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This is the effect that the sea has on your brain

This is the effect that the sea has on your brain

February 27, 2024

It is well known that our brain is constantly changing, even when we sleep or when we think we have a blank mind.

This is what is known as brain plasticity: everything we experience causes our brain (and our nervous system) to change in real time. That means there is not a moment in which our mind remains as it was a while ago .

However, there are certain experiences that modify our mental life in a more consistent way than others. That is to say, that the type of changes that they introduce in our brain are more recognizable and uniform . This is the case of what happens during meditation or, for example, to feel that we are facing the sea or the ocean .


Our mind changes when the sea surrounds us

There are many poets for whom the sea has been an element of clear inspiration; Pablo Neruda, for example, always referred to this gigantic body of water in his poems. And that is not by chance: the sea causes a great impact when seen, and staying on its shores or waters for a while makes the activity of our brain change a lot.

Let's see how it influences us.

1. Get relax and get out of alert

The sea conveys a sense of tranquility that extends throughout all parts of the body. The continuous and soft sound of the waves and the omnipresence of the blue color (that not only appears in the water, but also in a sky that does not appear in the sea covered by mountains or buildings) make us relax deeply.


In addition, near the sea it is difficult to leave blind spots in which possible dangers are hidden, because almost everything is plain and in sight. The consequence of this is that we can allow ourselves to get away from the state of alert in which our sympathetic nervous system introduces us when we detect sources of stress.

2. Facilitate meditation

The visual and sound stimuli related to the sea and the sound of the waves are very characteristic, and alter the activity of our brain. Specifically, they enhance the appearance of alpha waves , related to a state of relaxation and little effort in which, however, the ability to manage the focus of attention does not disappear , something that does not happen during sleep.

When the neurons start firing following the pattern of the alpha waves, the facility to carry out activities such as meditation and mindfulness is enhanced; that's why lonely beaches are a place where normal meditation or tai chi is often practiced .


3. It allows breaking with rumination

Rumination is that vicious circle that follows our thinking when a concern obsesses us . Natural environments such as forests have proven to be good locations to walk around so that rumination disappears, and the same happens with the sea.

This is so because both the sea and the forests are places where there are hardly any elements that can be interpreted as references to our daily life, which is why our thinking can disengage from these obsessions, since nothing that we see, touch or hear reminds us of our problems .

4. Generates low-cost welfare

Experiencing the immensity of the sea produces a curious form of well-being that is born of something as simple as attending to the stimuli related to this type of natural landscapes. It is a kind of hypnotic effect in which we can stay for a long time and in which, surely, our cultural heritage plays an important role.

5. Power creativity

It has been proven that the contexts that lead to directing the attention to the outside in a fast and obsessive way for a long time produce stress and adversely affect the solution of novel problems . This is because our brain adapts to detect specific external stimuli very quickly, instead of devoting resources to connect ideas with each other.

The sea, by facilitating relaxation and by providing a simple environment composed of few elements, It facilitates our creativity to be released , making them connect with each other ideas that had never before been related.


Explaining the Mandela Effect (Prepare to have your brain scrambled!) (February 2024).


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