The Hidden Messages in Water - book review

The Hidden Messages in Water by Professor Masuru Emoto is not a book about life coaching per se.  However, I have used it on most of my group trainings delivered to health professionals, managers, community workers and service users.

The Hidden Messages in Water is essentially a masterpiece of positive thinking.  The book promotes positive awareness through a scientific methodology based on Professor Emoto’s many years of research into water crystals. 

The author demonstrates his science through write-ups of experiments and particularly through his outstanding microphotography of water. The author’s scientific contention is that everything in the universe is in vibration, including humans. Vibrations affect everything in the known world and this includes the effect of human emotions. Emoto uses microscopic photography of water crystals at the point of freezing to show the different formations that occur when the water is subjected to a range of human moods, verbal address and art forms, particularly music. When Emoto started the photographic research in 1999 at the suggestion of a colleague, he admits that the results astounded him. Putting a bottle of water on a table and playing different music at normal listening levels showed a wide range of crystal formations.  'Beethoven's Pastoral Symphony' (the 6th) with its bright and clear tones, resulted in beautiful and well-formed crystals. Water exposed to violent heavy-metal music resulted in fragmented and malformed crystals at best'.

The reason I have used this book for life coaching is mainly because of the utterly beautiful photographs.  A well-formed water crystal captured at the point of freezing is a phenomenal picture.  I usually have a crystal slide as part of my PowerPoint presentation.  I refer to Emoto’s research briefly and have the book on display. I use this because I feel the photographs illustrate aspiration, independence and the power of positive thinking and planning.  For these reasons alone, the book allows me to create a framework for mental health training that incorporates aspiration, hope and recovery rather than the continual emphasis on diagnosis and support.