Mastering Clay & Mud Baths

Therapeutic Mud & Clay Baths - Green Clay / Bentonite & Montmorillonite

Detoxifying the Body with Clay Baths
Updated on 10/12/2017

 

Featured: Did You Know...?

Clay Eating Peruvian Macaws / Parrots "All sorts of macaws converge at a small area on the main claylick outside the Tambopata Research Center. The claylick is pretty much a simple cliff face. Somehow all of the birds know that if the clay they eat in the morning will dispell the toxins in the poisonous fruit during the day. They only need to eat clay during the times of the year when the non-poisonous fruit is not available. Many species of parrot know to do this. How do they all know? When did they learn? How did they discover this amazing property of the clay and propagate it to the rest of the parrots?" - Mick @ MickTravels Around the World Travel Guide, Copyright 2005, Reserved To explore potential answers these excellent questions, consider reading our new document: Living Clay Read more about indigenous habits and instinctual use of edible clay minerals in our bentonite articles section.

 

 

Introduction

Why Clay Baths?

Clay & Mud Baths

It all starts with the water...

Clay Baths - What type of Clay Should be Used?

Green Clay, Clay Quality, Clay Blends

Preparing a Clay Bath - How Much Clay Should be Used?

Quantity Makes a Difference

Preparing a Clay Bath - How to Make a Clay Bath

Preparing a Clay Bath in a Standard Bath Tub

Turn on the hot water, and secure the plug. As the water enters the tub, slowly and carefully sprinkle the dry powder clay over the surface of the water. Avoid allowing the clay to build up in any one area ( which will cause the clay to clump together ). Once the clay has been added, turn off the water, and allow the clay to set in the tub for 10 to 20 minutes ( which also allows time for the water to cool down a bit ). Then, add more water to the tub to adjust the temperature to one's preference, filling the tub only enough to comfortably submerge the entire body ( most people set in a tub from the neck down ).

However, please keep in mind that by using this method, one is adding clay dust into the air.

Use the same method as above, but pre-prepare the clay. First, measure out the amount of clay to be used in a bath. Then, add this clay into large ceramic or glass containers. Add 5 to six times the water by volume, and allow the clay to completely hydrate ( or mix with a non-metal stirring device ). By pre-preparing the clay in this manner, once added to the bath, the clay will quickly combine without clumping, and one will avoid adding clay dust to the air.

Taking a Clay Bath

How Long, How Hot, How Often?

Everyone is different, and care must be given to how well one tolerates the bath, and for what purpose one is using clay baths for. The minmum amount of time one should take a clay bath for is 15 minutes, provided that no adverse or strange effects are experienced. If one becomes fatigued or chilled, then one should exit the bath, and slowly increase the amount of time spent in the bath as one can tolerate it.

20 to 30 minutes is the average "standard" duration of a clay bath. The longest clay bath that the author has taken is 2.5 hours ( again, some people may not be able to tolerate 30 minutes, let alone an hour).

The body's natural defense system is far more intellegent than most researchers realize. Modern research in the genetic sciences is revealing that the complexity of the immune system is equal to the complexity of the human brain.

The body may resist dumping accumulated toxins at first, as the experiences recorded by the immune system are actually responsible for the body's choice to deposit the accumulated toxins being in body tissues ( except for substances such as mercury, cadmium, etc. ).

Therefore, many individuals who have a compromised metabolism may actually feel a compulsion to exit the clay bath after 12-15 minutes. The body will, as time progresses and as INTERNAL conditions allow, re-learn to utilize the lymphatic system to a greater degree, and allow more substances to be released from the body in this manner, due to the improved efficiency.

Furthermore, if one is taking moderately hot clay baths, the body has the capability to resist moderately high temperatures for between 10 and 15 minutes, and thus is able to regulate the internal temperature of the body. After 10 to 15 minutes, the internal body temperature will begin to rise, causing a hyperthermic response in the body.

