Growing up, I suffered from horrible eczema. San Bernadino’s dry heat agitated my skin, and after countless visits to doctors, they could not tell my parents what was making my skin break into hives. After moving to Guam, a local doctor told my parents to take me to the ocean and let the salt water be my remedy. 

Mother Ocean’s natural properties worked better than antibiotics or ointments. The salty waters soothed my itchy flare-ups, and eventually, my eczema disappeared altogether.

I have come to see our tåsi as our beloved friend and companion. In the indigenous CHamoru language, tåsi means sea or ocean.

No matter where I moved, I realized I was always drawn to places near the ocean. My first home away from home was San Franciso. Although I spent most of my childhood in Southern California, there was something about the close proximity of the Bay that called to me at 18.

Since then, I’ve made a home for myself in Bali and Hawai’i’, escaping to the ocean for comfort, inspiration, healing, and grounding.

As a swimmer, it has provided itself to me as an underwater exploratorium. As a writer, it has given me a space to float with my thoughts. As an energy worker, it has cleansed and guided me, providing a portal to channel for others. 

I owe much of my healing to the ocean, and saltwater therapy has become a profound and enduring remedy.