I dissolve into weightlessness within the arms of therapist Daniel Acatl, founding father of Meyaj Wellness, as he floats my physique above the translucent waters of the Bacalar Lagoon in southern Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula. With my eyes closed and a clip secured round my nostril, he guides me by means of a collection of sluggish, spiraling motions within the freshwater sanctuary, gently submerging and lifting me in rhythmic waves. Acatl by no means takes his fingers off me, at all times gripping both my wrists, ankles, knees, or again, permitting me to really feel held and safe sufficient to fully let go. At occasions, he softly cradles me into his arms like a baby; at others, he takes my fingers in his and flies me by means of the water in expansive swirls. However the tenderest moments come when he locations one hand beneath my head and the opposite on the small of my again, slowly guiding my higher physique beneath the water—that is once I actually soften into the expertise.
It’s solely minutes into the ceremony, and I really feel fully secure with him, as he at all times is aware of when to carry me again to air on the excellent second. Although I’m conscious of actuality and in my physique (and fully sober, could I add), what unfolds actually looks like a psychedelic journey: gentle fractals of the blazing solar dance above my eyelids, rigidity melts from my limbs, and my physique feels limitless. It’s a follow of full and whole give up and one which sends ripples of delight and bliss and euphoria by means of my physique. Although many describe Janzu as a rebirth expertise, for me it looks like a step past that—a return to my truest kind, an aquatic liberation dance into the innate essence of who I’m.
I’m lucky to be guided by Acatl, one of many main practitioners in southern Mexico who focuses on Janzu ceremonies. The water-based follow is native to the area and was first developed within the Nineteen Nineties by Mexican healer Juan Villatoro. As a participant in my buddy Amalia Moscoso’s inside baby transformation retreat at Kokoro Mio, a boutique resort tucked into the jungle simply exterior Xul-Ha, the southernmost level of the lagoon, I used to be aware of a session with Acatl as a part of the programming. (He leads the resort’s wellness choices, guiding friends not solely by means of Janzu, but in addition temezcal sweat lodge ceremonies and fireplace circle rituals.) Given Janzu’s profound impact on me, I delved deeper into the therapeutic kind with Acatl to know why precisely it’s so highly effective.
“Water remedy has the ability to restructure mobile reminiscence by means of fixed friction and ion alternate, offering improved blood move and deep lymphatic drainage,” says Acatl. “It helps scale back irritation within the physique and muscle tissue and relieves ache. However what makes Janzu a very highly effective type of water remedy is its profound emotional and unconscious launch of trauma and concern, and why it’s thought of a rebirth remedy.”