Benefits of Being Near Water
| 1 min read
00:00
00:00
About the Show
On this episode, Chuck Gaidica is joined by Dr. William Beecroft, Medical Director of Behavioral Health for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and Blue Care Network. Together, they discuss how being near a body of water can benefit our mental health.
In this episode of A Healthier Michigan Podcast, we explore:
- Why water has a calming effect on the mind
- What mental health benefits are associated with spending time near water
- How individuals can incorporate regular exposure to water into their daily lives
Transcript
Chuck Gaidica:
There's 326 million cubic miles of water on our planet, and experiencing it could have a positive effect on our mental health.
This is A Healthier Michigan podcast episode 159. Coming up, we discuss the benefits of being near water.
There's 326 million cubic miles of water on our planet, and experiencing it could have a positive effect on our mental health.
This is A Healthier Michigan podcast episode 159. Coming up, we discuss the benefits of being near water.
Welcome to A Healthier Michigan podcast, the podcast dedicated to navigating how we improve our health and well-being through small, healthy habits that we can start implementing. Right now I'm your host, Chuck Gaidica, and every other week we'll sit down with a certified expert and we discuss topics that cover nutrition, fitness and more. And on this episode, we're diving, get it, diving into how water can impact our mental health. With us today is the medical director of behavioral health for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and the Blue Care Network, Dr. William Beecroft.
Doctor, good to have you back with us.
Dr. William Beecroft:
Thanks for allowing me to be here.
Chuck Gaidica:
Yeah, sure. Well, this stat, we kind of know it, but sometimes the sheer math of it gets away from us. Water covers 71% of Earth's surface. In Michigan, we are told that we are never more than six miles away from water or 85 miles away from a great lake. So most of us have sat on a beach, we've watched the water come in, we even have recorded sounds or we see it played on streaming or cable just watching the sea come in and go out again. And it feels like you can have these moments of peace in your life when you're looking at hearing, stepping into water, even if you're in the bit of chaos in your life.
So while these moments can be serene, does being near water have a positive impact all the time on mental health?
Dr. William Beecroft:
All the time is a bit of a stretch. There's nothing that's all or none, but it really helps a lot most of the time. If you have the opportunity of being able to be close to a body of water, there's some physiologic things that we can talk about here, and there's also just some emotional things that it really can help facilitate for you.
Chuck Gaidica:
So why is it that being near water seems to have this calming effect? What does it actually do for us?
Dr. William Beecroft:
Well, looking at the physiologic part of it, there's been multiple studies that have shown, which is interesting because before looking into this, I didn't know about some of these studies. I've felt the effect, but not really seen the studies. But you actually have less cortisol, which is one of the more stimulating neurotransmitters and hormones in our body. And you also have more serotonin, which is one of the more antidepressant where the more happy chemicals in our brain that occurs. So that's pretty amazing.
Also, oxytocin, which is the neurotransmitter that helps us to bond to other people and have a sense of peace, is quite high when you're close to water. And that is things that I had no clue of, and it is physiologically makes a lot of sense why that works.
Chuck Gaidica:
So does it matter what kind of water? Even when you fly over Michigan, you're on approach. You'll see all the lakes in Michigan, but you fly in, you'll also notice people who have swimming pools, right? You notice smaller bodies of water, if you will, the kind you can control yourself in the backyard. Does it matter how big do you think, or is it just water?
Dr. William Beecroft:
Well, again, looking at the studies, it really doesn't make any difference what the size of the water is. Although the bigger it is, the more awe that there is, and that has a factor in and of itself. But there was one study of two that looked at people sitting next to a pool and looking at their average heart rate and blood pressure. It went down with people that were looking at the pool and was normal or elevated with people that were looking at a tree in a parking lot. Amazing.
Chuck Gaidica:
Now that's interesting. A couple of years ago I saw a study that talked about seniors in a care facility and how they were going to try to in large wall-size, maybe on an 85-inch flat screen, and even using wallpaper, just outdoor scenes of water and trees, etc. Kind of that forest bathing and then also being near water.
Can you talk about this idea of visually seeing water or can we simulate that in different ways? Is the effect the same? Is that kind of what you were touching on as well?
