In The Flow
By Melinda Minton

Water has a long and rich history in the healing arts. Similar to the robust history of massage, water therapies have been utilized in virtually every culture since the rise of early civilization in Mesopotamia. In fact, according to most historical sources, pre-civilized man viewed water as one of the fixed elements like air. Water was a gift from the gods. Early man enjoyed the flowing rivers, mineral rich springs, bogs and lakes. Once civilization moved into more condensed living clusters like the Roman’s city-states, the people expected available water sources just as modern man expects today’s utility services. In fact, the historian Pierre Grimal calls Rome the "city of water" - by the end of the imperial epoch 11 major aqueducts were transporting water into the city. The amount of water used per citizen was roughly 1,000 liters per day.

After the fall of Rome and then Constantinople, the water frenzy extended to the Arabs and the Persians finally reaching Europeans during the Baroque period. However, it was not until the nineteenth century with the rediscovery of the body and health cult that water reappeared as a popular remedy. Once water stepped back into the spotlight, spas became the facility of choice. Spas like Baden-Baden, Montecatini, Vichy, Karlo Vary, which are still timelessly famous today, became the most popular spots for health, rest and recreation.

At the end of the 19th century, the water wonders of the century previous had fallen to waterborne diseases. Poor hygiene, bacterial and viral parasites were taking their toll on the bathhouses and spas. At the end of the 19th century Louis Pasteur demonstrated the role of pathogens and bacteria. In the same era pandemics like cholera, malaria, hepatitis A and other widespread diseases laid claim on Europe and seriously affected the popularity of spas and health sanatoriums. Physical therapy, massage manipulations using water and many types of high-pressure balneotherapy, however, stayed the course and continued to be practiced in health facilities in the coming centuries.

Today, spas have never been more popular. Water remains a focal point of many spa therapies and treatment protocols. Massage has embraced water as an extension of traditional myofacial, lymphatic drainage, deep tissue, and energy-related therapies. While water massage techniques have only been commercially popular for the last 20 years or so, the popularity of water massage is undeniable.

"Water is like a tool. It’s like a bolster or a hydrocolator or a pressure point device. In fact, the various components of water are many things that contribute to the effectiveness of the massage as a whole," says Tom Cobian a licensed massage therapist and Watsu instructor practicing in Bothell, Washington. Many Watsu practitioners liken the water to magic noting increased mobility, flexibility and range of motion. "The water is warm which encourages the joints and muscles to loosen up. Typically the client also relaxes more completely in the water. The range of water therapies available today is just tremendous lending to a real individual assortment of movements, flotation possibilities and therapeutic alternatives," notes Cobian.

Watsu
The first water massage modality to be created, Watsu, is a combination of water and Shiatsu literally "WATer shiatSU". A simple description of Watsu would be ‘massage while afloat'. With the help of the therapist, you float comfortably in a large pool of warm water while your muscles are massaged, joints mobilized, tissues stretched, and energy pathways opened, resulting in a state of blissful relaxation and advanced therapeutic care.

In the 1980’s Harold Dull, head of the School of Shiatsu and Massage at Harbin Hot Springs in California, began to apply shiatsu stretches in warm water. Dull also believed that there was a connection with breathing and floating, the culmination of which he has termed "heartwrap". "When listening to the heart, researchers have confirmed what traditional cultures take for granted. The heart has a mind. The heart communicates with the brain and every part of the body," says Dull. Further, Dull believes that when emotions are felt during a Watsu session, those feelings affect the heart’s rhythms, brainwaves, respiration rate and other bodily functions.

Another aspect of Watsu is the womb-like comfort of floating freely in warm water. Many practitioners hold as truth that when there is discomfort in the body, that thought pattern is held and transported throughout the system systemically spreading the bad news. The reverse, Dull thinks, is also true; a pleasant feeling can be transmitted through the various bodily systems, the brain, the heart and lungs, the breath - the body can be released through the powerfully relaxing sensation of receiving healthful massage in the water.

Dull calls the magic of Watsu, "letting things go into the flow." The magic of Watsu is not only for the person receiving treatment; it is also for the practitioner. "I have always felt that the connection that comes with our ‘heart wrap’ is a connection to the everything, a oneness, a level of being from which we can look with equanimity on what would otherwise disturb us. I realize now that this is heart coherence. If the person in our arms is in their own coherence, it may be a unique opportunity for them to let whatever they have been suppressing, or obsessing on, with the emotionally incompetent brain, to find a place in the heart’s understanding," says Dull.

