Beaches are best!

Hooyberg and colleagues, using virtual reality, determined that “beaches caused lower breathing rates than urban environments and lower SCR [skin conductance responses] than green environments. . . .  the heart rate, HF-HRV [high-frequency heart rate variability], and MAP [mean arterial pressure] did not react differently to the beach than to the urban and green environments. . . . Self-reported measures showed that, under moderate stress, beaches decreased the negative mood and perceived stress, whereas green environments did not and urban environments generally had more adverse effects on the negative mood, perceived stress, positive mood, and perceived quality for relaxation. This study demonstrates that beaches slow down breathing and reduce the sympathetic nervous system activity, and highlights the benefits of beaches for health and wellbeing.”

Alexander Hooyberg, Nathalie Michels, Henk Roose, Gert Everaert, Ilias Mokas, Robert Malina, Marie-Anne Vanderhasselt, and Stefaan De Henauw. 2023. “The Psychophysiological Reactivity to Beaches Vs. to Green and Urban Environments:  Insights from a Virtual Reality Experiment.”  Journal of Environmental Psychology, vol. 91,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2023.102103