Dead Sea

This weekend I slipped away for a mini relaxation retreat at the Dead Sea, which is only a 30 minute taxi ride from Amman. Merry Christmas to me. A trip to the Dead Sea always comes with many a caution of not shaving the day before and ensuring you are cut and scrape free. All very wise advice. Another piece of sage advice is use caution if you wet your hair in the salty water and whatever you do, don’t touch your eyes! Something I haven’t been able to avoid each time I’ve come to the Dead Sea, which results in the feeling of a hot poker in your eye. 

This trip has been quite lovely as there are no crowds.  Yesterday it was me and two other people floating in the Dead Sea, which made for a serene float while viewing the landscape — West Bank and Israel on one side and Jordan on the other — while absorbing the medicinal powers of the salt.

Sea salt is well know for its medicinal properties.  It is deeply purifying and has the power to draw out and dissolve negative energies from the emotional and physical body, which is from an article I recently read on grounding techniques.  After my twenty minute float I spent the rest of the day at the Zara Spa swimming in the infinity pool, receiving a salt scrub and massage, and sitting in the sauna. It is hard to believe I am here on a mission working in a hospital treating refugees from the wounds inflicted on them from the political unrest in the surrounding countries.  It’s an interesting juxtaposition. However, a lesson in gratefulness without guilt.

For those not familiar with the Dead Sea, it is over 400m (1,312 ft.) below sea level–the lowest point on the face of the earth. It is believed the area was home to five Biblical cities: Sodom, Gomorrah, Adman, Zebouin and Zoar (Bela).  The Dead Sea is land-locked and the rivers that flow in have nowhere to go, so they evaporate, leaving behind a restorative cocktail of salts and minerals. The Dead Sea is mentioned in connection with its healing properties in the Bible as well.  People travel from all over to experience the healing of the salt and mud of the Dead Sea to treat psoriasis and other skin conditions as well as arthritis.