Episode 62: Water Rituals, Floating and Cold Water Swimming

Today’s episode is a mish mash of things related to water such as swimming, baths, and floatation tanks.

When I was first teaching, I once had to prepare a 4 hour lecture about water. Being the novice that I was, I nervously delivered all the content in half an hour and then had to deal with the embarrassment of having nothing more to talk about for the rest of the time. It makes me cringe to even think about it! Some of my fellow lecturers enjoyed teasing me about me having to spend a whole afternoon just talking about water. Even though I ran out of steam quickly, I still stand by the sentiment that water is absolutely incredible.

Water is one of the simplest ways of tending to your body, mind and emotions. Our bodies are made of over 60% of water. 71% of the surface of our planet is oceanic water.

We start life developing in utero surrounded by fluid. And aging is often described as drying out, where we lose the fluidity of our bodies.

Whilst many of us might be fortunate to access clean water, it’s astounding to think that 1 in 10 people around the world don’t. According to Water Aid, that’s 785 million people.

I love the quote by Karen Blixen, author of ‘Out of Africa’, that ‘The Cure for Anything is Salt Water: Sweat, Tears or the Sea’.

It’s little surprise that so many of us long to be beside the sea, as a way of returning to our source.

The great thing about water is that it’s versatile: you can drink it, spray it on your face, behold it or immerse yourself in it.

Drinking more water can instantly help to release pain, ease headaches, increase concentration and raise energy levels.

Sometimes I’ll suggest a client watches something weepy after treatment to help to cry and move stuck emotions through the body. It’s worth even having a cathartic playlist of songs, films or books that are guaranteed to bring up your feelings, for whenever you need the release of a good cry.

Being by water can be healing. Still water such as lakes is calming, and the oceans are exhilarating. If you can’t regularly get to a large body of water, have a picture of water that inspires you in your home or as your screensaver.

Dr William Garner Sutherland first introduced the model of cranial osteopathy. He detailed the 5 phenomena at work in the body, including the inherent motility of the brain and spinal cord, the rhythmic fluctuation of cerebrospinal fluid, as well as motion of the membranes, cranial bones, sacrum and ilia. When treating you can work at any of these levels of the 5 phenomena. What can be fascinating to palpate, is the fluidity of all living structures, whether a bone, or organ or muscle. To me, fluidity feels like health.

Much of my hands-on practice is treating newborn babies and pregnant women, where the approach of treatment addresses the fluidity in the body.

If I’m treating someone and they feel stuck or locked, I often think of the sea. It somehow communicates that our cells are meant to be in constant motion, and brings about a palpable feeling of flow. You can do this yourself too to access the healing state in your own body through the element of water.

When I was studying osteopathy, a group of us used to go to the local floatation centre as a way of relaxing and unwinding. I’d recommend it to anyone who suffers with anxiety and stress, or who gets overwhelmed and agitated. Like meditation, it can take time to find a state of relaxation, as your thoughts can be amplified at first. But it’s a pure and simple way of feeling safe and at ease and many people use floatation tanks as a creative well for getting great ideas.

I haven’t been for many years but I learned to scuba dive in Thailand and then enjoyed trips to Sardinia and the Maldives. It’s such a wonderful way of going on an adventure, connecting with the natural world and feeling a change in the body with how you move. Being in the water brings about a sense of freedom, play and wonder that can be lost when life feels too busy or responsible. And there’s an aspect of surrender and being held that is so therapeutic.

One of the aspects that I was most enamoured with is the work by Dr Masaru Emotu. He studied how consciousness affects the structure of water. He claimed that thoughts, words, music and prayer can alter the formation of water crystals. A word like love creates a beautiful design of water crystals, whereas hate creates a disordered one . I know his work is often described as pseudo science, but there’s long been a tradition of healing waters such as in Lourdes, Fatima, Glastonbury and the Dead Sea.

On honeymoon in Bali, I remember staying in a hotel that had a menu for the outside bath. You could choose different playlists, flower petals and essential oils and I was in awe at how sacred the ritual of a bath could be when such care and attention was paid to it. For people who are at their wits end of exhaustion, having a bath drawn for them by a loved one can be such a sweet act of service. And switching off the lights can add an extra benefit for anyone who’s having sensory overload.

Over the last few weeks I’ve been curious about cold water swimming.

I’ve long admired the women who swim in the famous Ladies’ Ponds in Hampstead Heath. I’ve watched a number of summers come and go and still not got around to going for a swim.

The problem was that I am really affected by the shock of cold water. I feel my body freeze. I feel my diaphragm recoil sharply in a way that’s almost painful and it brings about a sense of panic. Since I’m not a good swimmer, the cold water adds another level of vulnerability. I don’t like being limited by things that I can do something about. Surely I can retrain my reaction to cold water.

But I was always curious at how the people who enjoy outdoor swimming are such advocates of it. I’ve been wondering if it might help me to cope with the winter blues that really affect me. And it doesn’t feel like a good enough strategy to spend all year waiting for the weather to get warmer, as it’s

Recently I asked some questions on Instagram about how cold water swimmers got started. I know an increasing number of people who have moved to the sea for a better work/life balance or those who enjoy wild swimming in lakes and rivers. I was given so much useful information that I thought I’d share.

Things like turning the water to cold at the end of the shower for the last 2 minutes.

And many people shared about Wim Hof and his work with cold water exposure.

Practicing a steady inhale/ exhale before going in to calm the body

Get the shoulders under the water as soon as you can and keep them under the water until your body adjusts to the temperature

Soften rather than bracing into the water

And go at least 2-3 times a week to get used to the temperature, especially if you’re interested in cold water swimming in the colder months

And apparently the Outdoor Swimming Society has grown from 300 in 2006 to around 100,000 in December 2019.

Whether you become more disciplined in drinking more water, or try cold water swimming, I hope that you find ways of connecting with the element of water.