SHIVAMBU – Urine Therapy

Known as Shivambu or Amaroli  in India the use of urine as a form of therapy and healing is ancient but still little known except as a practice eliciting revulsion and ridicule.

There are many examples throughout history of the world wide use of urine in aiding healing and indeed survival.  Victims of earthquakes and other events where  they may be trapped for days can survive by drinking their own urine.  In the first World War soldiers in the trenches faced with water shortage also drank their urine as well as using it as a sterile and antiseptic fluid for cleaning and dressing wounds.  In European folk medicine urine was traditionally used to speed healing of wounds and skin problems.  Urine baths and application to the skin was even  a practice used by ladies of the courts to preserve soft and beautiful skin.  Look at the ingredients of your skin creams and you are more than likely to find urea a vital part of the recipe.

The medical use of urine in western medicine is also very old.  The ancient Greeks and Romans used urine for healing wounds.  From the 1700s urine use was described in medical books.  As the west developed increasing reliance on allopathic medicine and the use of manufactured drugs many natural naturopathic remedies fell out of favour, and today there is little widespread knowledge  or use of them.

Particularly in India the practice of urine therapy can be traced back at least 5000 years to the Sanskrit text `Shivambu Kalpa Vidhi` from the `Damar Tantra`.  (in Tantra Shivambu is also known as Amaroli).  The Tantra tells of the apparent jealousy of Parvati for the beautiful clear and lustrous skin and vibrant health and stamina of her husband God Shiva.  Eventually she persuades him to divulge his secret which is the practice of drinking his urine and using urine for massage. Given the reactions of people to the idea of using therapy in these ways it is little wonder that yogis are admonished to keep secret the teachings of yoga except to those who have proved their serious intent.  Today in India, and in other countries, Urine Therapy clinics exist as a part of the tradition of Ayurvedic medicine.

The use and justification for its use, of urine is based on a number of facts:

1          Generally fresh urine is sterile unless an infection of the urethra or bladder etc is present.

2          Urine contains substances which the body has no immediate use for but cannot store. 

3          Urine is about 95% water. Potentially poisonous or harmful substances in the blood are removed by the liver. The kidneys continue the filtering process eliminating excess substances such as minerals, salt, vitamins, hormones including corticosteroids and melatonin, and enzymes. These constitute about 2.5% of the total volume.

4          The remaining 2.5% is urea.  Potentially a poison but in this concentration is safe and a useful chemical in maintaining skin quality when used for massage etc.

Using your own urine can be safe and easy.  The traditional ways are to drink a glass of morning urine from the mid- flow, and to use your urine for self massage – abhyanga. 

To learn more read: The Golden Fountain; The Complete Guide for Urine Therapy by Coen van der Kroon.         ISBN 0-944256-73-2