Drinking water regularly unlocks a long list of physical health benefits, but a water-rich diet also has a positive impact on your mental health. With every sip, your brain will have what it needs to work faster and you’ll feel these effects through better concentration, focus, and memory.

Drinking water helps to improve your mood too, enabling you to balance emotions and keep stress and anxiety at bay.

Here Amanda Carlson, director of performance nutrition at Athletes’ Performance, explains how:

“Studies have shown that being just half a liter dehydrated can increase your cortisol levels… Cortisol is one of those stress hormones.

Staying in a good hydrated status can keep your stress levels down. When you don’t give your body the fluids it needs, you’re putting stress on it, and it’s going to respond to that.”

It’s not just drinking water that has this profound effect on your mental health, meditating in or close to water is rumoured to relax your mind, body and soul. In this blog post, we take a closer look at water meditation, exploring its many benefits, and how to get started.

The origins

Water has long been connected to calmness and purity. It’s a sacred element across many religions and cultures as a result.

Water is used in Christianity during baptisms, in Shinto to perform purification rituals, and given in Islam as a noble and great reward.

Outside of religion, water plays a crucial part in everyone’s daily lives, and in more basic terms, we are water! The human body consists of between 45 and 75% water – the exact amount depends on your age and gender.

Water meditation is the act of using water to relax your body and mind. It’s long been known to enhance the power of meditation to unlock a whole new level of inner peace and healing.

The technique was first referred to in Taoism, an ancient Chinese tradition founded some 2,500 years ago.

The benefits

Thanks to the flowing, shapeless yet powerful state of water, water meditation has long been linked to several benefits – particularly when using traditional Taoist water meditation techniques regularly.

Water meditation is thought to help you deal with mental and physical traumas; connect your body, mind and soul, enhance the feeling of calmness; relieve stress and anxiety, and boost energy to enable you to be more productive and adaptable in your everyday life.

Water meditation is also said to have a detoxifying effect, with some even believing it has the power to slow or reverse the signs of ageing.

The technique

Whether you choose to meditate in or near water, the power of water meditation is undeniable.

Those lucky enough to live close to one of Britain’s beautiful beaches will be in the perfect position to practice water meditation, although meditating next to any water source is reported to have similar effects. Visit a local lake or river, and find a comfortable spot to start your meditation.

Clear your mind and watch the water, paying particular attention to its movements and ripples. Relax your body and if you do find your mind wanders, bring your thoughts back to the water. Do this for 10 minutes and let your worries wash away.