From the Publisher

Sink into a bathtub full of healing

One of life's most delicious pleasures is luxuriating in a bath filled with healing herbs and soothing scents. But a long soak in the tub can do much more than cleanse your body. It can have a healing effect on your mind, heart, and soul.

The recipes in Water Magic are designed to take away everything from an aching heart to aching muscles. The combination of herbs and water can relieve the common cold and ease uncommon amounts of stress. Drawing on the unique properties of aromatherapy, herbology, and homeopathic cures. Mary Muryn explains how a careful blend of ingredients can turn a simple bath into a magical healing experience.

The recipes, each accompanied by a meditative affirmation, include:

* Sleep Like a Baby Bath

* Executive Stress Bath

* Horrible Hangover Bath

* Youthful Glow Bath

* Mystical Sex Bath

and many more tantalizing, relaxing, and refreshing possibilities.

Let the healing powers of water bring vitality and balance to your mind and spirit.

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Water Magic

Fireside Books

Part I:

Emotional Soothing Baths

Bathing Your Emotions

Everything in your environment has a power, or an unseen energy, that surrounds and enlivens it. When our energy field comes into contact with another's energy, we are affected whether we want to be or not. Knowing this, you must develop the fine art of discrimination to protect and guard your precious life force. Discrimination is an artful balancing act. Intelligent, artful discrimination means choosing energies that are compatible with your own -- energies that enhance rather than detract from your life.

When you feel out of balance because your energy has been "attacked" by an incompatible force, the bath is a wonderful means of soothing and rebalancing yourself. One of the most comforting sounds in the world is that of gently falling rain against a windowpane. When you hear the gentle pitter-patter of raindrops, suddenly life slows down of its own volition -- just as standing under a waterfall can calm and almost magically wash away your cares and tensions. Rain and waterfalls are natural bathers of the auric (your personal energy) field. Fortunately for us, bathing in a bathtub can provide the very same refreshment. The healing properties of water can soothe away your anxieties and gently transport you into a state of deep relaxation.

I offer you my collection of recipes for baths that will do wonders for your sense of well-being. Many of these formulas include herbs and flowers, as they have been proven over the centuries to relax the mind and heal the spirit.

Emotional Bath Meditation

This Meditation Can Be Used for All the Emotional Soothing Baths

Once immersed in your bath, gently close your eyes, and let your attention focus sweetly on your breathing. Take ten deep breaths, then allow your mind to relax. Now take some moments to remember a time long ago when you were a child and felt particularly free. A time of no cares, and no awareness of the problems of the larger world. Perhaps you were at the seashore, or riding a bicycle, or giggling with your best friend. Concentrate on that moment, try to remember exactly how you felt. Your body was loose and unrestrained, your mind was carefree. Laughter flowed spontaneously from some fountain within. You were totally absorbed in your glee.

Let your whole being drift back, back to this moment, as if you are suspended there, and nothing else exists. Feel your joy, the spontaneous, trusting love in your heart, and let yourself imagine life always being like that. Relax into it. Let these images rejuvenate your spirit, until you see yourself free and happy. Imagine all obstacles disappearing like mist before the sun. They cannot cling to you, for you are a free spirit, and nothing can stop you from soaring joyously to the heavens.

Drift off to your favorite quiet place in nature. Imagine your guardian angel or spirit guides there with you. Feel their protection and love. Allow yourself to be nurtured and taken care of, as you let all your emotional pain be soothed away by their loving presence.

You have the power to transform your life into the images of your most cherished dreams -- your imagination has no limitations. So start imagining your perfect life, and let yourself drift off to see where your higher spirit leads you!

Overview of Emotional Soothing Baths

Sleep-Like-a-Baby Bath

* Perfect for when you are overstimulated after a hectic day.

Executive-Stress Bath

* This is for stress, insomnia, and high blood pressure. It restores balance and harmony.

Restorative Sea Bath

* To revitalize and refresh you, restoring energy.

Opening-Your-Heart Bath

* This helps you to heal emotionally and to rekindle feelings of love.

Emotional-Balancing Bath

* This bath greatly soothes and heals the heart.

Sleep-Like-a-Baby Bath
For a Restful Sleep

Purpose

When you are overtired or overstimulated, here's a simple way to relax and send yourself off to restful sleep. The preparation for this bath may seem like too much work when you're exhausted, but the ritual of preparation is actually a part of the relaxation process.

