Be like water: Understanding how water environments are good for wellbeing

In celebration of World Oceans Day on June 8th we launched Like Water. We believe in the power of the sea to connect. We seek to foster positive relationships with water and the sea through immersive learning experiences and visual, creative storytelling. We explore innovative ways to reconnect with who we are, our environment and each other, through water. Be Like Water is our flagship programme and celebrates our watery evolution, recognising that our bodies and our planet are mostly water.

What does it mean to you to be like water? Follow and tell us. We all have salt-water in our blood! 

“Water is life, it cleanses”, Farnaz* said as we moved around the circle of women sharing experiences of what water means to us in our lives. We were a group of ten from very different backgrounds, ranging in age from 13 to 43. “Being in the water makes me feel calm”, said Laleh. “Water takes away my tiredness”, Mina added. For others, it was their very first time to get into the water and they were hesitant and nervous but encouraged by the other women in the group. These women were participating in the Be Like Water programme – an active, physical practice aimed at tapping into the more playful, creative and therapeutic qualities of water and the sea. This programme was initially developed by myself and Shirin Gerami (Iran’s first female triathlete) with minority groups of women and girls in Iran as a way to make surfing more accessible and to facilitate a greater body-self-nature connection.

This concept of water environments as therapeutic is nothing new. Water has been considered an active life-metaphor for millennia, with Taoist Lao Tzu writing in 6th century BC how, “Nothing in the world is softer than water. But for attacking the hard, the unyielding, it has no equal.” In Victorian England seaside holidays were recommended by physicians for respite and recovery from illness and in Ireland holy wells continue to be important places for spiritual wellbeing and health promotion. More recently there has been growing interest in policy, practice and academia in how blue space (outdoor, natural aquatic environments such as rivers, lakes, coasts, beaches, sea) impacts our health and wellbeing. This is the focus of my current research with the NEAR-Health project at National University of Ireland, Galway where we explore how nature, including the sea, can help society attain and restore health.

My bias as a life-long surfer has certainly influenced my desire to better understand what I’ve intuitively felt all my life, the power of the sea to heal and restore a sense of wellbeing. As the following quotes from first-time water users during the Be Like Water session show, an aquatic experience like swimming or surfing can take us out of our heads and into the sensory world of our bodies, creating a sense of relaxation;

“I notice I feel lighter and calmer.” – Sanaz
“It’s easier when I relax my body, I feel more relaxed.” – Nasrin

And being immersed in an unpredictable, fluid environment can allow us to find our own sense of aliveness;

“I feel like I am flying — out there on the water you don’t think about any of your problems.” – Yasmin

How we are in relationship with each other and our environment matters. In the words of Shirin Gerami:

‘Surfing can showcase the beauty of in our differences by allowing us to be truly who we are when we surrender to the playfulness of waves and wave-riding.’

Here is the beautiful poem written by Dan Crockett featured in the above film

Layers lifting, motes of light shifting, spheres of currents dance.

At the heart of the wildest storm is silence. This is old music.

There are paths between the reefs, promises on the swell and dip, truth in droplets of our saline blood. Our bold movement asks questions. This is a place beyond borders. Beyond you and me, to us.

We are held and sway as a merging unfolds, the illusion of separation crumbling, the glow of living faces falling. Fine lines and faint traces.

To a liquid place outside time. Where all our fences are broken. Shadows and sunlight in which we must become whole – to live, to breathe, to join.

*Names of BLW participants have been changed.