Sun worshipers rejoice – the beach can be a more healthy and beneficial place to take a vacation than even a health and fitness resort. Visitors to the beaches can leave with more than just a great tan; they can return from their vacation mentally sharpened, physically stronger, and happier than when they left.

Health Benefit 1: Mentally Sharpened

Relaxing on the beach may seem like a “brainless” pastime, but giving your mind time off from the pressures and stress of work and a hectic schedule will leave you feeling less tense, less stressed, and recharged when it’s time to head home.

Employees who take regular vacations return to work with more energy and focus than when they left, making time on the beach an investment in your long-term performance at work.

Health Benefit 2: Physically Stronger

Next to the sand on the beach, you will find the ocean, or lake, or lagoon. Whichever large body of water you can see from your lounge chair, jumping in and taking a swim is some of the best exercise you can get.

Benefits of swimming include:

• Swimming is low-impact cardiovascular exercise, meaning that swimmers raise their heart rate, use their muscles, and burn calories without damaging their joints or risking long-term injuries.
• Burn calories while toning muscles, but even standing in the ocean uses muscles.
• Remaining upright in the ocean requires the use of muscles in the back, legs, and arms leaving a beach vacationer stronger and more fit than before they got in the water even if they never swim a single stroke.

Health Benefit 3: Happier

It goes without saying that most people return from their vacation happier than they were when the left. Relaxation and sunshine have that effect on people! But there is a chemical explanation for the happiness felt after a beach vacation: both endorphins and vitamin D elevate moods naturally.

• Endorphins: These natural mood elevators are released by the body after physical activity. A five minute walk on the beach is sufficient to get endorphins flowing, making beach-goers feel happier.
• Vitamin D: While too much sun can leave a vacationer burnt and painful, a certain amount of vitamin D is recommended daily and can be obtained through exposure to the sun. Insufficient amounts of vitamin D impairs the calcium density in bones and has been linked to seasonal affective disorder and depression.

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