30 May Hydration, Healing, Mindfulness

Here in the desert, it sometimes feels like the dry air is actively pulling moisture right out of your skin. Drinking enough water is essential to keep yourself healthy in the heat. Your body is 70% water after all, and staying hydrated ensures, among other things, that it can properly regulate temperature. So make sure you’re keeping up with three simple steps:
drink mostly water
eat plenty of water-rich fruits and veggies
avoid caffeinated drinks like coffee, tea, and soda (which can dehydrate you)

Those are the basics of staying hydrated, and we’re all pretty familiar with them; how else could we survive in Las Vegas? But as the weather has been heating up, we started thinking a bit more deeply about water. Even as scarce as water is in our home, we tend to use it pretty thoughtlessly, without appreciating all it does for us. In the physical sense, it keeps us alive and lets us clean our bodies and our belongings.

In a more spiritual sense though, water cleans away more than dirt. Water can also cleanse and heal us in deeper ways. Think about what you do when you’re not feeling well: you might splash your face with water when you feel upset, rush to stick a burn or cut or scrape under running water, drink tea or broth when you feel sick, or take a hot shower when you need to wash away a bad day. When we need to release some pain or negativity, we go to the water without having to think about it.

This summer, let’s bring a little mindfulness to the time we spend with the water. When you drink, think about how much of your body is made of water. When you swim, turn your attention to the feeling of being held up and embraced by the water. When you sit under a tree, appreciate how water made that shade possible. Notice when you seek out water to cleanse or heal something in your body or mind, and sit in the feeling of being cleansed and healed.

Finally, let’s allow that mindfulness to extend to reevaluating how we use water. We share the Colorado River with six other states, and only by being good stewards of this water can we ensure that everyone will have enough in years to come. Chances are, you’re already taking some steps to conserve water in your home, from turning off the faucet while brushing your teeth to swapping in low-flow fixtures for old ones. But there might be even more you can do, with surprisingly little effort, to help our community use water even more responsibly. To learn more, check out the Southern Nevada Water Authority.