From the point of view of the receiver, Watsu is a divine act of release. "I have to admit that my first experience with receiving Watsu was a bit unnerving. Just the act of getting into a pool with my swimming suit on was somewhat intimidating," confesses Sue Orwin who received her first Watsu treatment in a massage center in Mazatlan, Mexico. "There is a different level of trust and intimacy that goes with water massage that you wouldn’t necessarily experience in a traditional massage setting," notes practitioner Tom Cobian. "It is like a tango in the water with one person leading and the other following without thought," adds Cobian. For Orwin the massage went from slightly stressful to the most blissful and relaxing massage experience of her life. "It only took about the first five minutes and I was out. Because the practitioner was careful to keep my nose and mouth out of the water, I quickly trusted her soothing touch and just let myself go. When the hour was up I felt like I was just returning to the planet," says Orwin.

Water Dance
Stemming from the original aspects of Watsu, Waterdance or "Wassertanzen," the original German name, is a form of aquatic bodywork developed by Arjana Brunschwiler and Aman Schroter in 1987. In Waterdance the client is cradled, stretched and relaxed above the surface of the water. However, the movement is not confined to above water movements. The client is given a nose clip and freed of any head support. The client is now free to be manipulated in any number of ways. Aikido, dolphin and snake movements, rolls, somersaults, inversions, dance and many other variations of movement with the end goal being a synchronized rhythmic flow that is in tandem with the breath of both the practitioner and the client. Because of the deeper state of submersion, the state of relaxation is thought to be deeper. A strange disorientation and steady feel of streaming lead to shifts in perception of time and space. The result is a deeply meditative state.

Healing Dance
From Watsu and Waterdance stemmed other modalities. Alexander Georgeokopoulos, a former ballet dancer and teacher who began studying Watsu in 1990, for instance, founded Healing Dance. Healing Dance incorporates the healing and nurturing aspects of Watsu with the natural tendencies of the body moving in water with waves and spirals. Some moves combine the contrast of closeness into total release while others offer dynamic and creative stretches. Although an offshoot of the two original water therapies, Healing Dance is a powerful therapy in its own right.

Waterbalancing
Practiced at the Aqua Institute in Bad Goggling, Germany, this modality is yet another variation on Watsu. The primary goal of Waterbalancing is to create an awareness of centeredness. You become the "hub" of your world.

"Waterbalancing is unlike classical eastern quigong, tai-jiquan or yoga. You need only to let go," says Gunter Freude founder of the in Aqua Institute. Waterbalancing tries to retrain the patient to let go of the protective stances and postures that come from overstraining, excessive demands or shocks within one’s everyday life. Unlike the other forms of water massage, Waterbalancing relies on floating, light massage and passive movement. "Once the client is set free to the weightlessness of water, the freeing of lightness and the fundamental experience of peace, the entire body adjusts to accommodate the new perceptions. This shift further effects the client’s everyday life giving a different type of awareness to daily occurrences," says Freude.

Jahara
Jahara is an extension of Watsu, which enables patients of all body types to experience the sensation of balance, freedom and well being offered by receiving massage in the water. Using a flexible, Styrofoam floatation device like a noodle, the Jahara technique creates alignment of the musculoskeletal structure. The continuous, gentle traction of the spine and overall expansion of the spinal region and the skeletal frame allows for more space for the joints. Jahara’s focal point is on a stress-free atmosphere where the therapist provides such a smooth transition from movement to movement that there isa feeling of being held by a 3rd arm on the part of the receiver.

"Jahara brings in float mechanisms that Watsu doesn’t have. A noodle under the leg or transitional floatation device that can be easily positioned and moved is favored over a strapped on floatation to the ankles, middle or wrists," notes Tom Cobian.

Essentially with all movements in water massage modalities, however, the particulars are left up to the practitioner and his client.

"All of these water therapies are an art. They are also a combination of the connectedness between the giver and the receiver. That is what makes work in the water so special. It is comprised of skill but it is also comprised of intention. Someone with hardly any skill at all can really help someone in the water," asserts Cobian.

Ad Hoc
The beautiful thing about all of these types of water therapies is that they can be individualized, improvised, manipulated, enhanced and altered to fit every body, every situation and every coupling of practitioner and client.

Jay Shumsky, owner of Total Body Awakening in Phoenix, Arizona uses a number of methods to instigate healing that includes the mind, body and spirit. “Every person that walks into my facility is unique. They have issues that are specific to their life experiences including emotional, physical and mental. I try to use all of the tools at my reach to integrate nutrition, joint and soft tissue health, emotional well being and extended wellness. I try to give my clients tools that will serve them well in their everyday lives,” says Shumsky.

