With around 60% of our body being made out of water, it is essential to our survival. Even efforts in space exploration have been geared towards finding habitable planets that contain mainly oxygen and water. Yet given that it is such an important component of our daily lives, how well do we understand it and water's relation to us?
Since the start of civilization, The Indians and Greeks thought that water was the basis of the world and human beings. It was a divine and magical substance gifted to humankind from the gods with the power of therapy, prevention and rehabilitation towards many diseases. Dating back to as early as the 2nd Century B.C., Romans built bathhouses and utilized the power of water through hydrology to help patients heal wounds, ailments and many other different bodily problems. Water was not only considered a tool for healing, but also a substance that bound social ties, with bathhouses being one of the main channels and basis for socialising, relaxation, work and play.
Water may have lost it’s glorious lustre compared to the olden times, yet it still holds an integral part of our daily lives. Water is used in multiple instances to treat wounds, such as disinfecting open wounds, decreasing inflammation in joints, increasing circulation to draw stagnant blood out of internal organs and muscles. Contrast therapy, a technique widely used today by sports coaches to increase player muscle recovery by alternating between cold and hot water therapies to promote circulation and aiding muscle repair, has been a healing tool for thousands of years.
Even during our day to day rituals, showers can provide a sense of relaxation and healing towards the soul. Not only does it provide us with the constant flow of hot water to help soothe our tired bodies from a full day’s work, but it also solitary and time with ourselves with no distractions, providing an oasis for our soul. Hot water also helps cleanse the skin of impurities, opening up pores and capillaries during your shower.
Shower times are also a time for creation and new ideas. When you shower during early mornings or late nights when you are tired, your brain forms creative connections more easily as it less likely blocks unusual thoughts during a state of total relaxation. That is why you always hear great thinkers saying they formed their great “Aha!” moments right when they were in the shower.
Nevertheless, water is an integral part of our lives that we cannot live without, giving our daily needs and our history of water. Let’s try to work together and work to conserve this valuable source of live and leave it for generations to come.
