The Aspen Institute

The world is awash in tension as a result of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and disruptions that are challenging deep-rooted systemic inequities at the most fundamental levels of our society.

Even those who remain healthy face isolation, unemployment, financial instability, disruption of childcare and school, trauma, and any number of affiliated complications, all of which can cause stress levels to skyrocket. As Americans learn to adapt to restrictions to protect our physical health and seek to come to terms with our history, we must develop tools to help manage our emotional health.

A growing body of research shows how one of our planet’s unique, most precious, and nearly ubiquitous resources—water—can make us happier, healthier, and better equipped to take on the challenges we face today.

From a paddle downstream to a walk on the beach to a picnic by a pond or even a quiet soak in your tub, time spent near, in, on, or under the water can have real, quantifiable health and wellness benefits.

Join the Aspen Institute’s High Seas Initiative and Health, Medicine, and Society Program for a discussion of the healing power of water and nature.

Panelists:

• Dr. Wallace “J” Nichols, PhD ., marine biologist and author of Blue Mind, Senior Fellow at The Center for the Blue Economy, Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey.

• Dr. Nooshin Razani, M.D., Director of the Center for Nature and Health, UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital Oakland

• Dr. Mat White, Environmental Psychologist, University of Exeter Medical School