by Dr. Connie Hernandez, ND
When Dr. Marcel and I were studying to become naturopathic physicians, we were delighted to discover the seemingly endless ways in which water has been used to heal over the centuries.
In the rare intervals when we aren’t busy with our practice, Marcel and I love to travel. We delight in exploring new cultures, and we often plan our travel route to include any famous healing waters along the way.
We’ve “taken the waters” at Hungarian spas that offered “balneotherapy” – bathing in mineral-rich water from natural springs).
We’ve visited other European spas that offered wading in stone- or pebble-lined cold-water troughs, hot-and-cold contrast baths and showers, or cold-water hose-downs intended to invigorate the body.
Brrrrr! But wow, did we feel great afterward – invigorated, bursting with magnetism, and thoroughly alive!
We’ve very happily lolled in Japanese natural hot springs and cold rivers at high elevation in the Himalayas.
We’ve dunked and drunk healing waters all over the globe, and we are ready to testify with enthusiasm to the power of these practices.
Hydrotherapy (“water cure”) therapies were very popular in the 19th and early 20th centuries in the America and Europe. The old-time sanitoriums and spa villages were often billed as ideal vacation resorts where visitors could receive the healing power of natural hot or cold springs.
The Water Cure tradition endures among Nature Cure enthusiasts in America, as well as in naturopathic medical practices that follow vitalistic traditions, and at healing centers worldwide.
Fortunately, you don’t have to travel halfway around the world to enjoy the physical benefits of these water therapies – you can easily reap them in your daily life.
While the minerals in natural spring water are particularly soothing for musculoskeletal and skin conditions, you can approximate the soothing effects with a hot tub – although it’s good to be a bit careful, since the chemicals employed in hot tubs are not helpful.
In your home tub, however, a simple combination of several cups of Epsom salts and several cups of baking soda will relax the muscles, alkalinize the body, and leave you feeling profoundly relaxed.
- Similarly, you can achieve effective hot/cold contrast treatments by alternating three minutes of hot shower with 30 seconds of cold shower, repeating three times, and ending with cold. The hot water dilates blood vessels and opens the pores, and the cold water constricts the vessels and invigorates the lymphatic and cardiovascular systems.
- For sore throats, a very cold, thin, damp cloth around the neck, covered with a thick warm cloth, will trigger an immune response, often alleviating throat pain.
- Hot/cold contrast showers with a focus on the chest is recommended for drawing congestion from the lungs.
- Cold water plunges are increasingly popular with athletes – they can decrease inflammation, boost the immune system, speed recovery from exercise, and enhance mood.
Beyond the physical benefits, water offers spiritual benefits as well. Many sacred sites are located beside rivers or near waterfalls, where negative ions are abundant.
In Japan, monks stand under waterfalls and chant in a purification ritual as the water cascades over their heads.
Similar applications of the power of water immersion to purify, sanctify, and wash away sins is found in most spiritual traditions. John the Baptist baptized people in the Jordan River, and millions of Indians bathe daily in the Ganges whose waters are considered sacred.
Without water, life would not exist. The adult human body is 50 percent water by weight and 60 percent by volume. Infants’ bodies are 75% to 80 % water. In an under-hydrated elderly body, the percentage can drop to 40% or 50%, and this is one of the causes of senility. The brain is normally 85% water, and when it becomes dehydrated the brain neurons shrink and the person becomes senile.
Healing with water most obviously begins with drinking enough water to keep the body well hydrated. We can relieve many conditions and prevent many illnesses by ensuring that our bodies are adequately “watered.” Good hydration is essential for health and vitality.
Another benefit is that water can carry healing vibrations. Water has the ability to resonate with the vibrations of its immediate environment and can change its properties accordingly.
If this seems far-fetched, consider Masaru Emoto, whose 2004 book The Hidden Messages in Water became a New York Times bestseller.
The famed “Messenger of Water” was able to demonstrate that water holds beautifully formed or chaotic crystalline patterns, depending on the influences to which it is exposed, whether those influences come from the environment of a mountain spring, iceberg, or a polluted river.
Emoto found that the water from a mountain stream has a complex, coherent crystalline pattern. Polluted water or chlorinated and fluoridated water will not form coherent crystalline patterns. The vibratory “information” carried in pure, sweet, energetically nourishing live water can transform the “sick” patterning of polluted ponds, lakes, and rivers back into a healthy vibrational structure. It can transform the water in our own bodies and brains as well.
Masaru Emoto found that water can carry the vibrations of spoken words or music, as well as the vibrations of our thoughts and emotions, whether positive or negative, for good or ill, and of prayers and blessings. Water can hold healing, or even holy vibrations and transmit them to us by influencing the water patterning of our body. Hence the power of holy water from sacred places such as Lourdes. Water can also transmit vibrational patterns from flowers and gemstones.
Even a tiny drop of water can hold profound healing properties. Bless that drop before you take it, and you will be further blessed.
When you repeatedly take drops of a liquid healing essence remedy, you open yourself to its vibrational influence as it begins to shift the patterns of the water in your body into alignment with the vibrational resonance of the remedy’s healing qualities.
Water is a heavenly gift, meant for our healing and sustenance on many levels.
Interested receiving hydrotherapy? Check out our June Hawaii Peace Garden Healing Retreat HERE.
Drs. Connie and Marcel Hernandez
DrConnie@DrsHernandez.com
DrMarcel@DrsHernandez.com