Schumsky utilizes a 107-degree spa that resembles a typical whirlpool. His pool is kept at 60-70 degrees depending on the need of the client. The difference between warmed water and cooled water is the key according to Schumsky. "Our swimming pool acts as a cooler, while the whirlpool acts as a heater. The ph changes in the blood as the temperature of the body is changed. The nervous system is strengthened through the heat expansion and cold contraction in response to the variations in temperature in the body," explains Schumsky.

Schumsky feels that most disease can be traced to an acidic imbalance in the body’s ph. Like the ph of a skin care product or of the soil when planting a garden, the conditions must be right for the body to flourish. "The hot and cold also preps the client for elimination. Toxins are beginning to be directed to the lymph system and the skin through perspiration and closing of the pores. This cycle occurs again and again stimulating and the elimination of toxins," says Schumsky.

Sessions at Total body last as long as they need to. A two-hour session is not uncommon. Many aspects of the client’s health are examined during a session depending on each individual’s particular needs. "I do a lot of breath work. The most common is connected breathing as a figure eight form of breath through the mouth. This type of continuous breathing connects the inhale and the exhale. I tell clients to work on the inhale and to relax and play on the exhale. Work and play. I also do womb-oriented rebirthing, body memory release and past reintegration of memory. Water is the perfect place to work on so many issues," says Schumsky.

Tips For Small Practices
Integrating even the most subdued of water therapies into your one-person practice can be easy, inexpensive and beneficial to the whole of one’s practice. Many ideas for utilizing water cost less than $1 per client to integrate.

Ryan Bottoms, certified massage therapist and owner of Massageworks in Big Fish, Montana started out by simply ending massages with a cold compress to the head.

"Clients seemed to love that sort of finishing touch and it took very little work on my part. It was well worth the extra step to see the increase of repeat clients," says Bottoms.

The cold compress led to large muslin sheets infused with arnica and ginger. "I would steep the sheets in a slow cooker and wring them out to be steamed on a basket in the slow cooker’s top rack, which kept them just warm enough for the client. As I worked each part of the body, a new hot towel would be placed on the body part that was to be next. Clients loved my new method and the heat loosened up the muscle tissue and joints so that I could give a more effective massage," says Bottoms.

Steamy towels can be used in the same way adding drops of essential oils to treat each towel. A steam cabi or crock-pot can be utilized to heat the towels. The difference between towels and sheets is primarily one of coverage; a sheet will cover more space than most towels.

Heated water packets are also a wonderful addition to a massage. Some of these units come in an electrical form, some are microwaveable and some are activated by dropping or hitting the bag. Most of these types of bags are under $50 each and are well worth the investment. For versatility, look for bags that can also be cooled in the refrigerator.

"The bags are like modern hot water bottles with the same soothing effect that you would expect from a steady source of heat. I like to place the pads on problem spots and areas that set the client at ease. A warmed pad under the neck and over the tummy, for instance, seems to bring a general sense of well being to most clients. Once the massage is complete, I take a smaller cooled pad and place it over the eyes to renew and refresh the client," shares Mary Lotte LMT and owner of Ahhhh in Ridgecrest, Delaware.

Whole-table heated mechanisms are also for sale. These units usually strap onto any table and are heated by means of electricity. The whole table pads are nice because they eliminate the need for all of the extra work when attempting to heat sections of the client.

John Fanuzzi, founder of Golden Ration Bodyworks, liked the idea of integrating water into the design of a table so much that he created the Mermaid Table with a water bladder, which is a warm cushion of water on the table.

"The table is unique because there are two side foam braces and very little else to get in the way of the practitioner offering a really great massage. As a therapist you can rock them or grab them and the body flows with the movement. There is no need for bolstering since the body is supported in a more natural fashion by the water."

"Because the practitioner can reach underneath and through the table, the design is very flexible," he continues. "The practitioner can literally grab the torso from underneath and rock or gently manipulate. All of this while the body is heated in a soothing, floating state." At $3,795 the Mermaid Table is a bit of an investment but the possibilities for massage are endless.

Healers are using water today just as they have used water for centuries. Although personal nuances and stylistic aspects vary from tradition to tradition, the same freeing mechanisms that water provides are utilized with each modality. Water is an aid, a second set of hands, and an enveloping medium of support and comfort. Regardless of how practitioners choose to include water in their practice, it is an opportunity for further healing, human understanding and wellness.