I
always knew there was something special about living on an island,
surrounded by the calming sounds of lapping waves. This book explains
it.
Nichols
writes that our brains are hardwired to react positively to water. He
combines water science and neuroscience to show exactly that. He
defines the “blue mind” as a mildly meditative state
characterized by calm, peacefulness, unity, and a sense of general
happiness and satisfaction with life. It is inspired by water and the
sensations associated with it. “...[W]ater provides the most
profound shortcut to happiness out there.”
He
explores our emotional ties to water, explains the technology of
brain study, contemplates what happiness is and how it is evaluated, looks at the affect of the color blue and the other sensations of
water. He explores the recreational use of water and the health
benefits of water, including its therapeutic use for PTSD, drug
addiction and autism. He explains the Red Mind and the Gray Mind –
enlightening.
Blue
Mind is not a dry science book. Nichols includes lots of stories
as examples of his thesis. Some of the findings are subjective and
anecdotal and the stories help illustrate them.
The
application of Nichols' book is broad, all the way from health
benefits to urban planning. He is also concerned about the future of
water and ends his book with a reminder of our emotional attachment
to it and the need to make sure it is there for the future.
Now
I know why there are aquariums in waiting rooms and why you should
put a small one on your work desk. I know what it means if someone
gives me a blue marble. I also now know the science behind why I love
the water so much, especially the beaches of my island home.
Wallace J. Nichols, Ph.D., is a research associate at the California Academy of
Little,
Brown, and Company, 352 pages.
I
received a complimentary egalley of this book from the publisher for
the purpose of an independent and honest review.
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