~ Watsu ~

Watsu or Water Shiatsu is a new method of pressure point massage in warm water (about 35 C˚). Carried by the water and supported by the therapist you feel weightless. During the session you experience an enormous sense of freedom, which will be intensified by the fluid movements and the flowing of the water along your body. The therapist accompanies you by stretching, flexing and rotating – movements that would be difficult or even impossible to achieve outside the water.

For whom?

For both adults and children, and especially for pregnant women, Watsu is very suitable. Those without specific problems can choose Watsu for sheer relaxation. Spinal cord, joints and muscles will be loosened and blockages in the meridians will be released. For those who suffer from muscle and joint problems Watsu will assure more flexibility and will have a soothing effect. Because you’ll be supported in the water at all times, you do not have to be able to swim.

Pregnancy & Watsu

Oda ~ Care’s Watsu treatments take place in a safe and relaxing atmosphere. For a while you can take some distance from your daily life and enjoy, together with your baby (still growing inside you), the warm water. The temperature of the water helps you relax. It also reduces stiffness of the muscles, which helps to release most of the pain (lower back pain). The feeling of being weightless as well as no space or time feeling is profound. Because of the relaxation both you and your baby will relax physically and emotionally.

Relaxation & Watsu

Watsu is a highly effective and pleasant treatment for those who want to relax in stressful times. Watsu can also help with the treatment of depression, anxiety disorder (as well fear of water) and insomnia. These types of problems can have a far reaching influence on our mental and physical wellbeing. Watsu will take you back to a world of silence, a world with room and time for yourself. In this gentle and respectful manner, Watsu repairs the self-healing ability of our body.

Facts and positive effects of Watsu on our body

The deep feeling of relaxation that arises during a Watsu session has measurable physiological effects on the body. The heart rate decreases, the blood pressure goes down and the breathing deepens. Endorphin is released in the body. The immune system is strengthened this way. Those positive effects will be felt for days after the session. You may notice this as you might be sleeping better or your digestive system will function better and faster for example.

Problems/symptoms:

~ Pain
~ Stress
~ Anxiety
~ Depression
~ Insomnia
~ (Coping with) Emotional traumas
~ Common problems during pregnancy

All around me…

…there is a talk regarding evidence base.

Is shiatsu an evidence base?

As acupuncture is, what about shiatsu then?
I’d say yes it is as well.
If we add the element of touch which is as well already evidence base, like we really needed to prove it.. but we do, and the scientists luckily did.
Add up to this equation the healing power of water. Yes, that is already been proven as well. And it has even memories.

WaterHealing

Let’s have a look at home scene water. Our bubble baths.
Bubble baths have gotten a lot of media attention in the last few years as the self-care movement picked up speed. There is a difference of course between self-care and self-soothing, and although they are both perfectly valid and necessary…

Bubble baths often fall into the category of self-soothe rather than self-care.
But if more self soothing take place less stress might arise and it’s taking of ones care.
Now, that depends on what you’re trying to care for…
Are the bubble baths of 20′ same as  your grandmother’s bubble baths?

Soaking in hot water alone can have tremendous benefits.

And even better, soaking in hot water at a beautiful spa in the heart of Amsterdam being placed there still being so quite, and surine as it is located at the basement of what  once use to be the Post Bank safe…

So what do you think happens when you add touch, caring, holding and floating? You should try yourself if haven’t yet.

You can design a bubble bath at home just for yourself.

Advised is to avoid:

Using brightly colored, scented, or glitter bath bombs. They seem fun and whimsical, but there are chemicals in dyes and scents, and glitter is terrible for your skin. Synthetic fragrances contain endocrine disruptors, like phthalates.
Commercial bath salts can lead to changes in vaginal pH levels.
Your average bubble bath solution contains chemicals like formaldehyde, which are not only unnatural, but can cause skin dryness and irritation.

Advised is:

Taken mindfully, bubble baths can be luxurious, healing, and healthy.

Let’s talk about how you can design a soak that actually qualifies as “self-care.”

If you want a scent, use Essential Oils.
Here’s why the chemicals in your bath matter so much: soaking in hot water opens the pores in your skin and allows anything in your bath water into your body. The skin is supposed to act as protection from outside contaminants — so your bath time is the time when you want to be the most vigilant about your exposure to chemicals.

Some essential oils will irritate your skin, especially if you simply add drops of the oil to the bath water. Remember, oil and water don’t mix. So if you simply add oils to the water, the oil will adhere to your skin.

Instead, mix the essential oils in with the unscented epsom salts, or combine them with a carrier oil (like jojoba or coconut). The oil will adhere to the salt or carrier oil instead and dissolve safely into the hot water.

Choosing oils

And when choosing your oils, avoid:
Cinnamon, Clove, Oregano, Savory,
Spearmint, Thyme And wintergreen.

Instead, think chamomile, lavender, lemongrass, rose oils. Soft. Floral. Gentle. Moisturizing. A hot bath is the perfect time to moisturize, since you’re getting rid of dead skin cells anyway.

Hot. How hot?

The hot water discussion gets heated among experts pretty quickly. Some insist that the hot water is fantastic for relieving muscle tension. Others warn that submerging your body in scalding water can lead to heat stress, which can be dangerous for those with heart conditions.

Solution?

Make sure you’re always keeping part of your body exposed to the air. Your head and face, your feet, your arms — it doesn’t matter. You can alternate too! Start as hot as you’d like, but let the bath cool naturally.

Because the benefits of bathing in hot water are no joke. Heat increases blood flow and circulation, which helps to soothe sore muscles. Especially when combined with epsom salts, which have antiinflammatory properties and can restore overworked muscles to a state of relaxation.

The watsu pool is perfect heat. 35 degrees Celsius. Not too hot, not too cold. You don’t sweat so your body doesn’t work too hard just relaxed. Not too cold so the body isn’t busy with your surviving mode warning you up.

TeaBath

Try Bath Teas for a Restful Sleep!
Baths themselves are known to induce deeper sleeps and a smoother transition to bed time.
The body needs a signal to produce melatonin — whether that’s the light outside growing dimmer and softer, or the body’s temperature dropping. Soaking in a hot tub dramatically raises your body temperature…

And getting out of the tub and stepping into the air dramatically lowers your body temperature, tricking your body into getting sleepy.

Now, the benefits of herbal teas are no secret: they can be anti-inflammatory, anti-carcinogenic, immune-enhancing, calming, cooling, and more. Absorbing their properties through the body’s largest organ can only help!

Try filling a muslin bag with chamomile, valerian, chrysanthemum, or any other soothing herbal tea. Hang the muslin bag over the faucet and soak in a giant cup of tea!

A BigBath

Now imagine. A bigger bath, always hitted to body temperature, warmth, soothing, no difference between you and the surrounding.
Becoming one with the water.
No need to hold yourself. You are being held.
In the watsu pool no olis are added but the water are controlled and are clean with no high chlore levels no aching eyes or skin…
The tea is not in the pool but served right afterwards…
Either hot bath (home) or watsu (Akasha spa) just go and find your healing in the water.
The element of the winter, the Yin and the nourishment.

Inspired by the Urban monk.