My Experiment: Gratitude vs. Disgust vs. Ignoring
Originally published 11/24/2020
Happy Thanksgiving, y'all. In this month of gratitude, I decided to take on a little experiment. I learned about Dr. Emoto's work about a decade ago, it is truly fascinating. In a nutshell, he found through scientifically conducted experiments that the quality of water changes with attention and more specifically the quality of attention it receives. There is so much to say about this but I'm going to let you go down your own rabbit hole and Google his work because it will change you and the way you see the world.
Recently, I've been studying and sharing some information about Hydration, we are made up of 60-80% water (depending on many factors). The quality of water affects us cellularly. I first started having signs of autoimmune issues shortly after moving to West Virginia in 1997 and then began looking at things like this but oftentimes I feel like there are very few choices. When we had that big water crisis about 7 years ago, I started bringing Dr. Emoto's work into my home and my filtered water because it was the best choice I had. I made a ceramic tile full of loving sentiments and placed my Brita on there and occasionally have spoken some prayers and definitely send my water gratitude but always I'm a skeptic.
Recently, I was inspired to do an experiment inspired by Dr. Emoto’s work. I took rice cooked in filtered water only and placed it in three identical bowls, covered with filtered water and placed in three different areas of my home, covered with saran wrap.
The first bowl went on my spiritual altar where I've been chanting daily and giving the attention of love to the rice/water.
The second went to my kitchen counter where occasionally I would generate disgust for the rice/water...I didn't do this often because I found this task quite challenging for me.
The third went into a spare bedroom on my filing cabinet and was ignored. To be honest, it was hard for me to completely ignore that little bowl of rice/water...so occasionally I'd find myself thinking of it in neutrality.
I had to cut my experiment short, lasting around 7-10 days but was hoping to go for a month...I forgot about Thanksgiving and I needed the counterspace and the bowls so I decided to see if anything was different between the three bowls. To my amazement, YES!
The first bowl that received a lot of gratitude and love through my spiritual practice, smelled sweet and had the most clear water. It is the one pictured to the left.
The second, which I gave occasional disgust focus, was quite disgusting and had a weird film on it and a bad smell.
The third, which was ignored mostly but had an occasional neutral thought directed at it, smelled a little off, but wasn't as bad as the second. The water is somewhat clear.
In the official studies, the one ignored was the one that showed the most signs of decay and rot. Maybe because my experiment was cut short or because I just didn't quite ignore it, is why it wasn't rotting.
My biggest takeaway for myself is this: Spiritual sadhana is worthwhile. Even when I find myself too busy to chant and meditate, seeing these results gives me even more encouragement that chanting is affecting my cellular structure, my subtle structure in a big way. I'm encouraged to continue improving the quality of my water, my spiritual practice, my water body... and I plan to take up this experiment again and let it go on for 30 days to see what happens. I'll report back then.
My second takeaway is how little negativity goes a long way. Just a wee bit is so destructive...how are you speaking to yourself? Is your inner critic alive and thriving?
In the meantime, I'd love to hear if you've tried this before or what your thoughts are on this type of experiment. Go Google Dr. Emoto's work and learn about this. It is fascinating.
UPDATE January 2023: Currently, I’ve been having a bit of a health issue and have taken on some “healing water.” Today is Day 1 and I’m not quite ready to share about it yet. As my old website is currently being deconstructed, I’ll be relocating a few posts here that I want to keep available.