Most clay practitioners suggest tepid or warm clay baths. This is certainly ideal for the beginner, or for those who experience fatigue with clay baths, or those with cardiovascular issues. A tepid or warm clay bath is between 98 and 100 degrees F., for bath purposes. Or, if one prefers, the water temperature is simply either slightly warm to the touch or there is no feeling of a temperature difference.

However, once the body is starting to function as designed, there are quite a few advantages to increasing the temperature from between 101 degrees F and 116 degrees F. We recommend that interested individuals experiment carefully and slowly, realizing that the higher the temperature of the water/bath, the less time one can tolerate in the bath. 104 degree F is generally considered to be the safety net point, but balneotherapists around the world have learend, with care and practice, how to harness the healing potential of extreme heat therapy.

This is entirely dependent upon the individual and the purpose of taking clay baths. A standard, traditional treatment is two to three baths weekly for 21 days, repeating as needed with an occasional rest period of one week.

However, this is just a general guide. If one is expertly detoxifying the body internally and externally, baths can even be taken daily to twice daily to harness the natural cycles of the body (at dawn and before bed).

[ Green/grey bentonite turned black due to the oxidation of metals drawn from the body ]

 

Supercharging the Clay Bath Experience

Notes for the Extremist - Not the Beginner!

Before starting this section, I'd like to note that one can kill onself with clay, just as one can kill oneself with just about anything if one tries hard enough. It never ceases to amaze me, personally, that apparently there are quite a few individuals who do endevour to exit this living realm by doing the most foolish things imagineable.

While I've never seen anybody kill themselves with clay, I've seen someone come pretty close. One individual thought it would be entertaining to pack the entire body with between three and six inches of clay, and run around for a few hours in this manner. In fact, I think that if his body would have let him, he would have killed himself! Luckily, after an hour or so, he was so exhausted he could hardly move, and thus he removed the clay, although he was henceforth not functional for about three days.

The skin is an organ of respiration, and it needs to breath. The body is temperature sensitive, and many, if not most people are not tolerant of high temperatures.

Prepare the body by hydrating it sufficiently. Drink plenty of water AND fresh lemon water, and utilize internal clay for at least three days prior to bathing in clay. Pay attention to foods eaten to be certain that the metabolism is not carrying a heavy burden. This is not recommended for anyone with chronic illness, or those not experienced with balneotherapy or without the presence of someone who is. High temperature baths, in balneotherapy, are never conducted alone, or without the presence of a medical balneotherapist with medical training nearby. In fact, individuals are professionally screened for safety considerations prior to taking a high temperature bath. If you have a doubt, chances are you should not be doing this.

Measure the body PH and be certain that a saliva reading averages 6.75 or above ( if you aren't certain what we are refering too, chances are, this is not for you ).

Prepare a warm clay bath, and enter it, and then bring the temperature up to 104-108 degrees F. Measure the internal body temperature. If able to, stay in the clay bath until the internal body temperature reaches 101 degrees F. If the heart rate accelerates too high, discontinue bath. If extreme fatigue occurs, discontinue bath. Any systemic shock indicates that the bath should be discontinued.

Once the internal body temperature reaches 101 F, discontinue bath. Find a cool place to lay down, and relax the body until the body receives a burst of energy ( usually between 20 minutes an hour later ). Allow the body to sweat.

If the body does not experience a boost of energy, then the treatement is done. Rest comfortably drinking plenty of quality water and liquids. Sleep for as long as needed.

If the body experiences a "re-charge", then repeat the process, provided that tolerance level is acceptable.

The end goal, achievable only by a few, is to relax the conscious mind to such a state that it lets go completely of muscle control and tensions; a complete release of all stress. In order for this to be accomplished, the conscious mind must be "over-powered", but this must be done without injuring the body.

If one is able to achieve this successfully, it will feel exactly like a "spiritual experience" as described in many of the world's religious texts.

Clay Bath Uses

Natural Medicine: Uses

Traditionally, clay baths may be used for:

Heavy Metal Toxicity - Mercury poisoning, cadmium poisoning, lead poisoning, arsenic poisoning...

