Anyone who lives or vacations near the water knows the healing and restorative effects it can have on one’s mind, body, and soul.

Most people might not have a name for this phenomenon, and some just know the sense of calm it brings.

The term “Blue Mind Theory” – first popularized in 2014 by marine biologist Wallace J. Nichols’ book “Blue Mind” – suggests water can lower stress levels by reducing a person’s “fight or flight” response as well as increasing feelings of peace and well-being. The theory holds that water fosters a state of serenity, creativity, and happiness.

But for Amanda Abbott, it’s simply called Gulf Therapy.

Born and raised in Destin, Abbott returned to the Emerald Coast in 2011 after more than a dozen years away at college and in Chicago and New York working in the fashion industry. Following a traumatic experience, she said she found herself back in the gulf waters. 

“What helped me the most during that time was getting on my paddleboard in the morning,” Abbott said. “It was time for reflection and time for prayer. But I also noticed all of the pain I was feeling started to slowly be released on the water. So, for me, it was a transformational time in my life.

“It was a turning point in my life. Looking back, the experience I went through was a blessing. I wanted to be better and to live a healthier, cleaner life. That’s what was easiest for me to get to a better state of mind and feel better. I realized we all have this right in front of us if we slow down and just do it. You have to honor your body, your health, and your mind.”

When she realized the restorative effect it had on her, Abbott knew she had to share it with others.

First, she had a group of others who went paddleboarding. In 2012, she did the first Paddle for Prevention for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention. As more and more people reached out wanting to know when they could benefit from this therapy, Abbott said she realized she needed to expand. She started Gulf Therapy in 2017 and turned it into a nonprofit in 2019.

“It has just kept evolving,” Abbott said. “I felt compelled to help other people, and I feel as if God led me to do it.”

Abbott said Gulf Therapy is essentially using nature as a healing element. 

“We live in such an amazing place,” she said. “It’s just beautiful. For our sessions, we go out on the first and third Friday of every month. We go out early in the morning. Part of it is getting out of bed, getting that fresh sunlight first thing in the morning. There are birds chirping, marine life in the gulf and usually calmer water. There’s something about waking up, looking at things like that, rather than a to-do list. It sets your circadian rhythm.

“We launch in Grayton Beach at the Western Lake boat launch. We paddle the lake – it’s easier for beginners – down to the beach. Dune Lake, the state park, and sand dunes are to the left. I bring coffee. A lot of it is about connection and community. It’s a safe space to talk and find support. We see a lot of the same faces. It’s good connection and conversation.

“We take a moment to sit and be still. I like to call it intentional paddleboarding. We do it for a mental health release … to take a moment to breathe, even if someone is just having a hard time. Using saltwater and what God provided for us to help create a sense of calm. We paddle some. But even if we’re paddling down from the lake to the beach, we take time to sit down, lay down and float, and look at the beauty around us. It’s amazing what that can do to your body and mental state.”

If the water is calm and still, Abbott said the group can see dolphins, manatees, sharks, sea turtles and manta rays.

“We just get out in the water,” she said. “Others choose to sit on the beach. It’s 90 minutes together, and it gives us a chance to connect with each other and with nature.”

Nature, of course, is a big part of the process.

“There is science behind it,” Abbott said, citing Blue Mind Theory. “Hearing the sound of water moving, no matter what water it is, actually connects with the brain and calms your body and nerves down. And, salt water has so many benefits for the mind and body. Nature is the therapy.”

Abbott said she has been fortunate to see some “beautiful breakthroughs” among members of the group. 

“There’s no judgment,” she said. “It’s a safe space. We have some pretty in-depth conversations sometimes. I see it as a platform for people to communicate and get help if they need it. If I see someone needing more help, we work to line them up with local counselors and specialists and other methods that help. We have fundraisers to pay for that.”

One of those fundraisers is the annual Paddle for Peace. September’s event included more than 200 paddlers and raised more than $30,000. The group also hosts smaller events throughout the year, and all funds raised from these events – as well as donations – go back to the community. Abbott said she is fortunate to have support from the community and businesses that help with Paddle for Peace and the other events. Tyler “TK” King of Adventure 30A provides board rentals. Other supporters include the YOLO Board Tribe and Grayton Beach Surf Club.

Abbott said she is incredibly proud of the help Gulf Therapy has provided to so many over the years. 

“There have been at least four people who have been in emotional crisis, and we’ve been able to save them,” she said. “We were able to get them the right care they needed. I feel as if it’s God working through me to help align people in the right places at the right time.”

Beverly Kennedy can attest to that. She said she was struggling with PTSD and the challenges of being a young single mother.

“It’s expensive to get mental health care,” Kennedy said. “I basically was having a mental health crisis. I really felt as if I was not going to make it. Now, because of therapy, not only do I not have those really hard thoughts, but my entire life has expanded into having as much support as I need to make all of my dreams come true personally and professionally.”

And, she credits Abbott for that.

“Amanda is just such an incredible person,” Kennedy said. “She’s so impactful for those who are intimately involved with her. She’s doing it for all of us who need help. I’m so grateful to Amanda and Gulf Therapy. It’s so cool to see a nonprofit doing the work it says it’s going to do and helping people in the community.”

