Diving into harmony : exploring aquatic metaphors and wellbeing

This paper explores positive experiences of water expressed in French and their English translations, with a focus on wellbeing. Language shapes how we relate to nature, influencing our thoughts and behaviours. While patterns of positive framing of water are often overshadowed by negative discourses related to aquatic ecosystems, highlighting positive experiences is crucial for understanding water's role in healing and transformation. The tenets of cognitive linguistics motivate this study to analyse the conceptualisation of water showing how humans mentally structure positive water-human relationships through language and thought. Extending cognitive linguistic theory to an ecolinguistic framework offers a niche for studying water metaphors. These metaphors are not treated in isolation but are examined within a wellbeing context to identify patterns of rich sensory experiences and sustainable relationships with water. This is demonstrated through the qualitative analysis of 150 water metaphors that showcase the most prevalent ones related to wellbeing and the emotions they evoke, emphasising water's role as a restorative environment.