General Chemical Toxicity - Clay baths assist the body in the systemic removal of many industrial chemicals that the body would otherwise have difficulty eliminating.

Radiation & Chemotherapy, Radioactive Exposure, Radiotherapy Recovery - Clay baths assist the body in recovering from both chemotherapy and radiation treatment, as well as over exposure to radioactive material and radiation poisoning.

• For acute chemical or radiological toxicity, daily clay baths should be combined with edible clay use. 20-30 minutes in a clay bath with two to ten cups of clay is an excellent way to support recovery.

• In areas where radioactivity levels approach dangerous levels, individuals should consider purchasing Tyvek Protective suits, even the cheap disposable ones, soaking them in a very wet clay magma/gel, and wearing them to adsorb radiation. Hands, feet, and the face may then be completely coated with a thin layer of clay to adsorb radiation.

• In emergency situations, the entire body may be coated with a thin layer of clay, but the individual needs to realize that the skin still requires breathing, and that a shower followed by a clay bath should be taken in three hour intervals. If a thick magma is used and applied to the entire body, one risks rapid exhaustion.

• Edible Clay should be used three to four times daily; simply 1 teaspoonful to 1 tablespoonful completely mixed in clean water .

• Smectite clay was used to seal the reactor which melted down in Cherynobl.

• Russian scientists would coat their hands with bentonite prior to donning radiation gear to reduce their exposure from low levels to zero while working with radioactive material in nuclear laboratories

• Bentonite is part of many livestock emergency protocols to preserve food supplies in the event of a nuclear attack or other nuclear emergency, based on the work done by the Army Corp of Engineers in the 1970's.

• Have doubts that claycan remove radiation?

  • Clay binds radiation in milk: Abstract

  • Increase of secretion of radiation by rats which were fed clay: Abstract

  • More data about irradiated milk and bentonite: Book link

  • Protecting Cattle with Bentonite added to Soil: Article Link

  • Bentonite admistered to pigs and sheep; removal of radiation: Article Link

  • Reindeer fed bentonite (2% of the diet by weight) after Cherynobl nucelar disaster: Book Link

General Systemic Support - By utilizing clay baths, the metabolic processes of the body are supported. By stimulating the lymphatic system, and by taking part of the burden off of the organs of elimination, experience demonstrates that general well-being may be greatly improved.

Special Support Treatments - Clay baths may be used as part of comprehensive cleansing protocols, in conjunction with ozone sauna therapy, and for any conditions dealing with toxicity, liver conditions, and to help recover from various allopathic medical treatments.

Relaxation and Enjoyment - Clay baths are a fantastic way to help relieve stress and relax, especially in the evening before bed.

Probiotics - Especially for those who have autistic symptoms
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=1308572006

New: Updated 2017 Basic Heavy metal detoxification program @ earthcures.org: Detoxing heavy metals with edible clay and clay baths.

Discuss This Topic: Clay and Mud Bath Discussion Forum

Internal Support

Things to Consider along with Clay Baths

Probiotics - Especially for those who have symptoms of Autism
http://thescotsman.scotsman.com/uk.cfm?id=1308572006
Consider also making/using fermented cabbage juice, which is one of the best probiotics, and very rich in sulfur. View the tutorial: Tutorial: How to Make Fermented Cabbage Juice.

Fresh Lemon Water - Squeeze 1/2 fresh lemon and add to a glass of good water, as many times daily as the body can comfortably tolerate. Remember that not all drinking water is created equal; find an excellent quality water to use internally. Different people do well with different amounts of lemon. A general rule of thumb is to shoot for between 2-4 ounces of lemon juice daily. As always, listen to how the body responds, and adjust dosing accordingly.

Internal Clay Use - One to three times daily, once the body has adjusted to internal clay use, taking breaks as/if needed (i.e. on clay for 3 days, off for four, on for four days, off for three). Please study our new beginner's guide on using edible clay.