Dr. William Beecroft:
Well, it's probably not exactly the same because the three-dimensional and actually using all five of our senses, I should say, really helps with that being close to water or being in water. But the concept of being able to look at depictions of a calming environment like the beach, like being able to be in a movie, a video that has the not big waves, but modest waves, that sort of rhythmic aspect of being able to get into that, in "Zen" kind of space of just being in the moment, being with that and that calming sound that goes along with that. There's no reason that wouldn't have a very similar effect, probably not exactly the same, but I bet it's in the 80 to 90% range.
Chuck Gaidica:
Wow. And so did the studies you've read about or your experience then also indicate there's any specific amount of time that we need to be spending near water, or is that not an issue?
Dr. William Beecroft:
Not in the studies, but when you look at the whole concept of meditation, the whole concept of relaxation, it takes the body about a half an hour to 45 minutes to use up the extra, more stimulating, more anxiety-producing chemicals and be able to develop a level of calmness. So the time I think does matter that you're not going to get it when you just sit there for five minutes and everything's cool. It's going to, you're have to be there for a bit and then be able to really get in that moment, pay attention to it, become aware of it. Similar to forest bathing where you have to take the walk through the woods type thing. That really makes a huge difference.
Chuck Gaidica:
It's funny, when I knew we were going to talk about this, I started to think about my own experience and I thought unless I'm near big water, I would probably never go sea shelling or something like it, or I wouldn't go walk the beach for Petoskey stones in our Michigan context. But I enjoyed those activities, but it's because I'm near water, so I'm not quite sure, which is first the chicken or the egg, is the water calming me down and now I'm doing activities that wouldn't usually ... I'm not going to go walk the backyard with some kind of device to try to find buried coins or something. It just doesn't seem like a good use of my time to me. But when I'm near water, I do things that seem to go hand in hand with that calming effect and the whole package seems to work right.
Dr. William Beecroft:
Well, there's good reason for that because you're using multiple aspects of your body and mind together. Let's take the example of Petoskey stone finding. You're near the shore. Usually, it's pretty good weather. You don't want to go Petoskey stoning in a rainstorm. It doesn't work very well because it also kind of dimples the water so you can't see them as well when they're underwater. So the issue is you're using your right brain to be very intensely looking for that pattern of the stone. It's not just the stone itself. They don't all look the same. You've got different epochs of the fossils, so you've got the big Petoskey stones, you got the little tiny ones. They're special names that I can't remember them, but of the coral.
So you're really working very hard in your brain. You also have in the background that rhythmic motion of, hopefully, it's not a real windy day, but more of a calm day. So you're getting these little three or four-inch waves that keep on splashing up on your feet and this kind of stuff. And you do that and after a half an hour, you get into that rhythm and your whole body starts to be more rhythmic. So you're using that ability to then free up your right brain, and I'm sorry, you're using your left brain to look at the Petoskey stones. The right brain gets to be freed up to be creative, to be able to think about things that you haven't thought about. That's where you get these aha moments that occur and it's like, oh yeah, that's what I should have done with that person the other day.
So those are the moments when it really kind of uses that multi-sensory capability that you have. And if you were to take the next step of doing this snorkeling, now you've got that sensation of floating of weightlessness in the water. You've also got that sense of rhythm because you're on the top of the surface, your body is kind of moving gently up and down with the waves and also any swells that may be happening in there.
So you see where I'm going with this, the more of your senses that you can tie up and your brain is busy with, the less you're going to be thinking about the moment-to-moment things that are bothering you and the more creative you're going to be able to become.
Chuck Gaidica:
It's funny you say that because I know in my family's life, there are members of my family to some extent, my wife included snorkeling. I'm certified scuba diver. I enjoy the whole process. My wife, Susan, she'd sit there, she'll look at the water, she experiences it, but I'm not so sure it's an overstatement to say that sometimes near an ocean, she hears the music from Jaws playing in her mind. So getting in it is not a big deal, and I know it's the same with some of my kids.
So for some people, that whole idea of just looking, hearing it, maybe feeling a breeze or even smelling the seed water or whatever it is, those senses, that's enough. That's really just enough.
Dr. William Beecroft:
Yes, it is.
Chuck Gaidica:
Yeah. What else did you learn? Any other aha moments in those studies that you came across?
Dr. William Beecroft:
Well, a couple more things that I've seen just in my career is colors can be therapeutic and there's different attributes of different colors in having designed hospital facilities and that sort of thing, quiet rooms or what are called sensory rooms for people to be able to go into and be able to calm down and be not sequestered or locked up. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about places that people can go to really kind of settle down and be more calm. Blue is known to have a very calming effect, as is pink. I never thought pink was the issue, but about 30 years ago, I found out that pink was that in various studies. And it depends on the shade of pink, obviously. Too hot pink probably doesn't do the same sort of thing as a more calming pink, but that was those more pastel colors really work really well for us.
