This Blue Monday, we’d like to encourage you to lean into the blue.

Lydia Paleschi is a sailor, writer and one third of Wild Swimming Cornwall. A group of friends for whom wild swimming has had a profound impact on their lives. So much so, that in 2020 they published ‘A Guide to Wild Swimming in Cornwall’ with the hope that it would make getting into the water more accessible for both locals and visitors to Cornwall.

On this Blue Monday, Lydia encourages you to get into the water and experience it’s benefits to lead a happier, healthier, and more fulfilling life!

Increasing bodies of research show that spending time near water – and natural bodies of water in particular – have a positive impact on our health and mood.

According to some studies, humans have an instinctual draw towards water, which has been inherited by our early ancestors who would have roamed the earth in search of life-sustaining water sources.

Whilst locating water in this way is a thing of the past for many of us, spending time near water is still thought to provide us with the same elevated sense of relief and happiness.

This Blue Monday, we’re heading outdoors in search of blue spaces to try and redefine the ‘winter blues’.

If you’re feeling a bit down, that’s okay – a lot of us are. Here are some reasons we’re checking out to our local beaches, lakes, rivers and reservoirs to give our moods a boost:

BLUE HEALTH BENEFITS

There are thought to be three key areas in which spending time in blue spaces benefit human health:

• Physical activity: often a trip to a natural body of water involves some level of walking, swimming or other physical activity. All of these things help to bolster our general and mental health.
• Stress reduction: being able to see, hear and feel the water helps our minds and bodies relax. This in turn helps to reduce levels of anxiety and to offer some time out from daily stress.
• Socialization: Meeting friends in blue spaces, or talking to other people we meet when we get there, helps sharpen our memory and cognitive skills. It also reduces feelings of loneliness.

With increasing research showing the benefits of blue health, more and more health professionals are prescribing spending time in blue spaces. So why not join us this Blue Monday and lean into the blue?