1 handful of chamomile flowers
2 chamomile tea bags
Sandalwood incense (optional)
Candles (optional)
1 quart of water

Optional
8-10 pellets of homeopathic chamomile 30X in the bathwater

How to

Start by steeping chamomile flowers in a quart of water for twenty minutes. During this twenty-minute period cover your head with a towel and position your head over the stove and inhale the healing aroma of the chamomile steam. Strain and pour the liquid into your bath. Next, using the two tea bags, make yourself a cup of chamomile tea to sip in the bathtub. Steep it lightly and save the tea bags.

Once immersed in the tub, put on some relaxing music. Light the candles and your favorite incense. Close your eyes and place a warm tea bag over each eye. Now imagine yourself drifting off to the seashore, where you are stretched out on the comforting sand. The sun is gently warming your body. Imagine the rolling sounds of the waves as you let yourself drift...drift...

It is also helpful whenever you are stressed and fatigued to breathe deliberately. A simple thing you can do in the tub is put your awareness into your inhalation and exhalation, and at the same time concentrate on your big toes. The big toe is a reflex point in your body for your head. According to the Yogis, energy enters through the head and exits through the feet. This is a good way of exiting all your mental stresses and calming your mind. (You can do this exercise in bed, too.)

Executive-Stress Bath
Melting Away Stress and Tension

Purpose

This bath is for stress, high blood pressure, and insomnia. It soothes the mind and rejuvenates the heart. It also uses a wonderfully masculine scent, and is very healing for tired, stiff, or overworked muscles.

Lavender was used by the Greeks and Romans to calm wild animals. It acts to calm the aggressive instincts in humans and relaxes the body and mind to induce sleep. Lavender helps bring about a state of peace and can bring over-emotional people under control by connecting their conscious mind with their actions and hearts. Marjoram is superb for treating heart conditions. It has been thought since Roman times that the scent of marjoram promotes longevity. Don't take this bath if you're planning to make love afterward -- it's far too relaxing!

5 drops of marjoram (do not overuse, as marjoram is a sedative and can cause drowsiness. Marjoram should not be used by pregnant women.)
10 drops of lavender

How to

Pour the ingredients into a hot tub. Soak in the bath for about twenty minutes. Remember to unplug the phone and put your favorite "unwinding" music on the stereo.

Try to quiet your mind by concentrating on your breath. Be aware of each inhalation and exhalation. As you begin to relax, become aware of your heartbeat and how its strong, sturdy rhythm replenishes your body's energy. Mentally relax the rest of your body and banish all thoughts of business and stress.

This is a great way to come down from an especially trying day. By giving yourself the gift of tranquillity, you will be strengthened for the fray -- when you choose to return to it.

Another exercise you can try:

For an upcoming meeting the next day: imagine yourself at the location of the meeting. (If you've never been there, just imagine the location.) Then visualize the ideal outcome for this meeting, and not just what you'll settle for! Feel how you want your business associates and yourself to behave during the meeting as if it were already happening.

See any adversaries as open to you and accepting of your ideas. When you visualize the place for this imaginary meeting, imagine that the energy in there is positive, clean, and harmonious, and that everyone will go home feeling satisfied and happy. Erase whatever blocks you anticipate, then relax and drift.

Visualize in your third eye* the exact circumstances that you need to accomplish; see what you desire in harmony with all those concerned.

Meditate on peace.

Get quiet inside.

Allow the mind to simply become quiet.

You can also repeat to yourself the following:

Affirmation

I am at peace.

I have faith in myself and in the universe to achieve my goals.

I have the faith to achieve (or to bring to myself the circumstances that are beneficial to my good.) In my inner dreams I see the accomplishment of all my dreams.

Restorative Sea Bath
Revitalizing and Refreshing After a Long Day

Purpose

Aphrodite, the Goddess of Love and Beauty, was born in the sea and emerged from the sea foam in a huge shell, which is the symbol for female sensuality.

This bath tones, refreshes, and revitalizes the body, like a dip in the ocean. People have always traveled to the sea to feel young and alive. The sea represents emerging life, as it is believed in many cultures that life originally came from the sea.

The sea has the special ability to heal and rejuvenate both body and spirit. Large bodies of water have a highly charged electromagnetic field around them that create negative ions, which enhance a person's feeling of well-being. Here is the closest thing to recreating the regenerative properties of the ocean in your own home.