Something that also goes with that is the ocean has noise, has a pink noise, what's called pink noise, and even ... not even snorkeling, but putting your ears underneath the water in a lake or in Lake Michigan or Lake Huron, you can hear sounds that are very far away. You can hear an outboard motor screaming four or five miles away when you pick your head up, you can see the boat, but it sounds like it's right next to you. But even without those mechanical noise, there is a cacophony of noise that is calming. It is very low pitch. And so in that sense, you get that aspect of that environment as well.
I did find that when you are near a crashing seat, so big waves that the waves actually break apart some of the water molecules and they release negative ions, and this is known to decrease heart rate and also to decrease blood pressure. So it's interesting how just our environment, being in that kind of proximity to these kind of natural things really makes a difference with our physiology. And it may be because men are 60% water and women are 55% water. We've got a whole lot of it in us.
Chuck Gaidica:
Well, we've got a whole lot of it in us, and as we were babies in utero, we were carried with water around us. So this notion of even the little baby machines, the sound machines we use, have those options to create this water sound. I'm not sure which wave it is or which frequency, but that's really interesting stuff.
Dr. William Beecroft:
Well, and depending on your belief system, water was the first thing that was here, and we came from water.
Chuck Gaidica:
How do individuals you think, outside of the idea, which we know everybody tends to think of waterfront property, let's go get some, and then that tends to be the most expensive option, so it's not a good one for all of us, but how do individuals incorporate regular exposure to water and the environment of water in their daily routines to support mental health? What should we do?
Dr. William Beecroft:
Yeah, some people can be able to do that really, really well. Other people, it becomes kind of like living next to an expressway. You get so used to it that you really don't take into consideration. So it depends on the individual and how they really embrace that part of their lives and where their environment is.
Being able to pay attention to the moment I think is important no matter what geography or topography you're in. But that gives you another option, being close to water. It may be the stress of owning that waterfront property of how much it costs and how much you're paying for it, and how to be able to make that happen. All of those things may be counterproductive. But being able to use the park system in Michigan, we have so much access. And again, in Michigan, we're fortunate in the sense that that closer to the water than the high water mark is public ground. So you can walk in front of the most expensive mansion and still have the same view being an average citizen. So those are things that we're really very fortunate about is being able to do that. You have to be respectful of people's property and that sort of thing. I'm not saying that ... And it is communal property, so you have to be respectful that way of it. But being able to be there, leave footprints, nothing else, move on, take the experience with you.
Chuck Gaidica:
And it's funny that even a routine doctor appointment for me, the doc's office had a smaller, I'm talking table-top size self-contained little waterfall. That was one of the most calming things because oftentimes, people are in a doctor's office for a non-routine thing. That was not my case, but I thought, "Well, that's interesting." That's probably doing all that you've discussed of calming people down before. They're called in for their appointment, right?
Dr. William Beecroft:
Yeah. I've seen that in a lot of physicians' offices and even some hospital lobbies will have a water wall or large fish tanks. People think, well, the large fish tank, they just really like fish. There's actually a purpose for it for the patients and the people coming to visit them is to be able to do that calming effect because there's the white coat phenomenon that you go in and you see the doctor and your blood pressure's real high and you wait 15 minutes and the doctor takes your blood pressure again, and it's pretty normal.
So that problem, if you can get that resolved in the waiting room and really focus on what you're there for, the questions that you have for the doctor, you're going to get more out of that experience in the first place, and it's going to be a more natural environment for them to be able to have what your vital signs are and how you're really functioning on a routine basis, not the excitement of coming to the doctor. And I use that plus or minus excitement. It doesn't have to be that you're real excited to see the doctor but you're anxious as well.
Chuck Gaidica:
So what would be your takeaways from our discussion today that we could leave with the audience?
Dr. William Beecroft:
I think the things are is to be able to really look at your environment, what are things that you can be able to capture in there? The research has found that some of these natural sounds, these natural phenomenon can be helpful for you. Maybe spend some more time going to a local park that has a water source of some sort.
