye-opening statements I’ve ever heard came from one of my conversations with Blue Mind author Wallace J. Nichols. A few years back, while chatting with Nichols on advice for my future career, we got to talking about blue spaces.
In our conversation, he mentioned that he’s talked with kids in the San Francisco Bay Area who have never seen the ocean.
I was floored by the idea. The fact that children who have grown up a few miles from the ocean and coastline have never seen it was hard to swallow. As someone who had the privilege of accessing water bodies, the ocean, and blue spaces throughout my life, this was a transformational change in perspective.
Nichols' statement also echoes a trend: access to blue spaces (and natural spaces in general) is already a socioeconomic privilege. A recent study on the presence and access to blue spaces in two locations, Mexico City and Bristol, UK, found that access to still water was indicative of higher income.
This environmental injustice will only be exacerbated by the loss of blue spaces, because as these spaces become rarer, they will also become less inclusive. Water bodies, rivers, and ocean access will start to become more of a luxury, pricing out individuals and communities of lower income status, and therefore, pricing them out of access to key health and wellness benefits.
This is one of the key reasons why accessibility and inclusion are necessary topics to be discussed when talking about outdoor recreation, urban planning, environmental conservation, and mental health and wellness.
The more we can incorporate blue spaces into our urban planning, the more benefits we can see spread across the community, allowing diverse perspectives, varying communities, and allowing all individuals to enjoy the benefits of water.
Weekly Challenge - Find Your Local Blue Space
This week, I’m encouraging everyone to spend some time finding your local blue space. Whether it’s a river, the ocean, or even just a pond at the park by your house, try and spend some time enjoying the blue space.
Once you’ve gotten a chance to find this space and spend time there, take notice of how you feel before and after. Are there any changes to your feelings toward the day? Are you less anxious or stressed?
Write down these changes and journal those feelings; it will help cement them in your mind and contextualize your understanding of the connection.
I’ll be spending some time by my local river, the Deschutes River, here in Central Oregon. I’ll write down some of my feelings, thoughts, and changes, and share them later in the week.
I’d love to hear yours in the chat or through the comments if you’d be open to sharing.
In addition, if you are having trouble finding a local blue space or accessing a blue space, shoot me a message. I’d be happy to try and help and see if we can find some innovative ways to get you there, or still find a way to connect with water.
Story of the Week
For this week’s story, I’m linking one of the BBC articles referenced in our discussion on blue spaces. This story, reported by Frankie Adkins and Katherine Latham, shares some of the research from our discussion, as well as anecdotes with other individuals cultivating a connection with blue spaces.
The beginning of the story talks about Sea Sanctuary, a UK-based non-profit helping connect people with the ocean to offer therapeutic benefits. It was an exciting initiative, and it’s incredible to see the unique ways people are using the natural world as a way to dive deeper into themselves, wellness, and compassion for each other.
Read the Story Here - LINK
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Thanks for being here, friends. See you in the next one.
With love,
Keegan
