Healing wonders of Asin Hot Spring

LIGHT AT THE END OF THE TUNNEL

Roger Sinot Sr.

TUBA, Benguet – Tourists come and go. One told me, “so relaxing! This place is amazing. Though it seems like a large kidney basin (referring to the children’s pool) that is used in laboratories. It’s amazingly fun to beat. I took my girlfriend here and it literally rained falling on our faces while we were on the pool. No one cared. The weather was cold as it could be, but we definitely enjoyed the warm water in the pool.”

Another tourist said the pool area is actually made of two pools. There is a large adult cooler pool but the water is lukewarm sometimes, then there is the children’s kidney pool that is a lot warmer and brings out much better and relaxing feelings, then aside from the main pools are warm dipping pools for small groups, then there are the private hot baths.

           

As added proof to how humans adored bathing rituals, I share excerpts of an article I lifted from the Aromatherapy Companion that talked about bathing Balneotherapy and Romans during the Roman Empire centuries ago.

Although the Romans may not have invented the bath, they raised bathing to a higher form of art. Romans lingered in a communal hot bath where they socialized, conducted marriages and fixed personal family relationships and even sealed business deals.

They built lavish baths wherever they found natural springs. The remains of Roman baths are still evident throughout Europe, the Mideast and North Africa. The Roman reverence for bathing has survived in Turkey, where patrons still visit public baths to be soaped, steamed, and scrubbed clean by attendants.

Meanwhile, a highly ritualized bathing culture has evolved in Japan as well. Whole towns exist as destination resorts around Japanese natural hot springs. The harried Japanese make annual visits to these springs, and in between find time for frequent visits to the “Sento” – the local communal hot-tub house. Japanese homes are for the most part poorly heated, and the family bath becomes an important source of warmth in winter.

No wonder, terms associated with water therapy and water healing were culled after the names of many ancient Roman gods and goddesses such as  “Hydriades” or “Ephydriades,” hence the term “hydrotherapy.” Balneotherapy is the art of water therapy, and one of aromatherapy's best friends.

There is nothing quite so soothing and relaxing as a leisurely soak in a hot bath. As the warmth of the water cradles your physical body, providing relief from the constant pull of gravity, your psyche is refreshed and restored, the weight of the world momentarily lifted.

Add a few drops of well-selected essential oils and you approach nirvana. Water is nature's greatest and most effective solvent. It acts as a liquid suspension, carrying a variety of minerals and chemicals, depending on its source. When we immerse our bodies in a warm bath, our skin rapidly begins to absorb chemicals that are suspended in the water. These chemical components can make their way to our bloodstream in as little as 2 to 15 minutes.

It will take a normally healthy person from half an hour to three hours to eliminate most of these chemicals through the expired breath and urine. In unhealthy or obese people, this process may take up to 10 hours. That is why adding essential oils to a bath is such an effective aromatherapy treatment.

The premise of balneotherapy is built on this solvency. Just as we absorb the essential oils we intentionally add to the water, we absorb a variety of other chemicals and minerals suspended in our water. No two waters are exactly the same.

Spring waters, often thought of as pure, actually contain a variety of minerals. It is the presence of these minerals, from the depths of the earth that makes certain spring waters highly valued for their curative properties.

The amazing virtues of water have been sung throughout the ages. Ancient myths featured countless sea nymphs, mermaids, and water goddesses. It's no wonder that most ancient gods and goddesses associated with water were believed to be sources of life, fertility, and fecundity.

Water is our element. We most likely evolved from aquatic creatures. In any event, our first months of life were spent floating in an amniotic bath. In our dreams water symbolizes the ebb and flow of our emotions. We use water for cleansing, refreshing, and relaxing.

Water is the basis for our body's evaporative cooling system. It flushes out toxic wastes, plumps up our cells, and lubricates our moving parts. Water is crucial to our survival. Without it we would literally dry up and blow away. (end of excerpts).

           

So refreshing, so relaxing and cleansing. The original Asin Hot Springs in the “autonomous republic” of Asin is just 16 kilometers away from the central business district of the “autonomous hopeful” city of Baguio. Happy trails everyone!