Aquahealing Article

Aquahealing Water Journeys & Water healing dance | Deep relaxation integrated with energy & bodywork in warm water.

Historical Background of Aquatic Therapy

In the ninety eighties Aman Schroter and Arjuna Brunschwiler discovered interesting aspects of dance and movement in water. The movements were developed playfully above and below the water surface. This Waterdancing as it was called, grew further into a school and network of aquatic bodywork in Europe, at the same time as Harold Dull invented Watsu in California by introducing shiatsu in the water. Both Watsu and Waterdancing influenced each other over the years that passed. In the ninety nineties aquatic bodyworkers in Europe further developed aquatic therapies as Aqua balancing and Aqua wellness, by integrating Waterdancing with other advanced bodywork and healing techniques.

The discovery of Waterdancing in the ninety eighties however was clearly not standing on its own. The use of warm water pools to relax, to heal and to enjoy had a very long history. The oldest known mineral bath or spa still in existence is in Merano in Italy, where there is evidence of organized use of the spring dating back 5000 years ago. It is thought that the Egyptians used baths for therapeutic purposes as early as 2000 B.C. Mineral and thermal baths showed up later in history around 500 B.C. in Greece. The early Greek baths were built near natural hot springs or volcanoes. Greek celebrities and the elite would meet at these natural hot springs to exchange philosophical views and treat physical ailments. Hippocrates, who can be regarded as the founder of classical medicine in the 4th century B.C., recommended hydrotherapy for the treatment of certain disorders such as rheumatism. The Romans also enjoyed the mineral waters, but the ancient Roman baths were more recreational areas used by hundreds of citizens at a time, then that they were used for hydrotherapy.

Native Americans from North and South America enjoyed the health benefits of natural springs even before European settlers arrived in the New World. In many instances, these natural springs were used for relaxation and spiritual purposes. The use of initiations and healing taking place in the water is known from many historical sources, among others from the Bible, where John the Baptist submerged people to give them the initiation and blessing of the Spirit. In Syria, water pools in the form of an equal cross with stairs leading into the cross, were used for initiations. Moreover, we still use water for baptizing a child.

Purification rituals have however very ancient origins, and may even date back to Pre-historic times. In ancient times water purification rituals were used in the archaic Near East and are written down in the Old Testament. Homer mentions the washing of hands before prayer, and the purification of an entire army with water. The Greeks even had priests, who specialized in purification with water. People at Gerasa celebrated the Maioumas, ancient rites in which women bathed and purified themselves in a sacred pool outside their town. New members into the mysteries of Isis and Osiris began their initiation with a sprinkling of purifying waters brought from the Nile. And these are just a few examples.

It may be evident that the relaxation in spa resorts and modern aquatic therapy has very ancient connections. The hydrotherapy which developed in the Western World and which has been applied in all kind of spa resorts until today, originated from ancient Greek times. The thermal and mechanical effects of water on the human body form the basis for a hydrotherapy treatment. It uses the skin’s natural reaction to hot and cold stimuli to increase circulation throughout the body. This stimulates the immune system and blood flow. Hot water is known to quiet and soothe the body while slowing the activity of internal organs. It relaxes the entire body by the use of natural heat and allows the muscles and joints to relax. The waterjets, nowadays used in the spa resorts, massage the muscles and stimulate the blood flow. Hydrotherapy’s conventional uses are the treatment of muscle weakness, balance disorders, diabetes and other diseases that impair circulation, cramps, pre-menstrual syndrome, arthritis, back pain, muscular-skeletal injuries and soft tissue injuries.

Hydrotherapy as it is presented today has however, a different background then the alternative aquatic therapies, which submerged from holistic lifestyles in the ninety eighties and nineties. The alternative aquatic therapies are using all the benefits of being in warm water as hydrotherapy does, but go further with the integration of movement, dance, advanced bodywork techniques and the use of energy healing. The alternative aquatic therapies, whether they are more body or more energy oriented, are made of a meeting and a sharing between two persons, or better said between two souls.

Healing Power of Water, part I

We know that human life is directly connected with water, both within and around us. Our own bodies at birth consist out of 80 percent of water, and the percentage of water in our bodies remains high throughout life. The earth’s surface consists of 70 percent water. Masaru Emoto, a visionary Japanese researcher from this time, has shown that vibrational energy as

thoughts, words and music, affect the vibrational level of water. He has shown that when little droplets of water are frozen into watercrystals, that they show different geometries depending on the sounds or words the water received. We are talking about the very same water that comprises our body and planet. Our body looks like a sponge and is composed of trillions of cells that hold liquid. The quality of our life is therefore directly connected to the quality of the water we give to our own body and its vibrational field.

