I’ve been a professional massage therapist for the past 23 years. I've treated every sinew, tendon, bone, ligament and muscle in the human body the old fashioned way - without using equipment, aparatus or instruments. I've studied, read and re-read every book and manual related to anatomy and physiology I could get my hands on and re-educated myself 10 time over since I left college in 1988. I've harassed old-time herbalists, homeopaths and pharmacists, questionning them again and again, scribbling notes until they were sick of the sight of me and blue in the face with frustration with my relentless interrogation! I quizzed professional athletes over and over until they refused to open their door to me anymore and I've spent most my free time and all of my money travelling the world, squeezing every ounce of knowledge from people who had a lifetime, of hands-on experience related to what I practiced.

To-day those very same people I once questionned and harassed, come to me and only to me when they have aches and pains, stiff joints or muscle problems.

I remember vividly as a child, my Dad making up a concoction for my grandmother, who was in her seventies and riddled with arthritis, using fresh juices, cider vinegar and other ingredients I can't quite recall. After a few weeks on it, the doctor began calling less and less and she seemed much happier to me. If I was good, she used to share some of her mixture with me! I think this is where my curiosity for natural medicine came from. I became a massage therapist at eighteen and have been since.

In August 2007, I was working as the massage therapist on a cruiseship, sailing from Southampton to the Med for a 14 day cruise. I had just done a seminar on joint pain in the morning for the guests and was booked solid all afternoon with 15 minute consultations. Around 3pm I found myself running way behind and was half an hour late for my next guest, Cheryl, who was patiently waiting for me at reception. She had recently had hip replacement surgery and was suffering considerable pain in her lower back and both of her knees.

I apologised for my lateness, asked her politely to wait the extra 30 minutes, offered her a cup of tea while she waited. She was not impressed at all. Out of the corner of my eye I noticed a display I had done earlier with some pots of mud on show, a sprinkling of dried herbs and a large decorative bowl. Quick as a flash I offered her a nice warm foot soak using the ingredients from the display while she waited for me. (It seemed like a good idea at the time!) Cheryl was thrilled and took me up on my offer.

I left hurriedly to my next consultation and returned 30 minutes later to find Cheryl fast asleep with her feet still in the bowl and her cup of tea resting on the table next to her! Another cup of tea and a chat later, she opted to go back to her cabin and maybe return the following day, when the ship was docked in Monte Carlo. When Cheryl left, I thought absolutely no more about it for the rest of the day.

First thing the next morning I arrived to work to find Cheryl and her friend already waiting for me at the door of the spa demanding another one of those ‘mud foot soak’ things! She had she slept the whole night through for the first time in years with no night time stiffness or pain! She was up earlier and had walked half a lap of the deck already! “We’re calling you Mr Mudman, we hope you don’t mind, Cheryl said. We’re going to breakfast and we’ll be back in 45 minutes for 2 foot soaks...and one of those nice cups of tea you make!”

They returned from breakfast with another guest and all 3 guests sat for their Mud Foot Soaks at 9am in the morning! After their mud foot soaks they went ashore only to return looking for me again after lunch, boasting about how far they had walked and wanting a mud foot soak at 9am every single day of their cruise! I was flabbergasted and a bit sceptical still. But, more and more people came to the spa looking for the ‘Mudman’ wanting to try mud foot soaks because they’d heard all about them. So much so that on the final day of the cruise 28 people had their feet in mud foot soaks in the spa.

Some people were on their 4th, 5th and 6th foot soak and were proudly boasting about:

As a result they were enjoying their cruise much more and were even going on trips with friends they had met at their Mud Foot Soak sessions. Some people even embarked on ardous day trips far from the where the ship docked in Livorno, Civvitaveccia, Vigo, Cadiz and many other ports just to make the most of their improvements - their biggest physical improvements they'd had in years. On the sea days, the Mud Foot Soak sessions were full of misbehaving, naughty, 'mature teenagers', taking full advantage of their new found entheusiasm, freedom and confidence.

 

There were literally bowls, basins and pots everywhere. Some people were coming back to the spa after their foot soak and offering me their assistance carrying water, filling basins, and emptying them while I began explaining to the attendees how the whole process worked so fast. The following cruise it became even more popular. I repeated the same method – a bowl of wam water, a teaspoon of mud and a teaspoon of the dried herbs –  incredibly, 57 people had regular mud foot soaks.

Some people would ask my co-workers when my lunch break was and come back for a second soak when I wasn’t around! The next cruise, the captain took part regularly(Captain Burgess), the captain’s wife, the cruise director, the ship’s carpenter, the band, the dancers, officers, crew members and A TOTAL OF 108 GUESTS HAD REGULAR MUD FOOT SOAKS. From the first day of the cruise people were asking about soaking feet having heard about it from family or friends who were on the previous cruise. As a result, soaking for longer produced even more benefits than I'd previously seen. For example many people reported:

Most people came through word of mouth and some from my arthritis seminars.  As much as it was amazing for each and every 'mud foot soaker' getting benefits they thought they never could, so simply and naturally, it was equally amazing for me too. I'd always believed that natural treatments were incredibly powerful and effective and having used only my hands with oils, herbs and plant medicines in my practice - no instruments or equipment - here was everything I stood for happening right in front of my eyes. I was the lucky one too witnessing something truly special, truly magical day after day. Watching them practically come alive again after the burden of constant pain was naturally lifted, seeing the smile on their faces, hearing them tell stories and even shed a tear on the final day of their cruise brough a tear to my own eyes many many times as well.

THE NEXT STEP

6 months later guests were back onboard, cruising again, proudly telling their story, of how they had been on one of the first ‘Mud Cruises,’ and still using their mud at home once or twice a week and still improving - driving for long distances without pain, playing better golf, easily standing for hours, bowling better and gardening for as long as they wanted without the aches and pains they had had previously.

Also many people said they enjoyed cruising regularly because it was good value for money, but benefit of the mud and the value of the information they got from me during their foot soaks far exceeded what they had paid for their cruise!! And many were staying in penthouse suites!

The mud craze spread like wildfire and I moved shore-side, and began passionately teaching the mud foot soak concept to spa staff on all of the vessels. It quickly became the most popular treatment across 5 cruise lines. I travelled all over the world on ships with my mud, teaching, motivating and seeing amazing improvements in people soaking thier feet. Not bad for a guy who put Cheryl’s feet in a bowl because he was late for her treatment!

Some things are just meant to happen!

Aogan O Hare