First Cold Press Olive Oil - 1 tablespoonful, raw, on an empty stomach in the morning.

 

Rebounding for Lymph Circulation

Improve the Effectiveness of the Clay Bath Detox Experience

Please Note: Before considering adding rebounding for health purposes, please adjust the body to clay baths first. If you are extremely ill/toxic, please do a month or so of clay baths before attempting to learn rebounding. It is not adviseable to start both of these practices at the same time.

Rapid exercise is extremely good for one's health. The best work out to improve the body's detoxification channels is rebounding. The rebounding "health jump" is one of the most effective exercises to increase lymph flow and assist the body in cleansing.

Rebounding is a very specific "jumping" movement that is done on a trampoline type device. However, please note that a rebounder is a highly specialized type of trampoline, designed specifically for rebounding.

In a perfect world, if an individual were to completely master digestion and elimination, eat a perfect calorie-restricted diet with plenty of clean water, and exercise perfectly for health and longevity, it would still take many years to really get the lymph system cleared. In other words, even if the body were returned to a perfectly healthy state where it is not producing excessive waste, it can still take many years to completely cleanse the body.

Proper rebounding helps this process along like no other exercise can. It is the most energy efficient and functionally effective way to help mobilize the body's lymphatic system (without special massages or drainage equipment). It is a very pleasant, low impact exercise that can be done in the comfort of one's own home.

Please note that most rebounder sales associates and so called "trainers" are not actually qualified to teach proper rebounding.

Rebounding done wrong has very unpleasant consequences. And nearly everyone does it wrong to start. Furthermore, any postural and/or muscular imbalances will be amplified when one first starts to learn to rebound.

Proper form is critically important with rebounding! A proper rebounding "jump" will not feel natural at first. One's posture and form need to be correct before spending excessive time rebounding in order to get the most out of the experience.

For the beginner, it is very important to rebound for no more than one minute at a time until one has mastered the correct spring motion with good posture. Once a person has achieved the perfect form and movement, the individual can then increase the duration by one minute every day, as long as the body continues to respond well. However, some people may wish to increase the duration by only 30 seconds a day. Others may wish to increase the duration by only ten seconds each day.

Using a rebounder for cardiovascular health and rebouding to move lymph fluids are two completely different things. "Hopping" on the toes will not provide the desired results!

How to do the Lymph Rebounder Health Jump

The lymph draining rebounder health jump is accomplished by pressing the heal of the feet into the rebounder "mat" to achieve the spring motion. This is a heal to toe motion to produce an upward jump, where all of the force of the landing is placed squarely...and only... and evenly... on the heels of the feet.

For every single jump that the landing places force on the toes or the soles (middle) of the feet, one puts severe strain on the knees, the hips, the lower back, the shoulders, and the neck (the posterior muscle chains are thus used, where one only wants to use the anterior muscle chains or this movement).

When done incorrectly, injury is an eventual result. Therefore, take the time to become a master of form and motion before regular practice. It will take the average person a week to ten days just to start understand and feel the proper jump.

For the health jump, there is no need for the feet to leave the rebounder mat. You only need to reach a zero gravity state between the spring motion and the landing motion. Excessive height actually reduces the amount of lymph flow one achieves in a session. The amount of lymph draineage is calculated by taking the number of proper jumps per second, and this has nothing to do with sailing through the air.

Don't self-sabotage by thinking that rebounding jump is a fast. easy learn. Consider your rebounding therapy a marathon that will give you great benefits over the long term if you manage to acclimate properly!

For serious therapy, try to avoid the cheap rebounders. They wear out quickly and do not move as much lymph fluid per minute as higher quality rebounders. Purchase a mid-line pro to high end unit. Do your research very well!

It may be wise to avoid the exercise dvds that come with most rebounders, unless you are a 20 something year old athelete. Rebound specifically for lymph drainage, and only for lymph drainage for the first twelve weeks of regular exercise. After 12 weeks of daily practice, one may then feel free to become a rebounding enthusiast. It takes twelve weeks for the body to truly adapt to rebounding.

