Inc. Magazine: This Is Your Brain on the Beach

It's the middle of July and you might be heads down at the office, but many of you are probably finding your mind wandering this time of year. Likely, most of you are daydreaming of the same place--the beach.

The rolling waves, the warm sun, the salt smell, the sand under your feet, the beach represents the ultimate in relaxation for many of us. And research backs up our intuition that the sea has a profoundly positive effect on our psychology. Last year my Inc.com colleague Anne Gherini offered a great rundown of what the beach does to your brain.

But why is that? Why does this one particular kind of place call to us in such an irresistible way? Turns out, science has a few good guesses, and they go way back to our hunter-gatherer ancestors.

You are hard-wired to love the beach.

According to marine biologist and author Wallace Nichols, there's a name for the mysterious connection between humans and the sea. It's also the name of his book: Blue Mind. The phrase describes a "a mildly meditative state characterized by calm, peacefulness, unity, and a sense of general happiness and satisfaction with life in the moment," which we experience when we're near water, he writes in a long and fascinating excerpt on Salon.

Read more here.