Recently, a dear friend, Diana Mihajlova (artist and chess player extraordinaire), who lives in Budapest wrote asking: 'Would you be able to advise how best to use the time when I go and spend a day in the hot baths in Budapest in order to relax, and de-stress the best? '
Her request reminded me of a short article I wrote on the topic for a community newsletter a few years back, and a ritual I developed for guests at my previous spa-retreat venue.
Below you'll find updated versions of these (the second one is offered in audio also), which can be adapted for use at home, in nature, or in Budapest! I'd love to hear of your experiences (comment below).
Personal hygiene and ritual purification played an important role in many ancient cultures. In all cases, the bathing pool was a sacred space for promoting relaxation and inspiration. It was a place for body, mind and spirit to come back into balance.
The Romans built magnificent indoor thermals to support their hedonistic empire. The Japanese sat in beautiful outdoor baths meditating on the Tao of Nature. Native Americans convened at natural hot springs for healing and peacemaking. Quite often, men and women bathed separately.
The current revival of spa culture reflects our longing for a more leisurely approach to life. Even if you don't have the time or money to visit a spa, you can still enjoy the ritualistic art of bathing. Let water be the focus of the experience for all your senses and discover how best to harness its healing powers.
Our bodies are a mass of finely tuned biological reactions, relying on the properties of water. With the buoyant support of water, we experience a lightness and freedom that recalls our aquatic evolution or womb-life.
So, when we drink water or immerse in it, let's reflect deeply on this familiar yet remarkable element.
Here are some ways to approach a ritual bathe.
Seek a setting, whether natural or manmade, that is visually harmonious. The best venues make use of natural materials, uncluttered spaces, low lighting and quiet to create a feeling of peaceful sanctuary. If all our senses are met with pleasurable stimuli then the response will be one of pleasure.
You can shut the bathroom door, take with you a candle, some epsom or sea salt (just a handful, kitchen salt will do too), and fresh or essential oil of lavender (put crushed leaves and flowers in a muslin bag or add up to ten drops of oil, it's inexpensive and very soothing), and you're in your own private spa.
Alternatively, take yourself off to your favorite swimming hole on a quiet week day and float about under the trees or just dabble your toes while you contemplate nature, or visit a beautiful spa with pools. Imagine that you are in a sacred place and must whisper or be silent, listening to your innermost self.
Remember to drink plenty of good water, or perhaps some iced or warm herbal tea, to replace lost fluids. Alcohol and caffeine (in coffee, tea, and sodas) have a dehydrating effect and are best avoided. Our bodies are over 70% water, so as you sip your drink and soak your body, contemplate the gift of life that is water.
Prepare to bathe by discarding outdoor clothing and the events of the day consciously. This step helps you get in the mood for relaxing. A pre-bath shower can make a good transition phase too. Feel the interface between you and the water and how delightful it is to merge with your surroundings. Give yourself permission to submerge for a while.
Water is the most remarkable shape-changing element and its healing properties are altered in its different states: still and moving waters, liquid and steam, hot and cold. Cold is stimulating (it boosts the immune system), warm is relaxing (the muscles relax and the nervous system quietens down), and alternating hot and cold seems to help rebalance us.
Sink gently into silence, the sounds of water or nature. Then, in stillness and curiosity, meditate on the qualities of water: dissolve, drift, flow, float, soak, swirl.
Finally, allow plenty of time to transition back to land life and carry something of that watery feeling with you. See water as your supporter and cleanser, not only physically, but also emotionally and spiritually.
A soaking meditation
Click play to listen to Sulis guiding you through a simple meditation (text follows):
Music: Watsuzy (Surrender to the Waters, track 1) by Steve Jeuneman
Allow yourself to sink into the supportive surrounds of the water, either standing free or against the pool side.
As you relax you may experience a merging of the fluids inside your body and the water in which you are immersed.
Notice that your body seems float within the pool.
Realize that you are just like the water and that you change shape to fit the surroundings.
Know that like water you can flow.
Decide what shape you would like your life to be and then ask yourself what it is that you must do to become that person.
Water can show you how to change what you are but you and you alone can make that change a reality.
Remember that we can change what we are and the water within you can be the cleansing that you need.
It can cleanse the soul and lead you to a new way.
Tell the water your fears and shortcomings.
Tell the water within you and around you all of your dreams and hope.
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Here are some other water mediations on my weblogs that you might enjoy:
On Vision Spa Retreat: A water meditation (by Barbara Harmony)
On Aquapoetics: Oceanic craniosacral arts
On Diving Deeper: Do you have a quest?