In Lansing, we have that. We have that in Detroit. Most of our big cities are located near rivers or lakes themselves. Being able to spend some time really being in the moment. You can also record some of those situations. I've done that where on long-haul flights, I've recorded Lake Michigan was one, and also a river in Alaska where I was at. And being able to then put your phone or your device on a loop and being able to listen to that, it drowns out some of the engine noise of the airplane and that sort of thing, but it really kind of gets you into that quiet space. The time goes by and you can be able to have a much more enjoyable, long-haul experience than what you would without that, I've found.
You can also use that at work. You could be able to do that for a 15-minute break and be able to get the benefit of those sorts of things and then visualize. The other thing is you can always close your eyes and visualize one of those things. One of the places that I've done many times when I've been either going into a stressful meeting or coming out of one is Hoffmaster State Park. Being able to remember when I was on the beach, feeling the sand bumping against my skin, listening to the water, being able to see the sun reflected from the water as it was going down. These sorts of things are all memories that you can tap into, and you get that flood of oxytocin, those feel-good chemicals, and that relaxation to then get you prepped for doing something that is more anxiety-provoking for you or recovering from that.
Chuck Gaidica:
That's awesome stuff. I have to tell you, I had a doctor that, again, it was a routine appointment, but he would routinely wait 15 minutes after or 10 minutes into a visit and he would say, "Okay, now close your eyes and go to the most calming place you could." For me, it was a waterfront, kind of an oceanfront situation. That's when after he turned the blinds down a little bit, that's when he would take my blood pressure, not when I first came into the office. And I thought, that's really, in my experience, the first doctor that I've ever had that ever did anything close to that.
Dr. William Beecroft:
And I bet you liked him too.
Chuck Gaidica:
Of course. And my blood pressure, which is not an issue for me, thank goodness, it was just normal. I was ramped up or I took the stairs, which I typically do instead of an elevator. Right. And I met right at the door, okay, time to take it. To your points, more than one, it was the perfect situation for me.
Dr. William Beecroft:
Yeah, exactly.
Chuck Gaidica:
Well, it's good to see you again. Thanks so much for all the wisdom.
Dr. William Beecroft:
You're welcome. Have a great day. Thank you for the time.
Chuck Gaidica:
Oh, sure thing. Dr. William Beecroft, who's medical director of behavioral health for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and the Blue Care Network. We thank him for being with us, and we thank you for listening to A Healthier Michigan podcast. It's brought to you by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.
If you like our show and you want to know more, you can go take a look at our newly refreshed website. It's ahealthiermichigan.org/podcast. You can leave reviews or ratings on Apple Podcast or Spotify. We've got a YouTube channel. You can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, and you can get new episodes, all the old episodes. This is episode 159, so there's a lot of stuff. It's a treasure trove of great information. Carry it with you on your smartphone or tablet, and be sure to hit subscribe on your Apple Podcast or Spotify or favorite podcast app.
I'm Chuck Gaidica. Be well.
Doctor, good to have you back with us.
Dr. William Beecroft:
Thanks for allowing me to be here.
Chuck Gaidica:
Yeah, sure. Well, this stat, we kind of know it, but sometimes the sheer math of it gets away from us. Water covers 71% of Earth's surface. In Michigan, we are told that we are never more than six miles away from water or 85 miles away from a great lake. So most of us have sat on a beach, we've watched the water come in, we even have recorded sounds or we see it played on streaming or cable just watching the sea come in and go out again. And it feels like you can have these moments of peace in your life when you're looking at hearing, stepping into water, even if you're in the bit of chaos in your life.
So while these moments can be serene, does being near water have a positive impact all the time on mental health?
Dr. William Beecroft:
All the time is a bit of a stretch. There's nothing that's all or none, but it really helps a lot most of the time. If you have the opportunity of being able to be close to a body of water, there's some physiologic things that we can talk about here, and there's also just some emotional things that it really can help facilitate for you.
Chuck Gaidica:
So why is it that being near water seems to have this calming effect? What does it actually do for us?
Dr. William Beecroft:
Well, looking at the physiologic part of it, there's been multiple studies that have shown, which is interesting because before looking into this, I didn't know about some of these studies. I've felt the effect, but not really seen the studies. But you actually have less cortisol, which is one of the more stimulating neurotransmitters and hormones in our body. And you also have more serotonin, which is one of the more antidepressant where the more happy chemicals in our brain that occurs. So that's pretty amazing.