Kennedy, a massage therapist, said the sense of community is the biggest benefit for her.

“Even if you go and spend time on the water independently of everyone else there rather than just going to paddleboard alone,” she said. “Even if you aren’t talking to someone, you still feel like you’re talking to someone, you know? It’s just really nice. The water is support, but the community is an even greater support.

“It honestly saved my life.”

Another woman who has benefited from Gulf Therapy’s healing power is Julie Spears, who lost her 16-year-old son in 2016 in a car accident. She said she felt lost and couldn’t find herself.

She started paddleboarding soon after Zachary’s accident, and it quickly became her outlet and helped her along on her self-healing journey. She began to find solace on the water. Spears connected with Abbott a year or so later.

“She had just started Gulf Therapy,” Spears said. “I just felt like I needed to go find a community. Well, I found Gulf Therapy, and it just felt … right. I felt like I belonged right when I walked up. I felt like I could do this. And, all of that came from Amanda’s love and support.”

Spears said that love and support she felt was unspoken.

“It was hard to get out there sometimes,” Spears said. “But, I didn’t give up. Amanda and some of the other people there never quit calling me. They’d just remind me of the next session. And when I did go, we didn’t have to talk about what had happened in my life. But they were there supporting me.

“It was a very safe place. I didn’t have to talk. There was no pressure. It was a place I didn’t have to hide what I’d been through. When I’m out on the water, I just feel so close to God … so close to my son.”

In 2020, Spears lost her job because of the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“I lost my career,” she said. “But being out on the water with Amanda and all of the support from that community, it just really encouraged me to keep going.”

She turned that negative into a positive.

Spears started teaching paddleboarding classes. And, she soon was providing grief coaching to other mothers who had experienced the pain of losing a child. She also began hosting Tangled Grief retreats.

“Going out to the water to paddle became a self-healing journey that I feel led to share with others, especially after experiencing the world’s weight drop off of me when on the board,” Spears said. “Today, I love nothing more than sharing this experience with others. I feel so blessed to be able to support moms who have lost a child by coaching them about the biology of trauma and what child loss does to the body.”

And, it all began at Gulf Therapy.

“It was very much a safe place based in faith and an escape from the world,” Spears said. “All of the people who interacted with me there didn’t know I had lost my son until I started promoting my workshops and retreats about grief. Amanda stops by at all of my retreats. She has been an amazing cheerleader for me. They have not only been a support group, but they’ve also helped me re-establish who I am. They knew the real raw me, and they chose me.”

Spears said she still attends Gulf Therapy when she can.

“Because I understand what it’s like to be isolated and alone,” she said. “They love me for exactly who I am, and that’s life-changing. The people I met through Gulf Therapy are really who changed me.

“I feel like when I’m on the water, it allows me to see I am just a grain of sand, and there’s so much more to this life that you can’t see. It’s encouraging. I see that I can do this. It’s about finding yourself and realizing you aren’t alone.”

Spears said Gulf Therapy is a place that “gave me permission to just be me, just as I was.”

“When you lose a child, you lose yourself. You forget how to exist in the world,” she said. “Gulf Therapy gave me a place where I didn’t have to care what anybody thought, because it didn’t matter. I wasn’t there to make friends or put on a face. I was there because I needed peace.

“With Amanda, I knew I was safe. I could have people around and still cry and sit there knowing I’d be okay. Some days it was just smiles — I’d stay to myself, and that was enough. And other days, it felt like you knew you were supposed to be there, because the conversations were deep and unexpected and needed — for you or for them. I’ve got lifetime friendships that were made at Gulf Therapy.

“Amanda created a space where I could find community without the pressure of it. She let me be who I was, with all kinds of people around, all of us carrying our own problems. That kind of acceptance is rare. That’s healing. The kind of acceptance where you’re okay as you are, in whatever place you’re in. I don’t even know if they knew I had lost a child. We didn’t have to talk about it.”

Spears called Gulf Therapy “a safe place to land” if you’re struggling, broken, or need peace.

“Just come paddle,” she said. “Enjoy the world. Know you’re in a safe space with no expectations and no forced conversations. You can’t go wrong. Don’t be alone. Go to Gulf Therapy. And honestly, I probably wouldn’t be leading retreats or doing half the things I’m doing today without the support and love from the people I met at Gulf Therapy. They showed me I could be loved and that in the darkest moments I was still seen. They gave me hope.”

Abbott said she vividly remembers Spears’ “transformational shift.”

“She got more comfortable, and she started feeling better,” Abbott said. “That was the starting point for her to get to a better place. Now, she does retreats for other moms, and she leads her own paddleboard group. She was broken, but she pushed through and is now helping other mothers who have been in that situation.”

Abbott also recalled another woman who found the help she needed in a 30-day treatment center for something she had been dealing with for years.

“The main thing, for me, is for people to know that it’s OK to take time just to be still, have some self-care, and do what’s needed for yourself,” Abbott said. “I’m encouraging people to get some time for themselves. It can help with depression, mental illness, and even just provide a release.

“If we can just help one person and save them, it’s all worth it.”