Wrapping Up the Year with Blue Zone Moments

Drs. Caroline Gerin-Lajoie & Kerri Ritchie

2023 has been an incredibly stressful period for so many. Reaching the end of a calendar year may be an opportunity to reflect back and look forward. For all of us working in healthcare, we face unique challenges. December also adds on another level of stress. It is darker, colder and we tend to get busier trying to fit in everything, even if we are fortunate enough to have some days off. Try to add some “Blue Zone” moments.

The Blue Zone involves shifting ourselves out of the busyness of our lives, when we have a lot going on. The goal is to shift into a place where there are less distractions, where there is more of a feeling of calm and quietness, which allows us to get out of out heads and grounds us back into our bodies.

There are a few ways that we can get into Blue Zone moments. Water, which can include being near bodies of water, looking at pictures of water, or allowing ourselves to notice the water during showers, baths, or in the sink can bring us to the Blue Zone.

 Water slows down our breathing and narrows down our attention, which makes our body feel like it can start to restore itself.

Alternative:

Research suggests that this restorations goes down to the cellular level for us when we can get to the blue zone.

Spending time in nature, including looking at or being around trees, and forests, reduces our blood pressure and inflammation. Research suggests that it taps into our evolutionary senses of safety. Once we start to recharge our system, we can have space to step back and think about what happened over this past year and where we would like to go moving ahead.