Also, oxytocin, which is the neurotransmitter that helps us to bond to other people and have a sense of peace, is quite high when you're close to water. And that is things that I had no clue of, and it is physiologically makes a lot of sense why that works.
Chuck Gaidica:
So does it matter what kind of water? Even when you fly over Michigan, you're on approach. You'll see all the lakes in Michigan, but you fly in, you'll also notice people who have swimming pools, right? You notice smaller bodies of water, if you will, the kind you can control yourself in the backyard. Does it matter how big do you think, or is it just water?
Dr. William Beecroft:
Well, again, looking at the studies, it really doesn't make any difference what the size of the water is. Although the bigger it is, the more awe that there is, and that has a factor in and of itself. But there was one study of two that looked at people sitting next to a pool and looking at their average heart rate and blood pressure. It went down with people that were looking at the pool and was normal or elevated with people that were looking at a tree in a parking lot. Amazing.
Chuck Gaidica:
Now that's interesting. A couple of years ago I saw a study that talked about seniors in a care facility and how they were going to try to in large wall-size, maybe on an 85-inch flat screen, and even using wallpaper, just outdoor scenes of water and trees, etc. Kind of that forest bathing and then also being near water.
Can you talk about this idea of visually seeing water or can we simulate that in different ways? Is the effect the same? Is that kind of what you were touching on as well?
Dr. William Beecroft:
Well, it's probably not exactly the same because the three-dimensional and actually using all five of our senses, I should say, really helps with that being close to water or being in water. But the concept of being able to look at depictions of a calming environment like the beach, like being able to be in a movie, a video that has the not big waves, but modest waves, that sort of rhythmic aspect of being able to get into that, in "Zen" kind of space of just being in the moment, being with that and that calming sound that goes along with that. There's no reason that wouldn't have a very similar effect, probably not exactly the same, but I bet it's in the 80 to 90% range.
Chuck Gaidica:
Wow. And so did the studies you've read about or your experience then also indicate there's any specific amount of time that we need to be spending near water, or is that not an issue?
Dr. William Beecroft:
Not in the studies, but when you look at the whole concept of meditation, the whole concept of relaxation, it takes the body about a half an hour to 45 minutes to use up the extra, more stimulating, more anxiety-producing chemicals and be able to develop a level of calmness. So the time I think does matter that you're not going to get it when you just sit there for five minutes and everything's cool. It's going to, you're have to be there for a bit and then be able to really get in that moment, pay attention to it, become aware of it. Similar to forest bathing where you have to take the walk through the woods type thing. That really makes a huge difference.
Chuck Gaidica:
It's funny, when I knew we were going to talk about this, I started to think about my own experience and I thought unless I'm near big water, I would probably never go sea shelling or something like it, or I wouldn't go walk the beach for Petoskey stones in our Michigan context. But I enjoyed those activities, but it's because I'm near water, so I'm not quite sure, which is first the chicken or the egg, is the water calming me down and now I'm doing activities that wouldn't usually ... I'm not going to go walk the backyard with some kind of device to try to find buried coins or something. It just doesn't seem like a good use of my time to me. But when I'm near water, I do things that seem to go hand in hand with that calming effect and the whole package seems to work right.
Dr. William Beecroft:
Well, there's good reason for that because you're using multiple aspects of your body and mind together. Let's take the example of Petoskey stone finding. You're near the shore. Usually, it's pretty good weather. You don't want to go Petoskey stoning in a rainstorm. It doesn't work very well because it also kind of dimples the water so you can't see them as well when they're underwater. So the issue is you're using your right brain to be very intensely looking for that pattern of the stone. It's not just the stone itself. They don't all look the same. You've got different epochs of the fossils, so you've got the big Petoskey stones, you got the little tiny ones. They're special names that I can't remember them, but of the coral.
So you're really working very hard in your brain. You also have in the background that rhythmic motion of, hopefully, it's not a real windy day, but more of a calm day. So you're getting these little three or four-inch waves that keep on splashing up on your feet and this kind of stuff. And you do that and after a half an hour, you get into that rhythm and your whole body starts to be more rhythmic. So you're using that ability to then free up your right brain, and I'm sorry, you're using your left brain to look at the Petoskey stones. The right brain gets to be freed up to be creative, to be able to think about things that you haven't thought about. That's where you get these aha moments that occur and it's like, oh yeah, that's what I should have done with that person the other day.
