Dan's Papers - August 24, 2007 - The Benefits of a Quick Ocean Dip

Just as the bite of autumn creeps into the August evening air, you may be packing up your bags. You may be allowing your brain to jump forward a month, to school days and Halloween parades. Thoughts of where you'll spend Thanksgiving may have even begun to crop up in your mind. But if this is the case, you have hit the fast-forward button on your life. It is still August and now is the best time to enjoy the greatest thing summer has to offer: the ocean.

June and July held the promise of a summer ahead, but they also brought the sting of the ocean's bitter bite. Your freshly tanned skin would crawl with goose bumps as soon as you submerged yourself in those chilly Atlantic waves. But now, after many hot summer weeks have sizzled deep into the surface of the ocean, the water temperature has warmed up. It is now the perfect time to incorporate a daily dip into your ritual. According to the National Oceanographic Data Center (NODC), the ocean water at Montauk Point is warmer now than it will be at any other point in the year. At Montauk Point, the water now registers at 70 degrees, up from 67 degrees on July 15.

Swimming in the ocean is not only extremely pleasant this time of year; it is also excellent for your body and your mind. Swimming is an aerobic exercise that keeps oxygen flowing throughout the body for the duration of the swim. Therefore, it improves your overall cardiovascular fitness. At the same time, swimming lowers your blood pressure, lowers cholesterol, raises your energy levels, and helps you lose body fat. Swimming has also been known to help decrease anxiety and stress and alleviate depression.

Also, because your body is made up mostly of water, you are very well supported in the water. Therefore, the whole time you are undergoing this intense workout, your body is well supported. This means there is less stress on the areas of your body you don't want to be overworking, like the joints and bones. This allows you to work harder in the areas that need the workout, like the muscles.

Salt water has beneficial effects on skin, hair, and sinuses too. Salt therapy is often used to help rejuvenate cells and to eliminate toxins. In the 5,000-year old Indian tradition of Ayurvedic medicine, salt water is used to flush out the sinuses. A device called a neti pot is often employed to clear the nasal passageways. This is done by administering warm saltwater into one nostril, and allowing it to flow out the other. But you can get a similarly cleansing effect by simply immersing yourself in the ocean water on a consistent basis, and breathing deeply as you swim.

Salt water has a beneficial impact on breathing and sinuses. Along the line of neti pots, saline solutions are often used in lieu of decongestants to relieve stuffy noses. The saltwater does various things, like removing mucus from the nose, reducing nasal stuffiness, and reducing postnasal drip. Saline also removes 80% of allergens, thins out thickened secretions, and shrinks swollen membranes. If creating a saline solution at home has such an impact, inhaling the benefits straight from the ocean has similar positive effects.

The ocean water is deeply rejuvenating to the skin as well. Even the texture of the water helps keep the skin healthy by acting as an exfoliator, getting rid of dead skin so that healthy, new skin can shine through. Sea salt baths are often recommended by health and beauty experts to help cleanse the pores and detoxify the body. But why spend hundreds of dollars on a special spa treatment when you can get the real thing right outside your back door? For the next few weeks, the water temperatures will remain high and the beaches brilliant, so treat yourself to the ultimate beauty treatment: nature's remedy.

Perhaps the most important benefit the ocean has is the impact it can have on the spirit. There is nothing I find more reassuring than the fact that the tides keep coming in and going out with the same consistency, no matter what state my life is in. So if ever you're feeling overwhelmed, or stressed, or tired, or alone, just go to the shores of that mighty ocean. Every time you return, it will offer you an abundance of gifts.