Aquapoetics

The role of water in modern holistic medicine: Norman Shealy

The video below is presented by MD Norman Shealy (June 2009) whose association with alternative medicine, alternative health care, holistic medicine, energy medicine and medical intuition in the US might be said to be legendary. 

Although Norman is now retired from clinical practice, his research and teaching is ongoing.  You can read more about him and his pioneering involvement in many innovative organizations, such as the American Holistic Medical Association on his website here.

My own interests introduced me to Holos University and to the American Board of Scientific and Medical Intuition (both inspired by Dr Shealy).  (An interesting side discovery has been that Dr Shealy and Holos are based in Missouri where I currently reside.)

I'm attracted especially by a 'balanced approach of self-development, scholarly exploration and research, and service that substantiate and integrate all three aspects of the body/mind/spirit healing triad' (Holos Mission statement). 

I continue to take this approach in my own study of aquatic bodywork.

Aquatic bodywaves: an investigative challenge and a questionnaire

Here's an opportunity to get involved in a preliminary investigation of the alternative aquatic bodywork phenomenon called the 'bodywave'.  You'll find an explanation and links to the questionnaire below.  But first some background ...

In many of the posts on this blog, I have referenced areas of potential therapeutic value in alternative aquatics that are not easily amenable to conventional scientific study.  These include: 

• the energetic qualities of water itself

• the consciousness of both the practitioner and client

• the subtle energy fields of practitioner and client and their interaction during a session

• psychosomatic reactions that sometimes occur during aquatic bodywork

(Click on the links above to see other posts on this blog.)

In a recent digest, I gathered together nine posts that explore the differences between the approaches and outcomes of alternative aquatic practices and those practices with scientific clinical focus.  To illustrate the investigative dilemma I'm concerned with, here is an example  from my practice of alternative aquatic bodywork.

In the early days of Watsu training, the bodywave phenomenon was not given direct attention and apparently is still not highlighted since, to my knowledge, no-one but Harold  Dull, creator of Watsu (and me) has referenced it in any writings to be found online. 

In recent years, interest in subtle energy-based healing methods and recognition of the hidden harm caused by trauma (physical or emotional) has created an opening for a less dismissive approach to the subtle effects of aquatic bodywork of which the bodywave is one of the more visible expressions.

For years, I have wondered if anyone would investigate this extraordinary effect further, perhaps even from a scientific point of view.  As with many alternative healing practices, any scientific study would be fraught with the difficulties outlined in the posts in my earlier digest. 

Those include finding methodologies and means of assessment compatible with an effect that does not fit with current conventional understanding of the human body, or could be diminished by an attempt to make it fit.  But to start with, we at least need some more detailed accounts of this phenomenon.

Ace of Water: Osho Zen Tarot Valentine

I love the water and I love the practice of aquatic bodywork.  So, I'm inspired that this card turned up in an online spread using my favorite Osho Zen Tarot deck today.  It is from the suit of Water (also Cups and Hearts in other decks).  You can experience this deck for yourself by going here.

I like to also look up drawn cards that especially call to me in other decks, like the Inner Child cards (by astrologer Isha Lerner).  This one speaks to my heart, which dreams of my own pool and practice again.  For the Ace of Hearts the commentary says:

This card affirms that a new opportunity in the realm of love is rising out of the depths of the past, symbolized by the ocean. This new love may be a person, an idea, the realization of a dream, or a new creative endeavor.

How about you?

Description of the card shown above from the guide accompanying the set ...

Osho Zen Tarot
58. Going With The Flow
Ace of Water

When I say "become water" I mean become a flow; don't remain stagnant. Move, and move like water. Lao Tzu says: The way of the Tao is a watercourse way. It moves like water. What is the movement of water? or of a river? The movement has a few beautiful things about it. One, it always moves towards the depth, it always searches for the lowest ground. It is non-ambitious; it never hankers to be the first, it wants to be the last. Remember, Jesus says: Those who are the last here will be the first in my kingdom of God. He is talking about the watercourse way of Tao--not mentioning it, but talking about it. Be the last, be non-ambitious. Ambition means going uphill. Water goes down, it searches for the lowest ground, it wants to be a nonentity. It does not want to declare itself unique, exceptional, extraordinary. It has no ego idea.

Osho Take it Easy, Volume 1 Chapter 14
Commentary:

The figure in this card is completely relaxed and at ease in the water, letting it take him where it will. He has mastered the art of being passive and receptive without being dull or sleepy. He is just available to the currents of life, with never a thought of saying "I don't like that," or "I prefer to go the other way." Every moment in life we have a choice whether to enter life's waters and float, or to try to swim upstream. When this card appears in a reading it is an indication that you are able to float now, trusting that life will support you in your relaxation and take you exactly where it wants you to go. Allow this feeling of trust and relaxation to grow more and more; everything is happening exactly as it should.