Masaru Emoto has been visually documenting these molecular changes in water by means of photographic techniques. Water crystals from natural springs or treated with beautiful words or music, show beautiful, symmetric geometries and light aspects. When water is treated with aromatic floral oils, the water crystals even tend to mimic the shape of the original flower. Water crystals from polluted lakes or treated with disharmonious sounds lack a well-defined symmetry, or show no geometry at all and have no clear radiance. In one case, it was even shown that the water of a polluted lake changed to a higher vibration due to the prayers of a Japanese priest over several hours. The original distorted water crystals were changed into beautiful forms with hexagonal symmetries, reflecting this higher vibrational field.

Water easily adapts to whatever environment is present. It is a characteristic of a fluid to flow into a solid form and to be molded by a solid form. However, its physical adaptation to a solid form is not the only thing that changes; its vibrational field may also change. In this sense, water not only has the ability to visually reflect the environment, but it also reflects you could say the mood and soul of the environment.

The fact that in many cultures water is a symbol of receptivity, femininity and of the Mother, shows that is very well known that water has the ability to receive and transmit that what is present on a physical and energetical level. Water has the power to heal when it receives Love and Light, stores it in its fluid masses and transmits its energies by induction whether in flow or in stillness. The charging of water is accomplished by Light energies of the Earth and from other Light dimensions. We can also realize this by channeling Divine energies into the water with the right intention or prayer.

In Auroville, an international community in India, research is carried out on the quality of drinking water and dynamisation techniques to raise the vibration level of water. Here is a quote of one of their experiments. “It often happened to us that a glass of water which was handed to us, was of a dubious origin, in any case it did not have an acceptable vibratory level. The hands transmit the operator’s intention of prayer and pass on to water the vibratory level of the prayer. We were able to demonstrate objectively in a laboratory that tap water which (according to the Bovis scale) had a radiation of 4.000 Å - that is the vibration of bacterias and diseases - was easily raised to 8.000 Å even by an operator inexperienced in the art of magnetism. With experience, this level could be raised to 12 and 15.000 Å - that is the spectrum of so-called spiritual experiences. In Aqua Dyn, experiments were carried out, in which psychic energy was transferred to a glass of water that raised its vibration up to 20.000 Å+.”

Masaru Emoto has shown magnificent ice crystals of waters, which had “listened” to Bach, Mozart or a Shinto priest’s incantations. The use of mantras or sound healing is known for their power to give healing properties to water. The photos of the research of Aqua Dyn in Auroville, show three types of copper chloride crystallizations: the first of tap water with absence of crystal forms, the second of water dynamised with the Violet technique, and the same into which the mantra known in Auroville as the Mother’s mantra was recorded, with very clearly crystallized forms.

The human energy field emits waves of energy that can be seen by inner developed eyes in different degrees of subtle vibrations. This aura reflects besides the divine blueprint and potential also human thought patterns and emotions. When we are well connected to our divine soul, we may experience joy and love and feel that the energy field is in balance. When we are feeling sad or angry, the energy field may become static or very turbulent. The relaxation of taking a shower or a bath, and washing away negative emotions is known to all of us. It is the washing and cleaning of our physical and energetical bodies.

The way water has been used for thousands of years shows us that water has also another function, not only that of being a receiver and transmitter but also that of being an absorbing solvent of emotions. Water has a unique transformational power to absorb the energy created by emotions. In this sense water refreshes, calms and balances. This function is thought to be related to the energetic qualities of the molecular structure of water. We can see in most religions from Hinduism, Christianity to Islam that water is used to purify and is believed to have spiritually cleansing powers. On many places in the world specific rivers, lakes or springs are mentioned as sacred, and are considered to have special healing qualities.

A water molecule consists of two positive charged hydrogen atoms and one negative charged oxygen atom. As a water molecule consists of opposite charges, water acts as a dipole, which means that the molecule can link to either positive or negative groupings of other molecules or ions in solution. In this way, water generates or promotes ionization necessary for all the biochemical processes to form life. The presence of water and its qualities permits the creation of life from a cell to a whole body. All life is governed by electromagnetic waves.

Water is at the core of the transmission of the vibration of life. And if the vibration of the water is raised, all life will be according to how it is meant to be…

The use of vitalized or natural water with healing qualities, will give us a feeling of well being and will harmonize our body and increase the energy level and vitality of our system.

Vedas

A poem from the oldest book of India, the Rig-Veda about Water:

Water, you are the source of happiness on this earth._

Give us force so that we shine. Give us your softness,

which protects us like a tender mother.

You can cure all our diseases.

Thanks to you, we live and procreate.

That water purifies us, may water rain down.

I ask water to give me the cure.

