By Kary Vannice
Long before anyone measured cortisol in a lab, people were wading into rivers, lakes and streams to let go of what they were carrying. When we think of the health benefits of water, we usually think only of drinking it to stay hydrated. But water does more for us than simply keep us alive. For thousands of years, people have turned to water for more than just survival. They have sought it out for comfort, healing, renewal, purification, and perspective.
In Judaism, the mikvah is a ritual bath used not for hygiene but for spiritual cleansing and transformation. In Islam, wudu prepares the body and mind for prayer through ritual washing. In Hinduism, bathing in the Ganges is believed to purify the soul and release old burdens. Christian baptism symbolizes death and rebirth, the letting go of one identity and the emergence of another.
And here in Mexico, water has played a similarly powerful role.
The Maya viewed cenotes as sacred portals to Xibalba, the underworld, places where communication between worlds was possible. The temazcal, used by the Maya, Aztecs, and Toltecs, combined water, steam, heat, and ritual to support purification and renewal. Throughout Mexico, thermal springs became places where people gathered for both physical healing and spiritual restoration.
Each of these practices emerged independently, in cultures separated by oceans and centuries, often with no contact at all. And yet they kept landing on the same instinct: that water engages human emotion. It changes us and it heals us.
The religious historian Mircea Eliade spent much of his career studying these patterns, and he noted something simple but profound, that across an enormous range of spiritual traditions, water consistently shows up as the element that dissolves, washes away, purifies, and renews.
Only recently has science begun building a vocabulary for what these traditions always knew to be true. Researchers have identified a measurable shift that happens in the nervous system when someone is near water. They experience lowered stress hormones, a calmer body, a different quality of attention.
Marine biologist Wallace J. Nichols coined the term Blue Mind to describe this mildly meditative state. He described water as something that quiets all the surrounding noise and distraction and reconnects us to our own thoughts.
Researchers studying so-called “blue spaces” have reached similar conclusions. These environments, which include oceans, rivers, lakes, wetlands, and coastlines, are increasingly associated with improved mental wellbeing.
Environmental psychologist Mathew White of the University of Exeter has found that people who spend time near water often report greater happiness and lower levels of psychological distress. Some studies even suggest that people who live near coastlines experience higher overall wellbeing than those who live farther inland.
It seems modern-day science is “discovering” what our ancestors knew all along. But water’s influence doesn’t stop with the mind.
Research suggests that ocean swimming can reduce stress, lower anxiety, improve mood, stimulate circulation, and support overall health. Seawater contains minerals that benefit the skin, while ocean air carries microscopic sea particles that contribute to respiratory health and a greater sense of wellbeing.
Thermal waters also offer many health benefits. Long valued by cultures around the world, mineral-rich hot springs can relax muscles, improve circulation, reduce joint stiffness, and ease chronic pain. And people who soak in thermal waters often describe not just physical relief, but also mental restoration and renewal.
Even the sound of water appears to have beneficial effects on us. The rhythmic crash of waves, the gentle fall of rain, the steady movement of a river. These sounds calm the nervous system and promote deeper sleep.
Since ancient times, water has been used as medicine physically, emotionally, and spiritually. What’s telling is not that just a few cultures discovered this, but that nearly every culture has.
The Maya sought wisdom and connection through sacred cenotes. Romans built elaborate bathhouses devoted to healing. Indigenous peoples throughout the Americas used water and steam for purification and transformation. Today, that instinct has simply found a new vocabulary. Doctors in the UK are now writing “Bluescriptions”, as part of a growing program that uses nature to treat anxiety, stress, and other mental health struggles.
Because water is all around us, anyone can write their own Bluescription. Just consider which form of water would offer the most support, drinking it, bathing in it, swimming in it, listening to it, watching it, walking near it, or even just picturing it in your imagination. Each of these has demonstrated real benefits for better health. The idea is surprisingly simple: water doesn’t have to be extraordinary to be healing. It simply has to be present.
Kary Vannice is a writer and energetic healer who explores the intersections of culture, consciousness, and daily life in Mexico.
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