The central idea is to rebound from between 10 minutes and 30 minutes prior to taking a clay/sea mineral bath. After a hot clay bath, cold and hot shower therapy will also pay dividends. How long to rebound before a clay bath depends upon the quality of the equipment used and one's fitness level.

Clay Baths & Complementary Medicine

Providing Critical Support for Invasive Therapies

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We cannot emphasize enough how important and beneficial simple clay baths can be in the recovery process in cases where an individual must undergo invasive therapies as a part of an allopathic medicine protocol, including radation therapy and chemotherapy in cancer patients. We also cannot emphasize enough the importance of using clay therapy according to the ancient and natural tradition of balneotherapy (healing with water).

For individuals recovering from toxic exposure, even clay baths made with as little as six cups of dry clay (completed hydrated in the bath) can be a real bonified miracle.

Below is a very revealing and important story about a man undergoing radiation therapy for colon cancer, sent to us from Sydney, Australia:

The Clay That  Saved My  Father During Radiotherapy

"My father was diagnosed with rectum cancer.  He was told that radiotherapy would shrink the tumor before surgery. What he wasn't told, was that not even morphine would assist him with his pain relief  from radiotherapy.  No one should ever have to go through what my father went through during his treatment.

"Fortunately for my father,  we were told of Jason from "Eyton's Earth". I emailed Jason and he promptly responded with extensive  detail as to which was the best clay for my father and why.  Without  my Father's knowledge I ordered the clay that Jason had recommended.

"Session 19 out of the 23 sessions of radiotherapy was our families worst day. My father was in the worst pain of his life.  The morphine  that the doctors offered my father,  was of no assistance.

"In his darkest moment  he was willing to try anything, so we prepared  a clay bath for him.  When he entered the clay bath,  the pain was eliminated straight away.  He could not believe it.  Then for the next  14 days my Father was having anything from 3-10 clay baths per day. Interesting enough, one day he decided to put a bath towel in the  water so that he would be more comfortable, but when he did that the  pain would come back. So we asked him to take the towel out and see the difference. Once the towel was out the pain had vanished too. Hopefully, someone that is having this treatment can read this, and be comforted by the fact that there are treatments out there that can assist them with their pain.

"Many thanks to Jason and his team at 'Eyton's Earth'"

       - Dimi from Sydney, Australia

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Relief from symptoms of toxicity and trauma is not uncommon with clay therapy, and even the medical community has a tough time finding valid reasons not to at least allow individuals with toxic exposures of any kind to try clay baths, since there are very few contraindications to bathing.

Recovery from acute toxicity using clay therapy can actually be quite shocking. In Cano Graham's book, "The Clay Disciples", Cano experienced first hand how critical clay therapy can be to support the body in the recovery process.

In particular, Cano believed that clay therapy was the perfect choice for herbicide and pesticide poisoning. However, he had no idea how effective it would be to treat severe and acute poisoning, until his experience with the sufferers in Dunsmuir.

A Southern Pacific Railroad tank car had jumped off track, and dove into the Sacramento River. The tank ruptured, and dumped toxic chemicals into the river. Cano spent part of a month assisting the locals with clay therapy.

Clay therapy worked to eliminate weeping sores, rashes, headaches, aching joints, and a host of other chemical toxicity symptoms. This was incredible, due to the fact that Cano arrived three months after the initial incident.

Cano would have any local brave enough to want to heal take hot clay baths, from between 45 minutes to an hour long, with one cupful of clay; he would have them drink clay water, and while in-bath, he would have them do cool clay compresses on the face and forehead and over the eyes.

After finishing a clay bath, Cano instructed those suffering with skin lesions and rashes to apply the clay gel wherever skin problems existed; he told them to just let the clay dry, and lie down on sheets and relax.