Water, you lavish food and happiness on us.

Water, cure all our diseases.

When it all started…

According to Ayurvedic science the origin of the element water comes from the heating of ether by fire. First, there was unity of consciousness and from this the cosmic AUM sound started vibrating. From the AUM vibrations ether was born, the space of soundless sound. From the movements of ether, ether in action, air was born. The movement of ether gave frictions and heat, and all this heat was united into light and created fire. Water originated by the heating of ether by fire and the transformation of etherical elements from the space of soundless sounds into fluids. And, in the end earth was born out of water by further materialization, visualized by the growth of an unborn star in maternal fluids.

Human life begins in water, when we spend the first nine months of our existence in the mother’s womb, floating in a carefully controlled environment, which is normally both safe and sound. However, it is not the water on itself, which gives the unborn star a feeling of safety. It is the love, presence and heartbeat of the mother and the presence of spiritual guidance, which create this safe environment. And the totality of vibrations of love & presence are transmitted to the atoms, molecules and fluids in the Mothers body.

A pregnancy is showing us the receptive principle of water, in which the growth of an unborn star starts and comes to a full human form. The constant sensation of water around us and on our skin, known as ‘primal skin feelings’, paired to the presence of the mother, gave once to all of us our first sense of space and time in our bodies and the first impressions of a world belonging to our mother.

Watersessions in a warm water pool

When we enter into the water and carry a person during a watersession, the receiving person is completely dependant of the water practioner. If the receiving person surrenders to the experience of being hold and movedthrough the water, he or she becomes in the water, a water or a cosmic child. Most people know how to find their way to surrender to the water experience already in one session. Some people need a few sessions. When a receiving person has received his first experiences in the water and knows how a watersession works, they may become innocent, relaxed, playful and very receptive. When we are in a warm and loving ambience of a watersession, we may experience flashes of memories and impressions of the pregnancy. When this level is reached, and the ambience is really loving and supporting, a waterchild may even enter in a deep healing, of whatever needs to be healed, and liberate energy and fixed attention. This may create more inner freedom, and may lead to growth and deep transformations in a personal life.

Researchers assume that when a person is floating in water, our brain and nervous system come to a relative rest from the usual daily activity by the relative absence of a gravitational field. This is reflected by a change in brain wave frequencies when a person is brought from a gravitational into a floating situation. The attention is liberated from the daily occupations. Thereby allowing our sensory perception to expand to other levels of consciousness. Levels where we have come from, who we truly are, and which we will have experienced when we were in our mothers belly.

Water has the tendency to resonate with the vibrations that are surrounding or in the water. We experience the same resonating principle in our daily lives when we meet other people. We have the tendency to adjust to the vibrational field of a particular moment with the people around us, or to protect us and stay as much as we can in our own vibration.

When we consider all the energetic aspects of water, the human body and the interactions, we can see that the presence and vibration of a water therapist or a therapist in general is of quite some significance. The vibration of the therapist may influence the vibration of the waterchild, as well as the vibration of the water of the pool. The vibration of the therapist and the pool, which resemble the mother’s belly, can be therefore considered as quite important for the well-being of the waterchild. The one who leads the watersession is like a mother taking care of the life of the one who receives, the waterchild, and therefore has to have the ability to contact his or her higher soul, and work from a well developed intuitive and feminine side.

The Healing Power of Water, part II

A few years ago, we were invited to make a travel in the Andes. We went to an island in a lake where we had some hours to enjoy and relax. After a few minutes of swimming in the water, I realized that the water felt of a very different quality and vibration then I ever had experienced before. The water felt like soft light. It was charged with light. I never had experienced such light all around me in the water before. At that particular moment of the travel, I had not been feeling very well. At the moment that I became aware of the healing power of this water, I started making soft movements with my spine, and invited the light to come and heal me. I felt that the pain I had felt in my back gradually disappeared, and that I started feeling happy and connected again. I moved my body as much as it liked to be moved in the water, and made a waterdance on my own. It was as if my body got rebalanced & recharged cell by cell, layer by layer. When I started exploring the lake a little further, I swam to a very small, nearby island. I climbed on the rocks and entered into a feeling of having landed on the island of an angel. It was a very subtle, serene and uplifting feeling of having entered into a sacred space with a divine, geometrical language of images. After having connected, and breathing in this different dimension of being, I walked around the island. Near the top, I found a feather of an eagle lying on the rocks. I picked it up but I decided to leave it on its place on the island and swam back to the main beach. After sharing my experience, our teacher swam with several of us to the island, collected the feather and told us that the high vibrational level of the water was thanks to the presence of a Hierarchy of Light in the lake, and that we were brought to this place for a special mission: to experience the healing quality of blessed water…