by Lara Just, May 2025.

If the sea has been calling you lately, you’re not alone. In this latest blog post, I reflect on the connection between water and well-being, and share why I’m offering more coastal walk-and-talk therapy here in Cornwall. This season, we’re exploring the healing powers of the sea—through new films like David Attenborough’s Ocean, the upcoming UN Ocean Conference, and stories like The Salt Path and My Octopus Teacher. Living by the Cornish coast reminds me daily of how the ocean restores us—body, mind, and soul…

As the sun lingers longer and the days stretch into summer, many of us feel drawn to the coast—not just for leisure, but for something deeper. Living and working by the ocean in Hayle, Cornwall, I witness daily how the rhythms of the sea mirror our own: sometimes still, sometimes turbulent, always in motion. And in that motion, something shifts in us too.

This season, the ocean is at the heart of global conversations. David Attenborough’s powerful new film Ocean, released alongside his 99th birthday, reminds us that our seas are not only breathtaking but vital. Filmed over four years and shown on screens this May, the documentary delivers a dual message: that ocean destruction is real—but so is its resilience. If we give it space to heal, it can recover rapidly. It’s a hopeful message at a critical time, with the UN Ocean Conference in Nice (France) approaching on June 13.

For those of us who live by the coast, the healing power of water isn’t just theory—it’s daily life. From wild swims to wind-whipped walks along the coastal path, the ocean invites a kind of presence that stills the mind and softens the heart. It’s no wonder that time by the sea is now being recognised not just for physical well-being, but for mental and emotional restoration too.

One of the most moving portrayals of this connection is the film My Octopus Teacher (Netflix), where a filmmaker builds a profound bond with an octopus in a South African kelp forest. It’s a poetic reminder of how deep the conversation between humans and nature can go, when we’re willing to slow down and listen.

Closer to home, the upcoming film adaptation of The Salt Path—based on Raynor Winn’s bestselling memoir—tells the true story of walking 600 miles of the South West Coast Path, a journey sparked by illness and homelessness, but transformed by resilience, nature, and the healing landscape of the sea. It was a path not only to recovery but to reconnection—with self, with place, with possibility.

As an outdoor therapist, I’ve witnessed this first-hand. Walk-and-talk sessions by the coast offer something special—an unspoken support from the elements, a holding presence in the waves and wind. Whether it’s dipping your toes into cold sea water or simply standing still to breathe in the salt air, the invitation is always there: to come back to yourself.

As summer begins to unfold, may we walk lightly along these paths, honour the waters that hold us, and remember that healing, like the tide, is always within reach.