How living on the water can transform your health
By WP BrandStudio
How many times have you walked into a friend’s home and seen a family photo of them at their favorite lakefront spot? Consider how many people you know who’ve honeymooned in Hawaii, the Caribbean or another seaside destination. Maybe you’ve met someone who uses the sound of falling rain as white noise at night. Maybe you do so yourself.
Humans are drawn to water thanks to our ancient ancestors, who developed a taste for fish and other animals that they hunted in the areas around lakes and rivers. Now, scientists understand that being near water makes us more creative, promotes a sense of wellness and can even ease our minds—nature sounds, such as ocean waves, have been found to tamp down the body’s fight-or-flight response and boost the relaxation-inducing parasympathetic response.
“[When] you step up to the water and stand there, it [calms] you,” said Wallace J. Nichols, a marine biologist and author of a book about “blue mind,” or how water affects our well-being.
And while you can always take a trip to water to feel those healing effects, people who live right next to it are able to make the most of its potential benefits—so it makes sense that waterfront homes can help improve the health and happiness of their occupants.
The Fawn Lake community in Spotsylvania County, Va., does exactly that for its residents, thanks to its location on a private lake 65 miles from downtown D.C. Its abundant green spaces and ample fitness opportunities also contribute to healthier living for residents living in its approximately 900 homes.
“We look for ways to be outside,” said Ed Gillis, 20-year resident of Fawn Lake and former president of its community association.
Your brain on water
While we’re no longer hunter-gatherers, water still serves us a specific purpose, especially as we face rising levels of anxiety. Being near the water eases people into a “blue mind,” according to Nichols, a relaxed mentality characterized by less stimulation. When modern life feels overwhelming, “blue mind is one solution: stepping away, logging out, getting up, moving your body,” he said.
“Blue mind” frees us from the problem-solving mode of thinking that dominates our daily lives, letting less results-oriented regions of the brain come alive. “[It] allows for some mind wandering, and some creativity,” Nichols explained. As you step up to the water’s edge, your field of vision narrows and your auditory input lessens. You might hear lapping waves, see a fish leap into the air or watch seaweed wash up onto the shore.
“There are little hints of what’s going on underneath [the water], which keeps you interested, but it’s not overstimulating,” said Nichols.
When our sensory input is reduced in such a way, it activates the default-mode network of the brain, which is associated with heightened internal awareness, rather than a preoccupation with the outside world. In default mode, our heart rate and breathing slow down, stress melts away and happiness increases, according to Nichols.
“It’s a very familiar state of mind. That’s why we take vacations, and why we hang water-related art on the walls,” he said.
When water access is built into a community
About half of the national population lives in coastal regions, but that still leaves many people well removed from the water. Communities that have been designed to include blue space are helping to close the water-access gap.
Stacye Clark learned this firsthand a few years ago, when her husband accepted a position as chief executive of a medical center in Spotsylvania. The couple settled in nearby Fawn Lake, choosing an open-concept home that offers expansive views of the lake that gives the community its name. They’d never lived on the water before, so “it was exciting to try something different that we had not experienced,” Clark said.
Most people who buy a home on the water want outdoor space, large windows and water views from every room, according to Jeff Hall, a builder of homes in Fawn Lake. He has to “be creative” in order to include as many vantage points of the lake as possible, while at the same time paying special attention to the quality of the windows, insulation and structural integrity, given the weather conditions of waterfront settings. It’s all about ensuring that the home feels like a haven.
“You come home and have this beautiful waterfront. It’s quiet. You see some nature. I think that’s one reason why [people] want to live on the water,” Hall said
And if the Clarks are any indication, living in a thoughtfully-designed waterfront property can change your lifestyle. The couple has become more active; they learned to water-ski, and on any given day, they could go boating, kayaking or paddleboarding. The community also hosts an annual triathlon with open-water swimming on the lake, and new swimmers can take classes in the outdoor pool.
On top of the physical health benefits of living on the water—the Clarks have lost weight since moving to Fawn Lake—all that time outside near blue space offers “a peacefulness that takes the stress away,” Clark said.
It also helps that her children and grandchildren love visiting Fawn Lake. They make the trip from Charleston, S.C., every summer to spend two weeks taking golf and tennis lessons and splashing around in the water. For the Clarks, it all adds up to a community that feels removed from the stressors of the outside world, a place where they can experience the kind of serenity that many people have to get on a plane or drive for hours to find.
“We enjoy going on vacations, but since we finished our home, just staying [here] and seeing the water is [like a] vacation,” said Clark. “We’ve found that our families want to come stay with us and use our place as their vacation time, and that’s just the cherry on top.”
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