The document discusses the psychological and physiological effects of water, specifically hearing and seeing blue. It describes research showing that the sound of water induces calm and activates the brain's default mode network, allowing for abstract thought and problem solving. The color blue stimulates the brain and enhances emotional processing and connectivity between brain regions. Exposure to blue light through water has benefits like increased creativity and emotional processing.

1. Hearing Blue, Seeing Blue | BBmassageandfloat
“Water impacts all five senses at the same time with a very positive, powerful
image and memory...And water isn’t passive: in most instances...we have to
interact with it. As [Dr. Jordan] Grafman notes, ‘We’re both in awe and curious
about it, and it’s a challenge to master.’ It distracts us in the best sort of way,
allowing us to think of little else beyond what’s in front of us,” (166)
The importance of water on human health is hard to deny. Not just because it makes up
70% of our body, but also because it plays a significant role in our mental and emotional
health. Dr. Wallace J. Nichols, research associate at the California Academy of
Sciences and founder-codirector of Ocean Revolution, SEEtheWILD, and LiVBLUE,
noticed that research on water primarily focuses on its chemistry. Nicols was curious
about the psychology of being in, on, or under the water and how it impacts the health
and well-being of humans, so he started the conversation about the significance of
water on our lives in his book, Blue Mind. The stories he’s heard, the brain scans he’s
observed, the surveys he’s conducted, and his personal experience led to a significant
collection of data that can be directly applied to floating, especially the importance of
hearing and seeing “blue”.
Hearing Blue
Often, a recording of waves crashing on the beach or of a babbling brook is found as an
option on white noise machines or as a background for guided meditations because of
how calming the sound is. Shelley Batts, Harvard Medical School Senior Research
Fellow specializing in the effects of sound, theorizes that “We hear the whooshing of our
mother’s heart, her breath going in and out, the gurgle of her digestion...These fluid,
rhythmic sounds are very much like the ocean. Perhaps that’s why the ocean often
brings up feelings of relaxation and tranquility.”
The sound of the ocean does much more than simply induce calm. There is research
that suggests that the brain is actually more active than when our mind is calm. Nichols
writes:
Think back to the last time you got your Blue Mind on: in the shower or bathtub,
or sitting or walking by the water. You probably weren’t thinking about anything in
particular; you let your mind wander to wherever it wanted to go in your relaxed
state. Perhaps you caught yourself daydreaming as you gazed out over the
sparkling waves or ripples on the creek, and you reluctantly pulled yourself back

2. to the present moment. For a long time, scientists thought there was nothing
going on in the brain when we allowed ourselves to daydream or ‘space out.’ But
now we know that in those moments the brain’s default-mode network is
incredibly active. In other words, the brain at rest is not really at rest at all (214).
Essentially, the white noise of moving water shifts your brain from focusing on the tasks
at hand, allowing for more abstract, free-flowing thoughts that come with the activation
of the default-mode network. While we normally think of daydreaming as a waste of
time, letting the mind wander has proven to be an excellent problem-solving technique.
Nichols writes, “How many times have you had an insight, new idea, or solution to a
problem pop into your head, seemingly from nowhere? That’s the default-mode network
kicking in, allowing your brain to make connections between different elements to create
something entirely new. And being around water provides a sensory-rich environment
with enough ‘soft fascination’ to let our focused attention rest and the default-mode
network to kick in,” (216).
Seeing Blue
Just looking at the color blue can alter our brain functions. Blue’s specific wavelength
has been shown to stimulate the brain, causing the release of neurotransmitters that are
“associated with feelings of euphoria, joy, reward, and wellness related to the effects of
dopamine,” (89).
We may not always notice these changes, but they have a far more reaching impact on
our brains than we realize. Nichols writes, “In a 2010 study, seventeen people listened
to voices while they were exposed to alternating periods of blue or green light.
According to fMRI scans, blue light enhanced the connectivity between the area of the
brain the processes voices and the amygdala and hypothalamus (the body’s primary
gateways of emotional processing). That is, blue light actually strengthened and further
established the crucial neural networks that allow us to hear and understand voices,”
(90). Basically, the color blue has the ability to calm our brains down, allowing us to
think clearly and rationally about any problems at hand.
Most of the conversations we have about blue light revolve around technology. While
it’s true that staring at a computer or phone screen for too long isn’t good for you, there
are many positives to blue light that we fail to see. When compared to red and green
light, blue light has been shown to increase creativity, strengthen emotional processing,
reset our internal clock, and to form neural connections in the brain that allow us to
listen and understand what other people are saying (90-92).

3. There’s a reason we use chose blue for the light in our pools! The blue light mixed with
the sounds of the shower and getting into the water signal the brain and body to relax.
The “soft fascination” of the pool’s strange environment allows the mind to take a break
from focused attention, encouraging creativity.