So those are the moments when it really kind of uses that multi-sensory capability that you have. And if you were to take the next step of doing this snorkeling, now you've got that sensation of floating of weightlessness in the water. You've also got that sense of rhythm because you're on the top of the surface, your body is kind of moving gently up and down with the waves and also any swells that may be happening in there.
So you see where I'm going with this, the more of your senses that you can tie up and your brain is busy with, the less you're going to be thinking about the moment-to-moment things that are bothering you and the more creative you're going to be able to become.
Chuck Gaidica:
It's funny you say that because I know in my family's life, there are members of my family to some extent, my wife included snorkeling. I'm certified scuba diver. I enjoy the whole process. My wife, Susan, she'd sit there, she'll look at the water, she experiences it, but I'm not so sure it's an overstatement to say that sometimes near an ocean, she hears the music from Jaws playing in her mind. So getting in it is not a big deal, and I know it's the same with some of my kids.
So for some people, that whole idea of just looking, hearing it, maybe feeling a breeze or even smelling the seed water or whatever it is, those senses, that's enough. That's really just enough.
Dr. William Beecroft:
Yes, it is.
Chuck Gaidica:
Yeah. What else did you learn? Any other aha moments in those studies that you came across?
Dr. William Beecroft:
Well, a couple more things that I've seen just in my career is colors can be therapeutic and there's different attributes of different colors in having designed hospital facilities and that sort of thing, quiet rooms or what are called sensory rooms for people to be able to go into and be able to calm down and be not sequestered or locked up. I'm not talking about that. I'm talking about places that people can go to really kind of settle down and be more calm. Blue is known to have a very calming effect, as is pink. I never thought pink was the issue, but about 30 years ago, I found out that pink was that in various studies. And it depends on the shade of pink, obviously. Too hot pink probably doesn't do the same sort of thing as a more calming pink, but that was those more pastel colors really work really well for us.
Something that also goes with that is the ocean has noise, has a pink noise, what's called pink noise, and even ... not even snorkeling, but putting your ears underneath the water in a lake or in Lake Michigan or Lake Huron, you can hear sounds that are very far away. You can hear an outboard motor screaming four or five miles away when you pick your head up, you can see the boat, but it sounds like it's right next to you. But even without those mechanical noise, there is a cacophony of noise that is calming. It is very low pitch. And so in that sense, you get that aspect of that environment as well.
I did find that when you are near a crashing seat, so big waves that the waves actually break apart some of the water molecules and they release negative ions, and this is known to decrease heart rate and also to decrease blood pressure. So it's interesting how just our environment, being in that kind of proximity to these kind of natural things really makes a difference with our physiology. And it may be because men are 60% water and women are 55% water. We've got a whole lot of it in us.
Chuck Gaidica:
Well, we've got a whole lot of it in us, and as we were babies in utero, we were carried with water around us. So this notion of even the little baby machines, the sound machines we use, have those options to create this water sound. I'm not sure which wave it is or which frequency, but that's really interesting stuff.
Dr. William Beecroft:
Well, and depending on your belief system, water was the first thing that was here, and we came from water.
Chuck Gaidica:
How do individuals you think, outside of the idea, which we know everybody tends to think of waterfront property, let's go get some, and then that tends to be the most expensive option, so it's not a good one for all of us, but how do individuals incorporate regular exposure to water and the environment of water in their daily routines to support mental health? What should we do?
Dr. William Beecroft:
Yeah, some people can be able to do that really, really well. Other people, it becomes kind of like living next to an expressway. You get so used to it that you really don't take into consideration. So it depends on the individual and how they really embrace that part of their lives and where their environment is.
Being able to pay attention to the moment I think is important no matter what geography or topography you're in. But that gives you another option, being close to water. It may be the stress of owning that waterfront property of how much it costs and how much you're paying for it, and how to be able to make that happen. All of those things may be counterproductive. But being able to use the park system in Michigan, we have so much access. And again, in Michigan, we're fortunate in the sense that that closer to the water than the high water mark is public ground. So you can walk in front of the most expensive mansion and still have the same view being an average citizen. So those are things that we're really very fortunate about is being able to do that. You have to be respectful of people's property and that sort of thing. I'm not saying that ... And it is communal property, so you have to be respectful that way of it. But being able to be there, leave footprints, nothing else, move on, take the experience with you.
