Seek both green and blue space
Include water settings, not only greenery, in your restorative time.
Key takeaways
- What it is: Include water settings, not only greenery, in your restorative time.
- Why it works: Both vegetated ("green") and water-based ("blue") environments offer the soft fascination and coherence that ART says drive restoration. Water in particular tends to score high on perceived restorativeness, giving another reliable route to engage attention gently and recover directed focus.
- Evidence: Backed by observational / correlational evidence.
- Avoid: Assuming only forests "count" and overlooking accessible water settings that may be just as restorative and easier to reach.
Why it works
Both vegetated ("green") and water-based ("blue") environments offer the soft fascination and coherence that ART says drive restoration. Water in particular tends to score high on perceived restorativeness, giving another reliable route to engage attention gently and recover directed focus.
How to do it
- 1When possible, choose routes or spots near water — a river, lake, shore, or fountain.
- 2Combine green and blue space when both are accessible.
- 3Spend the time attending to the scene rather than to your phone.
What the evidence says
ObservationalA growing body of "blue space" research associates time near water with improved wellbeing and restoration, broadly consistent with green-space findings.
Honest caveat: Much blue-space evidence is observational and confounded by access, activity, and socioeconomic factors; the direction is encouraging but causal strength is limited.
- — White et al., blue-space exposure and wellbeing research
Common mistake
Assuming only forests "count" and overlooking accessible water settings that may be just as restorative and easier to reach.
IX Coach helps you find the most restorative setting actually available to you — green or blue — rather than skipping restoration because the ideal place is out of reach.
Practice this with IX Coach →