A giant 48-inch screen that stretches across the width of the Nautilus unlocks that relaxing multisensory experience with what Lincoln calls Lincoln Rejuvenate. It’s a bit cheesy, but Lincoln used the recent National Relaxation Day to highlight its vehicles’ calming abilities and point to a study it commissioned from Purdue University that found that 53 percent of Americans struggle to find a suitable place to unwind.

We give Lincoln credit for wanting to see if the whole Zen thing was more than just marketing. “We wanted to see the proof in the pudding,” said Justine Nestorowich, one of the Vehicle Harmony engineers behind Lincoln Rejuvenate. She wanted data to validate the benefits, to see if it actually reduces stress.

The study found sitting back and embracing the music, lights, scents, graphics, and massaging seat did in fact support short-term relaxation and measurably reduced stress while parked and zoning out. The measurable part: The study consisted of 43 participants who underwent a stress test. They were divided into a control group that did not get the experience, a group that used Rejuvenate with scent therapy, and a third group with Rejuvenate but no sweet scents wafting through the cabin.

Science Says Our Lincoln Nautilus Is a Great Place to Relax

Lincoln Rejuvenate will help soothe your soul.Alisa PriddleWriter

Jim FetsPhotographerMotorTrend StaffPhotographerSep 08, 2025

Lincoln has spent years creating vehicles with the tagline “quiet flight” to capture its goal of transporting occupants to a calming oasis via a cushioned ride experience. The American luxury brand focused on making its vehicles a sanctuary, setting itself apart from longtime rival Cadillac with the pursuit of edgier design and performance. Our yearlong review 2025 Lincoln Nautilus SUV is no exception. It feels like a tranquil garden with its comforting cabin layout and materials, massaging seats, infused scents, and soothing ambient lighting. It turns out that science backs the Zenlike emotions we feel inside our Nautilus.

Data Supports It

A giant 48-inch screen that stretches across the width of the Nautilus unlocks that relaxing multisensory experience with what Lincoln calls Lincoln Rejuvenate. It’s a bit cheesy, but Lincoln used the recent National Relaxation Day to highlight its vehicles’ calming abilities and point to a study it commissioned from Purdue University that found that 53 percent of Americans struggle to find a suitable place to unwind.

We give Lincoln credit for wanting to see if the whole Zen thing was more than just marketing. “We wanted to see the proof in the pudding,” said Justine Nestorowich, one of the Vehicle Harmony engineers behind Lincoln Rejuvenate. She wanted data to validate the benefits, to see if it actually reduces stress.

The study found sitting back and embracing the music, lights, scents, graphics, and massaging seat did in fact support short-term relaxation and measurably reduced stress while parked and zoning out. The measurable part: The study consisted of 43 participants who underwent a stress test. They were divided into a control group that did not get the experience, a group that used Rejuvenate with scent therapy, and a third group with Rejuvenate but no sweet scents wafting through the cabin.

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The result: The people who experienced the relaxation exercise had lower heart rates and brainwave patterns linked to deeper relaxation—similar to how the brain reacts to meditation, stretching, listening to calming music, or sitting in a peaceful place. Fluctuations in heart rate also decreased. Participants also enjoyed a small bump in the alpha/beta brainwave ratio, a marker of a calmer state of mind.

MotorTrend Experience

Those who have driven our long-termer agree it’s a relaxing way to spend a long road trip or a palatable way to be stuck in traffic. The continuously controlled damping (CCD) suspension, which offers a cushioned ride, and the highly adjustable massaging seats that even let you extend the cushion under one leg further than the other, are as comfortable as anything on the market today.

There are some downsides, though. The version of Ford’s BlueCruise in our 2025 model—the hands-free driver assist system that allows you to cruise on premapped highways without hands on the steering wheel or feet on the pedals—is overly sensitive and quick to beep, warn, and disconnect, which is proving stressful. Our Nautilus has BlueCruise 1.2; the 2026 Nautilus has the updated BlueCruise 1.5 with three iterations of improvement. We’re told 1.5 remedies some of the woes we’ve been experiencing and includes more functionality like automated lane changes.

But the adaptive cruise otherwise works fine, and much of our cruising has been stress free.

And if our older version of BlueCruise does raise our heart rate, we can always pull the Nautilus over, turn on Rejuvenate, and space out for a few minutes, knowing scientifically that our brainwaves are being altered.

More on Our 2025 Lincoln Nautilus Long-Termer:

• 2025 Lincoln Nautilus Black Label Yearlong Arrival: A Worthy SUV of the Year?
• 2025 Lincoln Nautilus Interior Review: How Nice Is the Black Label Interior?
• Experiencing a Moment of Zen From Our 2025 Lincoln Nautilus Black Label
• Our 2025 Lincoln Nautilus Black Label Proved To Be a Winter Warrior
• Does Our $80,000 Lincoln Nautilus Have a Better Interior Than a $120K Navigator?
• Our 2025 Lincoln Nautilus Black Label Is Giving Us BlueCruise Blues