The Calming, Healing Power of the Sea
Photo by Elaine Klonicki
“The sea is as near as we come to another world.”
~ Anne Stevenson
What is it about the ocean that draws us to it?
As soon as it begins to warm up in late spring, we start planning summer trips, many of which involve being close to water. In the summer, we flock to pools, rivers, lakes, and especially the ocean.
Although most of us are drawn to water of any sort, the ocean, in particular, engages each of our five senses.
When I was a kid riding in the back seat of our family station wagon, sans air conditioning, as soon as we got close to the “shore,” as we called it up north, we could smell the briny ocean air. When we pulled into the public parking lot, we could see the vast blue water stretching out before us, and hear the roar of the tumbling waves. We could barely contain our excitement as we ran straight into the water, feeling the initial coolness on our skin. We spent hours exhausting ourselves swimming and splashing each other. Sometimes we even tasted a mouthful of salt water when a bigger-than-expected wave dragged us under.
Those long summer days where we didn’t have a care in the world were some of the best of my childhood. As teenagers, we spent more time on blankets spread out on the sand reading novels and people watching, but still, we treasured our time at the shore. I bet you have similar memories.
As adults, many of us tend to spend less time in the water, but are no less enamored with the beach. We’re awestruck by the vivid colors of the sunset and its reflections on the water. We stroll along the water’s edge in our bare feet, talking about life, and becoming increasingly introspective as twilight approaches. Our problems seem small next to the vastness of the ocean and the brightness of the rising moon.
It’s no surprise, then, that many guided meditation videos use images of the ocean to induce relaxation. When my writer’s mind is so busy I can’t fall sleep, I often try to conjure up a mental picture of the sea, and work to align my breathing with the rhythmic movement of the waves.
Whether you’re just back from a holiday beach trip, or you’re not in a position to get to the coast just yet, you can reap the calming benefits of water by watching videos of it. Here are a few you might enjoy:
Violinist at the beach playing “A Thousand Years” by Christina Perri
Relaxing mid-ocean water sounds
Relaxing wave sounds from the tropics
The world’s oceans are roughly 3.4 billion years old, and for 200,000 years or more, human beings have lived near them and gotten their sustenance from them. I find it difficult to conceptualize that enormous passage of time, and the many generations it represents.
Disparate cultures around the world have shared a reverence for water that has endured throughout history.
For some that reverence is akin to a spiritual connection. Many religious traditions hold ceremonies that include water as part of their celebrations, including Christian baptism.
Because water is so necessary for our survival, our brains are pre-programmed to seek it out.
It relaxes us, calms our heart rate and reduces our blood pressure. Salt water, especially, is known to be healing, both physically and psychologically. In the 1800s, “sea bathing” as it was called, was prescribed as a curative treatment for a variety of ills, as was emersion in hot mineral springs.
"We are beginning to learn that our brains are hardwired to react positively to water and that being near it can calm and connect us, increase innovation and insight, and even heal what's broken,” says Carolyn Gregoire in her article about the universal physiological response of our bodies to water. "Being around water gives our brains and our senses a rest from overstimulation.”
Some people have such an affinity for the ocean, they find it uncomfortable to be away from it. There’s a name for this phenomenon: “thalassophile.” Near the water thalassophiles find a peace they can’t achieve in landlocked places, and they develop anxiety if they have to be away from the sea for long.
The Earth is nicknamed the “Blue Planet” because of the abundance of ocean water on its surface, a rarity in our solar system. Just as roughly 70 percent of the planet is covered with water, 70 percent of our bodies are made up of water. I find that symmetry fascinating, and wonder about all the patterns in nature that we don’t understand. I was never a science buff, per se, but the older I get, the more I appreciate how ordered and interconnected everything seems to be.
Just as birds fly south in winter, and salmon swim upstream during spawning season, in summer we humans trek to the ocean to rejuvenate ourselves.
Our behavior reminds us that, much as we are advanced in so many ways, we represent just another element in the physical world. It’s awe-inspiring, in a way, to know that we are a part of something larger than ourselves that we will never fully understand.
“Miracles are the hand of God made visible,” says one of my favorite quotes.
I hope you get an opportunity this summer to be by the water and to enjoy its miraculous healing powers.
Affectionately,
Elaine