Our country’s weather and sunshine allow us to enjoy beach holiday all year round. Many Malaysians love heading to the beach during holidays to have a short escape from the hustle and bustle of city life.
The main thing about beach holiday is that it helps us to relax and recharge. According to a new study by Michigan State University, it says that living in a location where you have the chance to see a lot of blue spaces, like a body of water, leads to lower levels of “psychological distress.”
The research focused on the city of Wellington, New Zealand which assessed the correlation between whether or not people could see the ocean and the country’s health records. Besides that they even took into consideration other factors such as age, sex and wealth. The result shows that living by the sea still improved people’s mental health.
Interestingly, it was also found that those looking at “green space” like parks or recreation fields did not receive the same mental health boost.
Amber Pearson, one of the research co-authors explained the reason of this finding as the brain can process natural backdrops better. She said, “[That] reduces sensory stimuli and promotes mental relaxation,” she told Lonely Planet. “Surely mental relaxation is part of the purpose of travel and holidays.”
While the study did not study the effects of shorter time periods spent by water, many travellers might argue the sounds, smells, and sight of an ocean certainly evoke that feeling of “island time”. Pearson further elaborated that there should be more research to be done to see if those other senses come into play (such as hearing the rhythm of the waves) in regards to the healing effects of a body of water.
In a nutshell, just put down everything you have right now and book a beach holiday that you’ve long dreamed of!
Read also: Travel With Your Eyes! These Places Are Amazingly Beautiful
– Cover Image: askbeach.com
