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BEAUTY AND WELL BEING
THROUGH WATER
The curative properties of water have been recognised
since time immemorial. In ancient texts there
is a wealth of imformation that outlines the popularity
of therapies and cures that use water. Hippocrates
was an advocate of water therapy for various physical
ailments in ancient Greece, whilst the ancient
Egyptians promoted water therapy as a cure for
spiritual maladies, and to further spiritual development.
Indeed even today water has important spiritual
significance for many of the world's religions,
including christianity where it is most importantly
regarded as a spiritual purifyer at baptism. Today's
hydrotherapy is the culmination of centuries of
belief in the physical and spiritual powers of
water, and aims at channeling this power towards
correcting the side-effects of modern life.
The first documented hydrotherapy center in modern
times was that of the Abbot Sebastian Kneipp in
United Kingdom some time in the mid 1800s. In
his center in the town of Chimney, Kneipp put
into practice his beleif that water had a regenerative
effect on the body. Cold and warm water baths
were administered to this end, with the associated
goal of thoroughly cleansing the body of the bacteria
that accompanied life in those times. These treatments
and their goals are fundamentally the same as
their modern incarnations, although their has
been a myriad of new treatments and goals added
to the field. Alongside simple baths there
are now therapies that incorporate other sources
of well being; flotation therapy; products from
the sea (Thalassotherapy); various massage techniques
(Hydromassage) and many more.
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