More than a decade ago I discovered the book Cellular Awakening: How Your Body Holds and Creates Light by Barbara Wren. In clear and simple terms Wren explains how everyday dehydration is the cause of nearly all physical illness. More than that, Wren details how dehydration contributes to a contracted and even distorted perception of reality and is the root of personal stagnation, destructive patterns, and emotional upheaval.

For me, reading this book was revolutionary. I read it twice to ensure I didn’t miss a thing and embarked on “resetting” my hydration point in order to bring my body back to its natural rhythm.

Drawn from her scientific knowledge and personal experience with patients, Wren reveals that in order for the body to operate at its optimum level, the four main electrolytes — sodium, calcium, magnesium and potassium — must pass through cells at different intervals of the day and night. In a fully hydrated person the process happens effortlessly and cells operate at their max efficiency. Over time, if cells become dehydrated — which is the case in most people — the body alerts the liver to produce more cholesterol which then covers cell membranes to protect from further water loss. This creates a snowball effect whereby the electrolytes do not move in and out of cells in their natural way. When this happens, the charge inside the cell is not correct, the body feels stress, cells no longer function as they are supposed to and from there everything goes haywire.  

Wren advises that this is why the reset process is so critical. Just drinking more water here and there will continue to keep the body in preservation mode. True change means introducing consistent amounts of additional water until your body switches off the dehydration alarm and feels safe again.

After reading the book, I started slowly with my intake and worked my way up to a gallon a day. The key is having a glass of water immediately upon waking and then another within thirty minutes. Water before coffee, tea, juice or anything else. I also have water when I feel hungry before reaching for food. Wren explains that what we often believe to be hunger is actually the body’s call for more water, so just by taking in that water you put your body at ease and can then decipher whether it is truly hunger or thirst.

I’ve been drinking a gallon of water a day nearly every day since early 2013. In the years that followed, resetting my hydration point led to a complete elimination of: headaches; a lingering knee discomfort that I thought was a permanent knee injury; and chronic shoulder and upper back pain that had plagued me for years. I also have no doubt that my high level of hydration is responsible for keeping my tremendous energy flowing, my skin glowing, my mental clarity strong, and my emotional state one of lightness and ease. My motto now — hydrated cells are happy, healthy, and harmonious cells. Dehydrated cells are depressed, diseased, and dysfunctional cells. More water. So simple, yet so powerful. ✨