Beach day! Yay!

Today’s post is a bit different.  It is the eve of the long weekend and it has me thinking of fun and sun and beach… so today I decided to write about some of the health benefits about going to the beach.  You can even use this blog post as an excuse to get to the beach – hey, Doctors orders!

 

(art by Allyson Schmidt-Reeves  www.allysonreeves.ca )

Health benefits of going to the beach

So we all know we as humans, for the most part, like the beach or waterfront for some reason.  There must be some good reasons… actually there are and many of them have huge health benefits.  So here we have it, in no particular order my list of the health benefits of the beach:

Stress relief

Ok, I lied – this one is definitely number one.  Many of the people who will eventually receive or read this post met me at first because I gave a talk in front of them at work about stress.

Nature (like the beach, ocean/water or lake and forests) have calming effects on us human people.  Listening to the surf, sticking your toes in the sand and playing in the sun have stress relieving benefits for sure.  Ever been totally stressed out after a beach day? Ya, doesn’t happen much…

Earthing

speaking of sticking your toes in the sand… ever heard of earthing?  It is the act of walking barefoot on the earth.  The number one place we all do this because it is socially acceptable is on the beach.  (But this can be done anywhere).  Walking on the earth is purported to facilitate a negative ion exchange between the ground and the person which apparently has health benefits.  Whatever, its relaxing.  I always feel distressed when I do it and the sand is good for your rough calloused feet. So give it a shot!

Vitamin D levels

In just a few minutes on the beach in a bathing suit you can get your daily vitamin D replenished by your skin.  Your skin makes cholesterol into vitamin D with UV exposure so get out there – not too long with out sunscreen though – be sensible!

Exercise

Lots of opportunity to exercise on the beach – lovely for long walks, great for jogging, splashing, playing Frisbee, throwing a ball, digging, making sand castles (lifting some and bending), swimming, playing volleyball… the opportunity to exercise is endless and super varied – don’t just sit there (at least not for all of the time – some of the time definitely sit there and unwind!!!)

Spirituality

Big bodies of water and nature and surf provide opportunity for gratitude and connectedness to something larger than ourselves.  Take a minute to meditate and feel like you are part of something larger than yourself…