Physical properties of water

Aquatic Bodywork is a method that makes use of the medium of water.

Hydrostatic pressure causes fluid volumes in the body to shift (removal of oedema, increased excretion of fluid through bath diuresis) and the pulse to slow down (Weston et al., 1987, Bonde et al., 1992). Having to breathe against resistance can be experienced by clients as oppressive or as pressure on the chest but is usually hardly noticed and acts as unconscious muscle training.

The buoyancy in the water changes the activation of the anti-gravity muscles and the neuronal stimulus transmission – two factors that convey a feeling of weightlessness and reduce feelings of tiredness (Wilcock et al., 2006). The buoyancy relieves the spine and enables the client to be positioned without a support surface. Depending on the speed of movement, the water resistance or inertia also contributes to this effect. Thanks to the buoyancy, the clients receive extensive support and often feel as if they were being carried.

At the same time, the client is deprived of their usual possibilities of orientation. There is a reversal of punctum fixum and punctum mobile in space: While people usually experience the greatest support in everyday life with the soles of their feet (when standing and walking) or the buttocks (when sitting), in Aquatic Bodywork, for example, the head and hollow of the knee can assume the function of stable contact with the world. Often the whole body moves around a contact point the size of the tip of the thumb. As a result, the central nervous system is confronted with highly unfamiliar information from the periphery. This leads to attentive listening to movement patterns and contributes to receptive movement learning.