Water massage provides therapeutic relief, comfort By Diane Devillers
I am cradled in the arms of Ann Cole, floating in a pool of warm water. My body is submerged but my face remains above water. All I can hear is a swishing of water in my ears. Cole pulls me by an arm and a leg; the remaining limbs just float, creating a gentle stretch I can feel throughout my body. Cole pulls me by my shoulders and sways me slowly back and forth. The motion of the water and her supportive touch allow me to release any tension—I can hear my spine undulate with the ticking sound of every vertebrae. This is a feeling like being out of your body, a feeling of great comfort and awareness that I have never felt before.
This is Watsu massage, a type of aquatic body work that involves being skillfully floated, massaged, and flowingly stretched in a warm pool. Watsu originated in Japan; the name is a contraction of “warm water Shiatsu” (Shiatsu being a hands-on therapy like massage, but with components of traditional Chinese medicine). It is gentle, and beneficial for people with chronic pain, fibromyalgia, arthritis, multiple sclerosis, or any other condition that is improved by movement. The Watsu practitioner’s movement, alternating with stillness and combined with deep breathing, releases muscle tension, encourages realignment, and facilitates a deep meditative or intuitive state. The practitioner cradles the client in his or her arms, creating an environment of total safety and trust. This nurturing experience can be part of a physical or emotional healing process, or it can simply be pleasurable.
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Watsu is based on slow, rhythmic, dance-like movements aligned with the rise and fall of the breath—it is largely effortless because of the support of the water. “The interior focus of Watsu creates a meditative space of deep listening and opens the way to sharing peace, love, and joy,” says Ann Cole, a Watsu master, dance and movement therapist, and licensed counselor. Cole brought Watsu to the Northwest in 1990, and is now sharing her skills at Eugene’s Tamarack Wellness Center.
The treatment decreases the heart rate and rate of respiration and increases the depth of your breathing. It decreases spasticity and muscle spasms, enhances the immune system and digestion, increases range of motion, and increases muscle relaxation and a general sense of well-being. It can also improve sleep patterns and decreases pain and anxiety.
I first took a Watsu class many years ago as part of training when I worked with disabled people in my company’s independent-living program. I had been coming to the warm-water pool (92 degrees) at the former Easter Seals building for years, bringing many of my clients along to show them first-hand the therapeutic qualities that swimming can have. Now, having been diagnosed with MS myself, I am personally benefiting from the experience of Watsu in a way that has brought me real peace.
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The Easter Seals pool became Tamarack Wellness Center in 2003, under the direction of Sue Sherman, who has brought a new vision and financial security to the pool. The center also offers swimming and classes, done in and out of water, that nurture self-discovery and physical and emotional well-being. Tamarack Wellness Center recently became the first pool in the area to filter and clean its pool with sea salt conversion, which makes the water gentler than the usual chlorine-based filtration. It is also engaging in several solar energy projects on site to offset the cost of electricity used to keep the pool at 92 degrees.
Floating in the arms of Ann Cole in the wonderfully warm water, the real world seems far distant. As we finish the treatment, my head is brought up to the world I left behind. The feeling is of intense joy, and a peace I had long ago forgotten.
Tamarack Wellness Center
3575 Donald St.
541/683-7506
541/686-9290 (pool)
tamarackwellness.com
