AAUW-Vero Beach Presents: Your Brain on Water (Spoiler Alert: It’s Good!)

People love to walk on the beach, or the boardwalk. Inland, we often seek out a river or a lake. Many of us pay a premium to buy a home with a water view. Believe it or not, there’s actually a scientific reason why we gravitate toward water, and you can learn about it at the AAUW-Vero Beach’s Book Review Breakfast at 9:30am Monday, Dec. 4, in the Richardson Center of the Vero Beach campus of Indian River State College. Kendra Cope Bergman, Executive Director, Coastal Connections, will review “Blue Mind: The Surprising Science That Shows How Being Near, In, On, or Under Water Can Make You Happier, Healthier, More Connected, and Better at What You Do,” by Wallace J. Nichols.

Combining cutting-edge neuroscience with compelling personal stories from top athletes, leading scientists, military veterans, and gifted artists, in “Blue Mind,” author Wallace Nichols shows how proximity to water can improve performance, increase calm, diminish anxiety, and increase professional success. “Nichols draws on science and art, hard data and anecdote, and plenty of experience, to explain our blue mind in detail. Not just what it is, but how we can enter into this state and — perhaps most important — why we should do so,” said a Washington Post review of “Blue Mind.”

As Founder and Executive Director of Coastal Connections, Kendra Cope Bergman puts a local perspective on Nichols’ research. Coastal Connections’ mission is to protect coastal habitats for sea turtle survival by educating and connecting people to the environment.

The Book Review Breakfast is free and open to the public, although donations of new or gently used children’s books are encouraged. The books are used to stock the local AAUW’s four “Little Free Libraries” for children in the community.
AAUW-Vero Beach is a 501(c)3 charitable organization, whose purpose is to advance equity for women and girls through advocacy, education, and research. We support scholarships, grants and programs for women and girls in Indian River County.