I realize that is not true for everybody or even the majority of people,” said Nichols. “I have experienced and been fortunate to have great guides who intuitively have brought a lot of water to my life. He discusses how people with autism and other limited mobilities find an entirely different situation when they get in the water.įor addicts, swimming or surfing can feel like a moment of escape and relief, and that is part of the medicinal effect of the water. In his book Blue Mind, Nichols uses scientific studies to support various anecdotes from people demonstrating the benefits of water.

You can think of many ways that manifests in our lives, and it creates psychological stress that is debilitating.įor the most part, water is a relief from this debilitating stress. A lot of stress is caused by feeling out of control in whatever capacity that occurs. If you are thrown in to water and don’t want to be, or it takes over your personal space when you don’t want it to, that is not Blue Mind. It’s great when you want it, in a place where you want it, and how you want it – water is exactly the same. The best comparison that I can give is that music can be medicine as well, but if it is music you hate, is too loud, or the wrong music for the wrong time, it’s annoying. Obviously there are times when water is not invited into our lives, like when your basement floods or a tsunami hits. He jokes that since he wrote a book about the psychological and physical benefits of being around water, he had better be practicing it in his daily life: “Water pulls the stress out of you and allows you to have a moment of mindfulness as long as it is coming into your life on purpose.” For all of us, I think it is the non-prescribed kind of medication that I hope someday will be prescribed more.” “Thank goodness for the water as a source of anxiety and stress-reduction in all of our lives. the previous night near his home in Davenport, Calif.

To combat his recent personal stress, Nichols said he jumped into a creek to celebrate 11:11 p.m. “Not everyone is fortunate enough to be exposed to water on a regular basis and feel the healing benefits of it,” said Nichols.

Dr wallace nichols blue mind