sweat, tears, and salt water
Isak Dinesen once wrote, ‘The cure for everything is salt water: sweat, tears, and salt water.’ I love this. There is truth in it. It’s powerful and simple.
Water, they say, is life. Can you believe we humans are made up of over 60% water.1 And we’re pretty salty too!
The human body contains many salts, of which sodium chloride (AKA common table salt) is the major one, making up around 0.4 per cent of the body’s weight at a concentration pretty well equivalent to that in seawater.2
Of course, as with most things in life, the trick is maintaining balance. Doctors are always saying drink lots of water and reduce your salt intake. But a visit to a doctor in Nairobi a few years back alerted me to the fact that drinking too much water was causing me some health issues. I’d suffered for a couple of months from a constant sensation of nausea and headaches. I thought maybe it was the pollution and, while it may have been a contributing factor, the doctor explained that the excessive amount of water I was drinking to combat the African heat was actually the main cause. It was interfering with my body’s gastric juices and affecting my electrolyte levels, and, because it increased the sodium levels in the electrolytes, was also contributing to my high blood pressure reading. Who knew? Not me. So, now I still drink a lot of water but am quite mindful about it.
Anyway, to get back to Dinesen’s salt water cures…
SWEAT
Sweat or perspiration is the body’s way of regulating temperature and eliminating toxins from the system. I wouldn’t say I’m a very sweaty person. haha don’t think anyone would want to confess to that in our super sanitised modern world. I’ve never been particularly sporty. In school, I had to quit the basketball team because it was too violent. I did play volleyball though. In my German school, I was on a rowing team and took ballroom dance lessons. Cycling has always been great, and swimming, walking, and gardening. Ok, the last is not a sport but it’s good exercise, isn’t it. Natural physical movement is something I enjoy and these days it’s mostly walking and gardening and the occasional swim. Of course, in the 40+ degree summer weather here there is a lot of sweating which one can’t really escape, especially with no aircon in the house.
Sweat baths have been trending here in recent years and, in fact, have been a part of many cultures through the ages from ancient Mayan sweat houses to Finnish saunas. Often they were integral to spiritual or religious rituals or ceremonies. In some Mesoamerican ruins they found evidence that they were connected to the goddess of fertility. There is a lot of literature on this fascinating subject. This BBC article, though, gives an interesting overview of the history.
There’s a more technical explanation of the benefits of sweat in this Healthline article.
I also came across the trailer for this lovely film recently, The Smoke Sauna Sisterhood, which you too might find interesting.
Women share their innermost secrets and intimate experiences inside an Estonian smoke sauna. Cleansing their bodies and baring their souls, they embrace the healing power of sisterhood. Anna Hints’ Sundance-winning documentary celebrates the centuries-old smoke sauna tradition, recognized on the UNESCO Representative List of the Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity.3
TEARS
Did you know that tears taste differently depending on the emotion that prompts them?
The emotion that brings on your tears also affects how they taste. Sad tears are more acidic which makes them taste sour. Angry tears contain more sodium and so are very salty, like your angry attitude. Happy tears taste sweeter, just like the moments that bring them on.4
The Taste of Tears, Jacque Derrida’s homage to Jean-Marie Benoist, author, educator, journalist, and philosopher, is moving and thought provoking. Reflections on mourning, tears, poetry… I won’t attempt to summarise. Just read it. Think on it. It may not be for everyone but I found it beautiful.
Whether it’s sadness or joy, tears are a physical representation of our humanity. They show our vulnerability as well as our strength.5
There are lots of reasons for tears. Whatever the cause, they produce endorphins and reduce cortisol, the stress hormone. They are a release that help us keep ourselves in balance, physically and mentally. You can read more about the reasons for and benefits of tears in this PsychCentral article.
Tears have played a big part in my own healing journey in recent years. After my mild stroke a few years back I cried a river. They were tears that ran the gamut of emotions – happy, angry, sad, etc. I wrote about this in a blog post a while back, talking about how I started my ‘art as therapy’ journey and my first mini series of paintings which I called ‘Teardrops’. You can read it here.
SALT WATER
I was born in Vancouver by the Pacific Ocean, grew up by the Atlantic Ocean, spent bits of my childhood playing on Mexican beaches, lived for years on the other side of the Atlantic in Morocco, my daughter was born in the Hospital del Mar in Barcelona with the sun rising over the Med, and I now live by the sea again in Sardinia. I’m not sure I could live anywhere that was not by the sea! I have in the past but it never felt right. I need the sea.
When I was little, we used to go to ‘the rocks’ as my dad called it every weekend. We’d climb in our old battered biscuit tin of a Volkswagen bug and drive out along the coast at a snail’s pace so my father could enjoy the views, moo at the cows, and nibble on his chocolate (he always had a bar of the dark stuff in his pocket). My sister and I had to keep our feet up on the seat because the floor was so rusted and full of holes. We’d sing and bicker and joke in the back seat, no seatbelts of course, and I’d tickle my dad behind his ears as he drove which made him chuckle. We’d park on the road by the pine tree forest and scamper down the path to the sea where we’d clamber around the huge slabs of granite like little goats, climbing, jumping, running, investigating the little crevices with pools of water looking for life. It was splendid – invigorating – exhilarating – pure freedom. I’m grateful to my father for this.
The sea is many things. It’s awesome in every sense of the word. Something to be both loved and feared. Without a doubt, though, time spent at the seaside can be truly restorative. Check out this great article from the PADI blog, ‘The Science Behind the Healing Powers of the Salty Sea’6.
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
All of that to say, on the eve of the new year, 2024, take very good care of you!
Sweat it out with exercise or in a sauna, let the tears flow sad and happy, and immerse yourself in salt water even if it’s just a bath with epsom salts! Let salt water be the cure this coming year for whatever ails you in mind, body, and spirit.
Well, that’s me. Your turn! I’d be delighted to hear your thoughts on my ramblings above and about any of your own dips and dives into salt waters! Drop me a note in the comments below…
Thanks so much for joining me here, for reading.
Wishing you a happy and healthy New Year!
F ox
NB Thanks for reading! This piece was written on 31/12/23 for my Substack ‘Notes from Sardinia: Musings of a coach‘! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.
PS I’ve recently started collaborating with a friend on a new, women only, retreat in June 2024 curated around this theme of salt water. We’re calling it ‘Salacia’ after the sea goddess. It’s going to be fun!
PPS Make yourself a priority in 2024! I have a free, short Self-care Guide which draws on both the 7 chakras and Blue Zone principles. It’s available on the self-care page of my site and there are some coaching exercises there too for you if you’re interested or you can just download the guide.
PPPS I’ll leave you with this brilliant motivational chat, below, with my favourite kooky vlogger, Caroline Winkler, on the 5 self-care tips that have worked for her.
1 https://www.usgs.gov/special-topics/water-science-school/science/water-you-water-and-human-body
2 https://www.sciencefocus.com/the-human-body/how-much-salt-is-in-a-human-body
3 https://www.imdb.com/title/tt23640230/plotsummary/?ref_=tt_ov_pl
4 https://lindaddahl.medium.com/behind-crying-eyes-196489e779e5
5 https://lindaddahl.medium.com/behind-crying-eyes-196489e779e5
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