‘Creepy’ photo of identically dressed group in apparent trance state at the beach has locals worried

A “strange” photo taken at a Sydney beach has Australians freaking out – but there’s a simple explanation behind the “scary” photo.

The picture shows a large number of people dressed in dark clothing who are dotted across Balmoral Beach while all looking out towards the ocean, seemingly in a trance.

A confused onlooker shared the image of the unusual scene, taking to a local Facebook page to ask if anyone knew what was happening.

“Does anyone know why people stand individually on Balmoral Beach on Sunday mornings? I would love to know,” she wrote in the Mosman Living group.

Her post quickly garnered attention, with many offering an explanation while others left hilarious musings about how “creepy” and “scary” the snap appeared.

“Could it be a cult?” one speculated.

“They’re waiting for the mothership,” a user wrote, as another joked: “I’m just waiting for Jesus to walk out of the water now.”

“Why do I hear a choir of angels singing? So many questions…” someone else added.

“Looks like a zombie movie,” one guy suggested.

Another stated they’d “never seen this” before, as one labelled the scene “weird.”

In truth, the reason so many people were standing – while spaced so far apart – looking out to the ocean at the same time is because they were engaging in a mental health exercise.

“It is a meditation group doing what’s called a ‘walking meditation’ – where instead of sitting down to meditate you walk along, stand still at different times and then lie down at the end,” one woman explained.

Despite partaking in a very popular act of meditation, there were plenty who pointed out: “It does look strange though doesn’t it?”

“As a resident of Mosman I believe this phenomena is referred to as Hunds Rule,” another teased.

Mostly though, people made jokes about what the beachgoers could be doing, including “pondering on the existential threat of the next rate rise.”

“Look it could be meditation, it could be a cult, it could be aliens,” another teased.

The weekly event is hosted every Sunday and uses a technique developed by Dr. Joe Dispenza, an American scientist and registered chiropractor, who runs meditation sessions around the world.

According to Dr. Zac, news.com.au’s in-house medical expert, meditation puts the body into a relaxation response, which is the opposite bodily reaction to the one that causes cortisol production.

Studies show this can be beneficial for reducing stress-related inflammation, decreasing levels of stress and lowering depression levels as well as alleviating anxiety and panic attacks and the promotion of workplace productivity.

“Meditation is a beloved practice by the health and wellness community. Others may say it’s just hippies and greenies, but the use of meditation is more widespread in society than you’d think – and it definitely doesn’t need to be as arduous as it is often perceived to be,” he said.

“Meditation rewires your brain, building new roads and destroying others.

“It decreases the neurological connections to the media prefrontal cortex – which is the part of the brain responsible for fear, stress and anxiety.

“Alongside this, it builds new pathways to the parts of your brain responsible for focus and decision making.”