Blue Health Science and Blue Mind Philosophy
Blue Health and Blue Mind
What is Blue Mind? This site is filled with references to environmental psychology relating tour interconnection with Blue Space, however – it is probably easiest to hear it from the horse’s mouth first…
There has been a lot of academic research over the past few years into the impact of the outdoors on our health and well-being. The conversations relating to the findings are now hitting the mainstream media. We have particularly championed the work of my friend Wallace J Nichols relating to water and blue space, sharing blue health research which is truly diverse and multi-disciplinary in its eco-psychological scope.
The impact of wave watching creates a light meditative state enabling you to tap into a deeper level of consciousness that is less accessible with the distractions of our technology-centric workstyles / lifestyles
“Blue space” has been found to positively impact health and well being – not only is this an intuitive claim, bio-feedback proves it! In blue spaces, neuro-chemical responses in our bodies impact upon our emotional and physical energy, motivation, attentiveness and more.
The coast is a location, capable of helping us discover more about ourselves and the world, since the vastness of a horizon promotes awe, wonder and curiosity, offering space to explore freely, thus enhancing flexibility and creativity. The natural landscapes are less complex than human made ones. When faced with a simpler backdrop such as the coast which provides regularity (in that there are patterns within any swell) together with a movement that lacks monotony there is less background noise to distract and compete for attention.
By slowing down and relaxing we can focus!
Have you ever noticed that you might have your most creative thoughts when daydreaming? Or perhaps in the early hours of the morning when half waking or before slumber when drifting off to sleep? When we have a less focused attention our thoughts move more freely than when we apply forced attentiveness. Natural coastal environments move towards this wakeful state of relaxation (theta) where the brain is free to attend to the question or insight that is most relevant to you.
Apart from being physically good for you, walking enables changing scenery which allows for a non directive attention, it also provides less obvious non-verbal indicators that a skilled coach will identify and respond to. The outdoors a whole and particularly the coast and ocean are awash with metaphor and this lends itself to Coaching. Experienced coastal coaches (blue health coaches) partner with the landscape, with a targeted yet informal approach which at its most elegant appears effortless.
Thought is great… action delivers change.
Since our memories are state dependent the experience of being coached at the beach in itself creates a powerful anchor for future actions. Motivation is a state of body and mind, energy facilitates energy where-as lethargy of body and mind creates stagnation. When coastal coaching we engage our full body in solution finding, since it is our full body and mind we will require in the taking of action.
My Blue Health Coaching Approach
“Modern-day humans are drowning in a sea of over-stimulation that exhausts us physically, mentally and emotionally” Wallace J Nichols.
As a Blue Health Coach™ I integrate a range of modalities learning from the outdoor environment and exploring how you can more easily and more often access a state of internal and external coherence for the benefit of your health and well-being and also for your performance.
Amongst other approaches, out on the coast, we explore triggers for you relating to three states of energy and attention. These states link to how our nervous system is responding to the world and are generally known as having coherence, parasympathetic or sympathetic dominance. WJN puts these into easy to understand terms and this re labelling enables us to bring these into common knowledge:
- Red Mind – edgy highs at best alert, aware and responsive at worst stressed anxious and fearful
- Grey Mind – numbed out, overly dissociated, overwhelm and lethargy
- Blue Mind – calm, centred, wisdom with a sense of wider connection as part of a greater whole
Did you know – the brain processes serially, it is impossible to multi-task. Excess background “noise” creates continual partial attention.
Working with me at the coast we also reconnect with simple qualities such as awe and gratitude… and advocating for what my NLP mentor and co-trainer Reg Connolly calls “childlike curiosity”. States of mind that can become lost within fast paced environments where raised benchmarks create a perception that cynicism holds status.
I work with your sensory awareness, developing your ability to: pay attention, not force attention.
Tribes / Movements and Collectives
For me, the most relevant aspects of Blue Health and Blue Mind relate to how water influences our wellbeing and wisdom – particularly living and leading from a place of compassion… (and therefore the coaching and consultancy approaches I apply will always ask you to really connect with the ripple effect of your choices.
The over-arching social and environmental aims of those who advocate for water and marine life are close to my heart as a Blue Health Coach™. These align to a core ethos of “taking responsibility to tread more lightly”.
