How being in a blue space affects me

Many people described how being in a blue space can lead them to see their thoughts or their situation in a different way.

“when I go to places like this, it just makes us think that you know just put all that to one side and just be like that’s just irrelevant for this time that I’m here because there’s something bigger than this, this will be here in a million years’ time, and all these problems will you know… what do they actually mean in the grand scale of things?”

People talked about a sense of blue spaces “washing out” stress or resetting racing or anxious thoughts.

“I suppose it kind of injects life with almost like a reset and a refresh. I guess it’s, I don’t know, if you think about something like… like a detox, or a car wash or something”

Our participants told us that sometimes they used blue spaces in response to feeling a certain way, and other times visits were part of a larger routine or plan for staying well.

 “it’s more that I know that I like it, I know that it does me good. So I try and make sure that I do it regularly. ”

Blue spaces were often described as having an energising effect or instead, or as well, a calming one.

 “there’s always that kind of this calming and invigorating aspect to large bodies of water, particularly that I find stimulating, obviously, and then you know, conversely, incredibly calming too”

Many people commented on blue spaces taking up  their attention or helping them to get into a meditative-type state.

“…. before I used to hear voices in my head, sometimes you just need a lot of noise to drown them out.”

“you just focus on the water. And sometimes you can really get lost in it, you know and it’s great and you feel like you’ve just meditated without really making any effort”