When I knew I was going to have to take six weeks off to recover from my hysterectomy, I decided to read up on water.
Water is right up there with oxygen when it comes to our survival. Gotta have pure, fresh water for the body to run on. And although I don’t have any evidence, I hugely suspect that the current epidemic of liver and bile duct cancers is due in large part to people drinking diet sodas instead of water. I know people who drink absolutely no pure water at all, ever, unless they have no other option. They literally live on diet soda, or sweet tea, or some other infusion that is not really water.
When you steep something in water to infuse it, it stops behaving like water in the body. The herb or leaf or other substance that has been added to the water takes precedence, programs it, so to speak. Changes it so it’s not just water anymore. What you are peeing out is not pee that has been used for cleaning the blood. It simply passes through the bloodstream and the kidneys on it’s way out. That’s it. If you are drinking herbal tea, enjoy it, enjoy the effects of the healing herbs you have infused the water with, but don’t think you can get away with drinking less water because you had a big mug of tea.
According to several experts, including Dr. F Batmanghelidj (Dr. Batman henceforth), author of Your Body’s Many Cries For Water, we need to be drinking 2.5 quarts of water a day minimum, just to stay fully hydrated. Our stomach lining requires water to create the protective mucous that lines the stomach walls to prevent ulceration, and to create the proper mix of digestive enzymes to break food down properly so we can digest it fully. Our bloodstream requires water to circulate freely. Our liver requires water to break down toxins and flush them out. Our kidneys require water to flush the toxins out to the bladder for removal while the filtered blood goes back to doing its job. Our muscles require water to keep from getting sticky and making us more vulnerable to muscle strain and other injuries. Our brains need water in order to function at their best. And according to Dr. Batman’s research, most people get nowhere near that amount. In fact, many if not most of our ills can be greatly improved, and sometimes cured altogether, by drinking enough water to keep ourselves hydrated. (Rule of thumb: Take your total weight and divide by 2, then drink that amount of water in ounces. 2.5 quarts is an approximation.)
We are slowly dying of thirst.
Another really mind-blowing book on my reading stack was by Masaru Emoto, The Hidden Messages in Water. You may have seen photographs of ice crystals that were formed from water exposed to specific words, like love, gratitude, faith, fear, hate, rage. The ice crystals that formed from water that had been “treated” with words of affirmation were beautiful, complete, and fully formed. The ice formed from words like hate and fear looked like polluted sludge and had very little if any crystalline structure at all.
The intuitive leap we can make here, is that our bodies are made of mostly water. (Interestingly, and this refers back to Dr. Batman’s work, babies’ bodies contain between 70 and 80% water, dropping to around 50% in old age. Because – any guesses? We don’t drink enough water to stay fully hydrated.) If we expose the water we drink to positive messages, healing vibes, lovely music, or even photographs of beautiful natural scenery, that water is subtly changed, tastes better, and does its job more effectively and efficiently.
I tried an experiment. I wrote “Love and Gratitude” on a sticky note and stuck it to my distilled water jug. I drew some water before the note went on, and after an hour. I didn’t do a blind test because it was only me, but I tasted both after an hour, and could tell a huge difference. Not only was the water tastier, it was smoother, lighter and more satisfying. Try it. See what you think.
Many of you may have seen the movie “What the Bleep Do We Know?” a few years back, where the character played by Marlee Matlin covers her body in loving messages after a long soak in the bath. She transforms her entire outlook and life through this practice. She treats the water in her cells to those beautiful words and images in order to reprogram and raise her fundamental vibration. Treating the water we drink with those same messages can accomplish the same thing. Wearing clothes with healing colors, imagery or messages written on them can help to accomplish the same thing. Beware what you wear – angry and hateful messages, by this logic, would likely cause disharmony and illness in the body.
Water is Sacred and precious.
Water is part of Earth, on the Earth and in the Earth, just like Air and Fire. Water needs oxygen and hydrogen to manifest. Oxygen and hydrogen are gases; they’re part of air. Water is made of parts of air, and contained in hollows of Earth. Water can become a gas again if heated by fire, or by evaporating into air. It is very female, because it gives life. Life came from water, at the very beginning, and so water is also home.
Water is a magical, transformative element, often associated with emotions, with the ebb and flow of happiness and sorrow, peace and anger, rest and movement. It’s also associated with the arts, as art expresses emotion. Water is essential to life; we can go two or three days without water, and that’s it. We’re done. Every living thing needs water. What happens when you forget to water your plants?
Water moves and shape-shifts. It is the very essence of change and transformation. If we put it in a round bowl, water is round. If we put it in a square bowl, it’s square. If we freeze it, it maintains its shape–until it thaws. If we boil it, it turns to steam. Water also reflects color, like sky blue, or sunset colors, of the color of the leaves, either glorious green or resplendent Autumn. It can sparkle like gold in the Sun, or like silver under the Moon. If we add a drop of ink or food coloring, the water changes color.
Our bodies become different in water–sleeker, more buoyant, less subject to gravity. We feel light, we can float. Mineral springs and hot springs can pull toxins out of our bodies, take away pain and sickness, relieve our stress. Water can also transform its environment, cutting through rock over centuries, or carrying away topsoil, crops, trees, building and possessions in a flood. Water can break roads and bridges. Water has the power to claim a life any time it wants to. Water can dissolve many of the things we put in it, and dilute others to imperceptible levels.
So water is change, transformation, transmutation, creation, destruction and emotion. Water flows, heals, soothes, reflects, destroys, wears down or lifts up. It was the original cradle of life on Earth. It’s one of the Five Sacred Elements, and yet we waste it ridiculously, pollute it mercilessly, and ignore it when it comes to healing our own bodies. I challenge you to bring the element of water fully into your life in the coming week, and see how much better you feel. Start your day with 16 ounces of pure water, and wait 30 minutes or so before you eat or drink anything else. Just that one small change can be incredibly healing. Invoke the power of water by drinking a glass right now. Drink with gratitude and notice how great it feels going down.
