As summer continues to slide by and fall right around the corner, the thought of putting your toes in the sand, letting the sun kiss your face, and the waves roll in around you gets even more delicious. Just envisioning vastness of the ocean and sky, imagining the warmth of the sun and the rhythmic sound of the waves is enough to reduce stress. As it turns out, it's not just your imagination.
A while back, I shared some pretty compelling scientific reasons to plan that trip to the beach. If you missed it, check it out here. In addition to way the sights and sounds of the ocean deliver huge benefits on our physical and mental well-being, fresh ocean air also contains an abundance of negatively charged hydrogen ions that help absorb oxygen and balance out serotonin levels. Ions are microscopic molecules that enter or bodies through our lungs as well as our skin. Positive ions (also called free radicals) are usually carbon dioxide molecules that have been stripped of an electron. Because they desperately want to find an additional electron to stabilize themselves, they steal electrons from healthy cells causing cellular degeneration.
