Our senses become a trap. In our externally oriented world, the senses are bom-barded continually throughout the day. An onslaught of sensory information challenges our filtering mechanisms. Remember when Aldous Huxley, the author
of 1984, called our minds a “reducing valve”
to limit our sensory input? In the 21st century, that valve could overheat and blow, considering
how overstimulated our senses have become in daily life. Let us examine the senses one by one
and deter-mine their stimuli in our modern culture.
Let’s begin with sight. Most of us begin our workday when we enter our car. Driving, especially
in heavy traffic, is a demanding way to start the day in terms of vision. Not only must we avoid
the other cars and trucks, but signs, lights, and bill-boards all vie for our attention. Computers are another taxing challenge to our visual acuity. Staring at that screen for long hours is extremely draining. Television, videos and movies also log in their share of time on many Americans’ optic nerves. Witness the MTV-type of rapid, ever-changing visual imagery, barely giving one a chance
to focus before switching images. When not watching their preferred choice of screens, most people are reading, especially at work. Regardless of what our eyes are cur-rently focusing on, visual information is being gathered every waking minute. Consequently, the eyes do not get much rest until we close them to go to sleep.
Next let’s examine our sense of hearing. People can go through life and never experience pure silence. We have progressed from Walkman cassette players to
CD Discmans to iPods. The technology keeps getting smaller and more convenient
to allow us to bring music with us at all times. Almost every vehicle boasts at least an AM/FM radio, if not the CD multi-changer with the full complement of tweeters and subwoofers to physically vibrate our internal organs as well as our eardrums. Some television sets are on 24/7 even if there is no one watching, “just for background noise.” Some people cannot sleep without the television playing in the bedroom. If
the T.V. is not
on, there is a good chance the home sound system is shuffling through the CD library. Superior technology has enabled music to sound absolutely incredible.
Adding to these self-imposed sounds is the real background noise: the sounds of the city
including traffic noise, sirens, honking horns, and construction in progress. The neighbor’s barking
dog can disturb an otherwise peaceful moment. Even your family can be a source of unwanted
noise some of the time. In conversation, people can feel nervous during an awkward moment
when nothing is being said. We live in
a world of noise, a lot of it created by choice. Cell phones
may be the most insistent assault on our personal peace. I find that the older I get, the more I appreciate silence. This is one of the many reasons I enjoy living in Montana. The peace and
soli-
tude experienced while hiking, fishing, gardening, or just sitting along the Yellowstone River restores my soul. People can go through their entire lives and never experience the pleasure of
pure silence.
The sense of taste can lead to big trouble especially regarding your health. When food tastes delicious, overeating is a common problem. The old adage, “Eat to live, not live to eat” is routinely ignored. Many people do just the opposite. The overweight and obesity epidemic currently
affecting America is staggering. In many cases, food becomes a substitute for the missing components in people’s lives. But that’s another book entirely. The industry of food technology is also tirelessly at work figuring out new ways to excite our taste buds, inducing the populace to eat even more. One of my nutritional mentors, Viktorus Kulsvinkus, author of Survival in the 21st Century, once drew a diagram of a grocery store. Pointing to the produce aisle he proclaimed, “This is marginally OK and the rest of the store is designed to slowly kill you.” This is one of the many reasons I grow my own organic garden every summer. Another quote (whose author I’ve forgotten) warns, “The majority of us are digging our graves with our teeth.” Not only food (or what masquerades as food these days) but drink, in all its forms except for pure water, conspires to destroy our health.
The overstimulation of our taste buds by the plethora of sweet, stimulating and carbonated beverages are as much to blame for the rampant obesity in America as the food. Delicious wines, designer microbrew beers and a galaxy of tasty mixed drinks contribute to the overconsumption
of alcohol and its negative effects. Don’t
get me wrong—I enjoy fine wine and microbrew beer as much as anybody, but over-imbibing is the core problem. Alcoholic drinks are classic “empty calories.” “But it tastes good!” could be the American mantra—a statement which could make every well-meaning mother cringe when she tries to instill healthy eating and drinking habits in her children. Health food has been summarily dismissed by much of America because it supposedly doesn’t taste good. Of course, fresh and wholesome food pre-pared properly is delicious, despite
this common misconception.
Our sense of smell plays into the health and obesity issue as well. Who has not been drawn by
the smell of a hot cinnamon bun wafting down an airport concourse or the barrage of competing olfactory hooks in a mall’s food court? Fresh coffee aroma entices us, even though the brew usually smells better than it tastes. The sizzle of charbroiled burgers on an open grill beckons us, whether
in a fast-food restaurant or
a backyard barbeque. Smell definitely contributes to overeating. Taste and smell are intertwined, one inextricably linked to the other.
Another assault on our olfactory system comes from the dizzying smell of the per-fume and cologne sectors in the local department store. All those competing smells are enough to make a shopper feel woozy especially when a small piece of paper is thrust under your nose. Furthermore, the use of these potions to make us smell attractive has a toxifying effect on the body.
Our sense of smell, especially in an increasingly congested world, is under assault much of the
time. This is the only sense that has a direct conduit to the brain. The olfactory sense goes to
a more primitive part of the brain, which served an important role as part of our survival mechanism long ago.
