I’ll never tire of looking at waterfalls and I suspect that this is true for you as well. It is not just the large and spectacular ones but waterfalls of every description. The sight of falling water is almost certain to arrest our attention, give us pleasure and lift our spirits. There are very good reasons why we go out of way to look at waterfalls and to “play” in, under and around them.
I have always assumed that our attraction to waterfalls stems from our general, innate disposition to find beauty in natural features, especially ones associated with water. This assumption is correct as far as it goes, but there is something more to the almost magical appeal of waterfalls. That “something” comprises countless invisible particles that are created by the motion of the falling water.
(Beware – some physics 101 ahead!) Like everything else in the universe, the oxygen in the air is made up of atoms, tiny, tiny objects consisting of a nucleus surrounded by circulating electrons (think of a planet with orbiting moons). The electrons in an atom are held in place by the force of electricity, the nucleus having a positive electrical charge while each electron having a negative one. When an atom is intact, it is electrically neutral (the different charges of the nucleus and electrons balancing each other).
But in a waterfall, the collision of the water molecules (which comprise oxygen and hydrogen atoms) strips electrons from the oxygen in the water allowing them to accumulate in the oxygen atoms in the surrounding air. This creates electrically charged particles called ions, some positively charged – those oxygen atoms in the water with fewer electrons than normal – others with a negative charge – those oxygen atoms in the air with more electrons than normal. The same thing happens in the surf, during a thunderstorm and even in your shower – the water becomes positively charged as the surrounding air acquires a negative charge.
Generally speaking, positive ions are harmful to the human body while negative ions are beneficial. Have you noticed that on dry, windy days you can feel out-of-sorts? Such days are not welcomed by school teachers because they tend to make children irritable and unsettled.
Scientists attribute these effects to an overload of positive ions in the human body. In parts of the world affected by desert winds like the Sirocco from the Sahara or the hot, dry foehn winds that flow down the leeside of mountains, these effects spill over into higher rates of mental distress, hospital admissions, suicide and crime.
In contrast, being near a waterfall, on a beach or even under the shower makes you feel refreshed, happy and energised. These are just some of the effects that a high loading of negative ions has on us.
Normal fresh air has about 2-3000 negative ions per cubic centimetre (the size of a sugar cube) but around a waterfall or by the ocean the count can be in the tens of thousands! Alarmingly, however, the count in the average office, car and over-heated or stuffy house can be dangerously low – zero to a few hundred per cubic centimetre. So those headaches, feelings of fatigue and concentration difficulties, together with the general malaise you perhaps associate with work, may not be “just the job”, but the result of spending too long indoors breathing in too many positive ions and too few negative ones.
If your house or office is in a natural setting – greenery is also a good source of negative ions – the remedy may be as simple as opening the window and taking a few deep breaths. In the right environmental circumstances, the advice to “go and get some fresh air” is very sound indeed.
Sitting by a waterfall, walking on a beach, spending time in a garden or otherwise increasing our exposure to negative ions benefits our well-being in a host of ways, including:
- Lifting mood and alleviating depression
- Reducing anxiety
- Keeping our airways functioning efficiently
- Accelerating recovery from fatigue
- Increasing energy by stimulating metabolism
- Strengthening resistance to illness
Negative ions produce these and other benefits by interacting directly with our physiology – by moderating levels of the mood chemical serotonin in our brain, for example, by stimulating the activity of the protective cilia in our airways, by dilating blood vessels or by increasing the alkalinity of our blood.
Negative ions also help to protect our health by removing mould spores, dust, bacteria and pollutants from the air we breathe.
It is certainly worthwhile taking whatever steps we can to increase our exposure to negative ions (and reducing the intake of positive ones). Apart from the obvious one of spending as much time in natural settings as we possibly can, there are others worth considering:
- Surround yourself with greenery – indoors and outdoors (Recall the principles of biophilic design)
- Put a water feature in your garden or create a garden with one
- Eliminate pollutants such as cigarette smoke, exhaust fumes and chemical particulates from living areas
- Replace air-conditioned with natural ventilation as much as practicable
- Open windows to let fresh air flow freely
Can’t you think of anything negative about waterfalls. I mean I know that waterfalls are good for our health and your thinking is really good. But when there’s light, there’s always a shadow.
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Thank you for your comment, Sok Mouy. I have tried hard to think of something negative by reviewing my many experiences with waterfalls. On occasions, I have found them intimidating, especially when I have had to abseil down them, but that’s about it as far as negative reactions are concerned. You may be interested to learn that the “What is it about waterfalls” post is the most viewed (by a wide margin) of all my 100 plus blog posts. I don’t know why, but there it is. Les
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