1-2 lbs. sea salt
Body brush or loofah

The water shouldn't be too hot, or the bath will tire you out. Find a comfortable warm temperature, put in the salt, and immerse yourself for ten to thirty minutes. Then, with a body brush or loofah, start at your feet and brush or massage your body in an upward direction, toward your head. You'll feel wonderfully rejuvenated.

Optional: After the bath, rinse yourself quickly with a cold shower. This, combined with the salt and scrubbing, will invigorate and regenerate your energy.

Opening- Your-Heart Bath
Reopening and Rekindling

Purpose

This bath is for when your heart feels shut down, closed, and withdrawn (especially from a lover), but you know it's time to reopen your heart to love.

7 drops pure rose oil -- Roses have represented love throughout the centuries in many cultures. The inhalation of their scent brings the feeling of love into the heart, and lifts one out of depression
3 drops lily of the valley oil -- Lily of the valley can strengthen the heart and emotions to embrace love without feeling vulnerable.

OPTIONAL

Coconut oil. Mix the lily of the valley and rose oils with a base of coconut oil, and you'll always have lovely soft skin. I have been doing this for fifteen years, and people always comment on the softness of my skin. Fresh flowers
Pink or aquamarine candles
Uplifting music

How to

For this bath I suggest creating a beautiful atmosphere with fresh, fragrant flowers pink- or aquamarine-colored candles, and uplifting music, such as Gershwin's Rhapsody in Blue.

Once in the tub, allow your senses to speak to you eloquently. Inhale the fragrance of the flowers and let them permeate your entire being. Imagine the fragrance circulating within your body, starting in your heart and spreading outward until you are completely filled with its essence. Listen carefully to the music and let its mood flow through you.

AFFIRMATION

I now welcome love into my life unconditionally and joyously.
I trust in the powers of love.

Practice being in the moment. Feel the heat in your toes, and feel the muscles relax in your feet, and concentrate on how the rest of your body is relaxed as well. Forget the past and the future. Breathe in the now. Let the fragrant oils work their magic, and before you know it, your faith in life and love will be restored.

If you wear a pink tourmaline crystal over your heart, it will help heal the pain that is stored there.

Emotional-Balancing Bath
For Those Discouraged in Matters of Love

Purpose

For matters of the heart, this bath is very healing and soothing. When you have an emotional upset that makes you feel helpless, here is a bath that will heal and deeply soothe your nervous system

5 drops rose oil
5 drops rosemary oil
5 drops lily of the valley oil
5 drops sandalwood oil
Candles

How to

This is a magic combination. Rose opens the heart and lifts you out of depression; lily of tine valley gives the heart strength, both emotionally and physically. These can also be worn together as a perfume on those dog days when life gets you down. Sandalwood calms the nervous system and relaxes the entire body. (And, according to the ancients, it's the only incense pleasing to all the gods.) Rosemary has been used over the centuries in many rituals to attract love. It has the reputation of being a love stimulator.

Before preparing the bath, light some candles and unplug the phone. You can even put a DO NOT DISTURB sign on the door. Once immersed in the bath, concentrate on your breathing and do the Emotional Bath Meditation.

Be aware of your body and your breathing. Feel your heart expand. Imagine there is a prize rosebud in-the center of your chest. With your imagination, watch it open slowly and expand, bathing your entire being in loving pink light. Feel the pink light heal your emotions and restore your spirit.

While in the tub inhale the scent of the rosemary and say to yourself: "My relationship with -- is filled with harmony, understanding, and trust." While filled with the pink rosebud light, imagine the upset in your relationship dissolving and filling with positive warm feelings of understanding, compassion, and love. This love can be with a partner, parent, child, or friend.

Shopping List for Emotional Soothing Baths

You'll want to keep the following on hand, in order to be ready for the moments when emotional replenishment is needed.

Health-Food Store

Body brush, loofa, or sea sponge
Candles
Chamomile flowers
Chamomile tea bags
Chamomile pellets 30X (homeopathic remedy)
Incense (your favorite, or sandalwood)
Sea salt

Essential Oils

Lavender oil
Lily of the valley oil
Marjoram oil
Rose oil
Rosemary oil

Music

Your Choice
Rhapsody in Blue

Copyright © 1995 by Mary Muryn

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Excerpted from Water Magic by Mary Muryn Copyright © 1995 by Mary Muryn. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.

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