If you want to treat your body and soul, Siwa is the place. Follow Shari Blauer to this fascinating oasis for natural healing There is an increasing trend for people to turn to holistic treatment for physical ailments rather than running to the doctor or pharmacy for a quick-fix solution. The word holistic implies "to make oneself whole". With that in mind, the ideal holistic treatment naturally involves treating both body and soul. Siwa is an optimal destination to do just that. Renowned for its trademark tropical landscape amidst the arid backdrop of the Great Sand Sea, the oasis is teeming with foods and natural resources guaranteed to soothe, nourish and pamper. For most people who travel to out-of-town destinations, a primary concern is the need to decompress from the stress and chaos of city living; not a problem in Siwa. "The first thing the tourist notices is that Siwans are discreet people. They don't push themselves on anybody," says Abdullah Baghi, the oasis's education director, a refreshing change from the khan. As for medicinal treatment, Siwa is its own pharmacy. Take for example the two foods the oasis is famous for: dates and olives. The oasis is populated with about 300,000 date palms. Their fruit provides a high concentration of iron and potassium, with lesser doses of vitamin A and B. Dates have been found to be particularly helpful in the treatment of anemia, constipation and fatigue. There are also approximately 70,000 olive trees in Siwa. Olives are a great source of antioxidants and are known to have a positive effect on lowering cholesterol level in the blood stream. Olive oil is monounsaturated and, as such, acts to keep cholesterol from sticking to artery walls. They also assist in controlling blood sugar, good news for dieters. When the blood sugar is under control, so is the insulin, which plays a major role in the way our bodies store food as fat. And if that weren't enough, olives contain polyphenols, substances that are believed to help us ward off cancer. One of the polyphenols found in olives is thought to act as an anti- inflammatory. The area in and around Siwa is also famous for its springs, of which there are approximately 1,000. The water is sweet and is said to have medical properties. Siwa's hot springs have in fact been proven effective for the treatment of psoriasis, rheumatism and diseases related to the digestive system. One of the popular Siwan pastimes of the summer is the sand bath. Taken for between three to nine days, and up to a month for serious ailments, it is believed to help the hepatitis C virus go into remission. Other tried and tested benefits include rheumatism and arthritis relief. It is also not unusual for women with fertility problems to go for a sand bath, too. The Al-Dakrour Mountain in the south is an especially popular place for the procedure. It works like this: you have a very light meal at, for example, 11am. Then in the afternoon, around 3.30-4pm, you are taken to an area called the grave or akcha where they put you inside a dug-out portion of sand, totally naked. Women help the women, men help the men. Once inside, the body is covered over for 15-20 minutes. They remove the sand, wrap you and put you inside the tent, to allow you to sweat and for your body temperature to return to normal. While inside, you are to drink plenty of liquids. Abdullah, also a sand bath enthusiast, explains: "We then go to our room in warm clothes, wrapped in blankets because exposure to any air is dangerous; the pores are open. If you let the air hit your body, it feels like nails hitting your chest. Then you shower and enjoy a big meal." The meal itself is liberally salted, to assist in replenishing salts lost during the procedure. On the final day, a full body massage is given to enhance circulation and contribute to the detoxification process. "I have a bad back," Abdullah admits. "Every winter, I have this severe pain. Sometimes I can't even lean over. But when I have the sand bath the whole winter usually passes without any pain. I don't feel the cold and my circulation works very well." It sounds well worth a try. As for asthma sufferers, they have only to breathe to feel relief due to Siwa's low air humidity. A great part of holistic healing involves the emotions -- specifically healing the past, making amends with people and circumstances which hurt us, in which we were wronged, unjustly treated or judged, and also forgiving ourselves for having allowed ourselves to be victimised or betrayed. It is also important to recognise when we have been the instrument of pain for others and to seek their forgiveness for our own shortcomings. Interestingly, in the Berber town of Siwa each October, there is a three-day festival during which Siwans must settle all of their past year's disputes, which is unquestionably a very good healing process when practised sincerely. And then there is spiritual renewal: the re-connection to the divine and to our own inner divinity. The Oracle of Amun is considered one of the seven great oracles of the world. It was there that the oracle's priest pronounced Alexander the Great a god. But while Alexander had his Siwan temple for personal revelations and connection to the divine, for Abdullah Baghi, it's the Great Sand Sea. The Siwan director of education by day, Abdullah is very much the avid desert safari guide come late afternoon. "It's not only a job. It makes me really connected to nature, to the earth. It's very spiritual for me. I feel refreshed. All the prophets got their messages in the desert," he adds. "I can feel the spirituality, the pureness... the connection to Allah is open and direct." It makes sense to give back to a healing environment, or at the very least to not damage it any further. At the foot of a flat-topped white mountain is an ecolodge whose architecture blends just as well into the natural scenery as its environmentally friendly infrastructure. The rooms at this ecolodge, Adrere Amellal, are made of rock salt and clay, known locally as karshif. Besides absorbing moisture in the air, salt has the additional metaphysical benefit of repelling bad spirits, according to Siwan lore, as well as other traditions' beliefs. The lodge's sewage is filtered naturally through specially constructed gravel wetlands planted with papyrus, bamboo and reed beds. There is no electricity and no phones. The ecolodge was designed and built by 150 local craftsmen using the oasis's own resources. It was the brainchild of Mounir Neamatalla, an environmentalist who heads EQI, a development consulting firm based in Cairo. The foods served at the ecolodge are all locally grown, indigenous produce, which is a good way of ensuring that the nutritional properties of foods remain optimal for consumption. I am fortunate to be invited down there as a holistic health professional in Reiki, reflexology, clairvoyance and massage. The ecolodge spa provides a healing atmosphere for me, the practitioner, as it is situated on the edge of a salt lake, near the mountainside, where I can focus all the more on wellness without the din and pollution of the big city as my environmental backdrop. Whether you travel to Siwa for relief from asthma, rheumatism, or for the connection to nature, yourself and the divine, whether you'll be luxuriating at an environmentally friendly ecolodge spa or resting at a more traditional inn, this lush, historical oasis will naturally assist you to renew, replenish and invigorate both body and soul.