Chuck Gaidica:
And it's funny that even a routine doctor appointment for me, the doc's office had a smaller, I'm talking table-top size self-contained little waterfall. That was one of the most calming things because oftentimes, people are in a doctor's office for a non-routine thing. That was not my case, but I thought, "Well, that's interesting." That's probably doing all that you've discussed of calming people down before. They're called in for their appointment, right?
Dr. William Beecroft:
Yeah. I've seen that in a lot of physicians' offices and even some hospital lobbies will have a water wall or large fish tanks. People think, well, the large fish tank, they just really like fish. There's actually a purpose for it for the patients and the people coming to visit them is to be able to do that calming effect because there's the white coat phenomenon that you go in and you see the doctor and your blood pressure's real high and you wait 15 minutes and the doctor takes your blood pressure again, and it's pretty normal.
So that problem, if you can get that resolved in the waiting room and really focus on what you're there for, the questions that you have for the doctor, you're going to get more out of that experience in the first place, and it's going to be a more natural environment for them to be able to have what your vital signs are and how you're really functioning on a routine basis, not the excitement of coming to the doctor. And I use that plus or minus excitement. It doesn't have to be that you're real excited to see the doctor but you're anxious as well.
Chuck Gaidica:
So what would be your takeaways from our discussion today that we could leave with the audience?
Dr. William Beecroft:
I think the things are is to be able to really look at your environment, what are things that you can be able to capture in there? The research has found that some of these natural sounds, these natural phenomenon can be helpful for you. Maybe spend some more time going to a local park that has a water source of some sort.
In Lansing, we have that. We have that in Detroit. Most of our big cities are located near rivers or lakes themselves. Being able to spend some time really being in the moment. You can also record some of those situations. I've done that where on long-haul flights, I've recorded Lake Michigan was one, and also a river in Alaska where I was at. And being able to then put your phone or your device on a loop and being able to listen to that, it drowns out some of the engine noise of the airplane and that sort of thing, but it really kind of gets you into that quiet space. The time goes by and you can be able to have a much more enjoyable, long-haul experience than what you would without that, I've found.
You can also use that at work. You could be able to do that for a 15-minute break and be able to get the benefit of those sorts of things and then visualize. The other thing is you can always close your eyes and visualize one of those things. One of the places that I've done many times when I've been either going into a stressful meeting or coming out of one is Hoffmaster State Park. Being able to remember when I was on the beach, feeling the sand bumping against my skin, listening to the water, being able to see the sun reflected from the water as it was going down. These sorts of things are all memories that you can tap into, and you get that flood of oxytocin, those feel-good chemicals, and that relaxation to then get you prepped for doing something that is more anxiety-provoking for you or recovering from that.
Chuck Gaidica:
That's awesome stuff. I have to tell you, I had a doctor that, again, it was a routine appointment, but he would routinely wait 15 minutes after or 10 minutes into a visit and he would say, "Okay, now close your eyes and go to the most calming place you could." For me, it was a waterfront, kind of an oceanfront situation. That's when after he turned the blinds down a little bit, that's when he would take my blood pressure, not when I first came into the office. And I thought, that's really, in my experience, the first doctor that I've ever had that ever did anything close to that.
Dr. William Beecroft:
And I bet you liked him too.
Chuck Gaidica:
Of course. And my blood pressure, which is not an issue for me, thank goodness, it was just normal. I was ramped up or I took the stairs, which I typically do instead of an elevator. Right. And I met right at the door, okay, time to take it. To your points, more than one, it was the perfect situation for me.
Dr. William Beecroft:
Yeah, exactly.
Chuck Gaidica:
Well, it's good to see you again. Thanks so much for all the wisdom.
Dr. William Beecroft:
You're welcome. Have a great day. Thank you for the time.
Chuck Gaidica:
Oh, sure thing. Dr. William Beecroft, who's medical director of behavioral health for Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and the Blue Care Network. We thank him for being with us, and we thank you for listening to A Healthier Michigan podcast. It's brought to you by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan.
If you like our show and you want to know more, you can go take a look at our newly refreshed website. It's ahealthiermichigan.org/podcast. You can leave reviews or ratings on Apple Podcast or Spotify. We've got a YouTube channel. You can follow us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter, and you can get new episodes, all the old episodes. This is episode 159, so there's a lot of stuff. It's a treasure trove of great information. Carry it with you on your smartphone or tablet, and be sure to hit subscribe on your Apple Podcast or Spotify or favorite podcast app.
I'm Chuck Gaidica. Be well.