Clay therapy was successful for those who utilized it, far beyond what anyone could have predicted, and those who were wise enough to follow through with clay therapy experienced quick relief from their many symptoms.

To quote Cano:

“The use of pesticides and herbicides, along with the byproducts of American Industry, sets the stage for a horrible payback for our progress and our avarice. Rachel Carson gave us fair warning in The Silent Spring fifty years ago. We Clay Disciples give you a promise: These are the old times. Learn how clay therapy can help you and your grandchildren’s grandchildren survive. The Power created clay for the benefit of all living things.”

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There are those who believe that adding herbs and other reactive organic elements to clay baths is a great idea. They are most welcome to their opinion, but this is not very often a wise idea.

Basic chemistry can help explain why (all you have to do is combine fresh herbs with a clay magma and see for yourself). The action of the clay itself, in the presence of complex organic compounds, is directed on the organic compounds and not on the body. One will certainly still get a detoxification reaction, but loose the benefits of the most mysterious clay action of all: It's energetic response.

Notice in the testimonials about the colon cancer, that as soon as the individual placed a white towel in the clay bath, pain came rushing back into his body? While we do have theories about the exact nature of this phenominon, somtimes it is best to just let the mystery stand and state with unequivocal confidence: Sometimes tradition is filled with superstition, and sometimes tradition is filled with profound wisdom.

To follow the ancient traditions, only use clay, water, oxygen, natural minerals, and non-reactive and completely natural substances when using actual clay therapy. Furthemore, do not use chemically processed clay, and while standard clays share the detoxification properties scientifically known, actual therapeutic grade clays are far superior in their actual healing potential.

 

Clay Baths & Balneothapy: FAQ

Frequently asked Questions

 

How can I tell if a clay bath is actually helping my body detox?

Aside from having regular laboratory tests done on a regular basis, it may be difficult for some individuals to know if the process is working. However, interested individuals can do the following:

1. Acquire a standard digital weight scale that also measures the body's hydration level. Make certain that the body is well hydrated prior to taking a clay bath. If at all possible, add sea minerals to the bath. Use enough minerals so that the water tastes slightly salty.

2. Just prior to taking a bath, use the scale and note your current weight and current hydration level.

3. After taking a 20-30 minute clay bath, dry the body and use the scale once more. Note your current weight and hydration level.

Most people will show at least a one to two pound reduction in weight, as well as an INCREASE in body hydration levels.

So what does this mean? It clearly indicates that the body has eliminated waste while at the same time improving the electrolyte state of the body. Those with less experience with balneotherapy may erroneously believe that the body has only eliminated water. While it is true that the method of elimination is through the skin, and the substance exiting the body is water, it is equally true that the water containes the exact toxins that the body is trying to eliminate.

4. Be certain to drink plenty of good water after the bath.

What if I am dealing with severe chronic inflammation and hot clay baths cause an increase in pain?

This is very common. While heat increases circulation and can stimulate healing, it can also aggrevate inflammatory conditions temporarily. The solution is to start out with a hot clay bath, and then cool it down after about five minutes. The detox effect will be lessened, but the therapy will be more relaxing and enjoyeable.

What if I'm heat sensitive?

People with auto-immune tendencies, such as those with MS (Multiple Sclerosis) may be sensitive to any changes in the body temperature. Individuals with heat sensitivies can still take clay baths, but they should use comfortably warm, or even slightly cool clay baths.

Will the clay bath water always turn dark/black if I have heavy metal issues?

No. While this does occur, it's actually quite rare, and when it does occur, it usually only happens after the first or second bath. Clay baths are still assisting the body even when this does not occur.

See Also:

Sacred Lands | Sacred Waters Healing Waters, Sacred Land,Structured Water & Flow Forms	Mercury Toxicity & Healing Clay Baths Thimer Mercury, Illite & Bentonite | Baths & Internal Use

 

Featured: Did You Know...?

Healing Clay has been used in France, Australia, the Americas, the Middle East and Europe for centuries in native natural medicine arts.