This leads to the last sense, our sense of touch. This is the only one that AquaBliss specifically targets, unless you are fortunate enough to have underwater speakers. Unfortunately, the focus
on touch and its pleasurable qualities has been distorted in our culture. Until very recently, massage was lumped together with massage parlors and prostitution. America’s obsession with sex
is evident on television, in the movies and in most popular magazines and tabloids. Sadly, the sense
of touch has been reduced to “being sexual” in too many instances. When I lived in South Carolina during the 80s, in order to apply for a therapeutic massage license I was instructed
to go through
the vice squad. This is all changing now, but we still encounter a limited perspective when it comes
to the sense of touch.
In AquaBliss, the friction of the water flowing past the skin creates the touch. Of course, I’m
still touching and holding and stretching the body, but the entire skin surface is being stimulated. You may be surprised to learn that the skin is the body’s largest organ. Countless numbers of receptors in the skin make it an extraordinary mechanism, sensitive enough to receive stimuli
from the ambient environment.
In AquaBliss, ideally the water temperature matches the skin temperature, which is 93.5
degrees. In order to use these receptors to our full advantage, we need to maintain the pool at
this temperature or close to it. It is very distracting to be a little chilly or overheated during an AquaBliss session. If the water temperature is too cool, the skin receptors will constrict. Goose-bumps are an obvious sign that the skin needs warmth. Perspiration on the forehead indicates
that your subject’s skin is trying to cool itself. But when it’s just right, the feeling of merging
with
the water is indescrib-able. When you cannot tell where your skin ends and the water
begins—that’s the perfect temperature.
The intention is to remove physical sensory distractions in order to allow the person to get beyond the physical. When the physical realm is so comfortable thanks to the weightless condition and the perfect ambient water temperature, amazing experiences can and do happen.
But if for some reason letting go is not something that you are ready to do, it’s OK! The pure physicality of flowing around a pool in a weight-less condition while being stretched and kneaded
and massaged borders on ecstatic. If you are not ready for the higher realms just yet, enjoy the
pure physical release engendered by AquaBliss. Release from the yoke of relentless gravity is a bonus only scuba divers and astronauts are lucky enough to experience in a normal workday.
Regardless of how far one lets oneself merge into the water and enter into uncharted territory, the fact remains that the senses are getting a much-deserved break from constant input. This is
real down time, far more effective than any other form of relaxation. The sensory system of the
body is constantly gathering, sifting and funneling millions of information bits to the brain for interpretation. Rarely does one sit back and ponder the sheer enormity of input the brain receives and how it responds (or not) to that stimulus. Fortunately, most of our responses are appropr-iate, but sensory overload can precipitate nervous-system disorders. Alcohol and drugs, prescription and otherwise, are a popular way to slow down the input. This is
a quick-fix approach with a well-documented downside. AquaBliss is all upside. All of the effects of AquaBliss are positive and
health promoting, including the temporary vacation for your senses.
Many of us believe that the answers lie outside ourselves. Our senses delude us with their extraordinary gathering powers. So much information is presented to us, the matter of extracting and processing the correct input remains a formidable task. Our brains operate much like a sophisticated computer. Unfortunately, no matter how much information we gather, it still does
not quite satisfy this deep yearning for something more. I believe that the senses propagate an ongoing illusion, which defines what is really important, or what is really real. Ironically, the more sophisticated and all-encompassing our technology becomes, the more dissatisfied the overall populace appears to feel.
Our scope of entertainment is mind-bending. No matter what area of distraction one examines,
it is truly amazing! IMAX 3-D movies, roller coasters that would have been inconceivable ten years ago and virtual reality video games somehow “better than reality” are but a few of the examples
that titillate our senses. Some of our entertainment is so intense and shocking, it needs to be prefaced with warnings and disclaimers. We are so overwhelmed in our current society that it takes something radical to please us, or at least to get our attention. Where does this current trend ultimately lead? I’d prefer not to speculate, but rather offer an alternative. Of course my alternative
is AquaBliss!
How could an activity so bucolic and simple as AquaBliss possibly compete with all the dramatic distractions our society has to offer? That answer lies within. When one accesses the inner self, the need for constant stimulation and ever-increasing thresholds of excitement are put into perspective. Awareness of your infinite self does not have to compete with external distractions, which are illusory and not fulfilling. In fact, the potential bliss found inside your own being dwarfs any manmade distraction or entertainment.
The infinite nature of your own being defies comparison to any outside source of pleasure. Any-thing outside your true essence cannot possibly measure up. Therein lies the true source of modern angst. We are simply looking in the wrong direction. Instead of constantly searching for another
peak experience or just repeating a familiar pattern, we must realize neither is fulfilling. The
gnawing emptiness and dissatisfaction accompanying modern life will not be changed until we modify our approach to existence.
The secret answer is so simple, yet we routinely overlook it as we search for more stimuli. The more is within! How much more could one need than the sheer depth of one’s infinite self? There really are no limits to how far one can go, no parameters of restraint and no boundaries to preclude self-exploration. The world of the senses pales by comparison. Nothing in the external world offers as much potential for sheer joy and wonder as what is available to anyone when his attention is focused within. AquaBliss makes this potential a reality.
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