Let me ask you a question. When you hear the word “clay”, what is the first thing which comes to mind? Clay pots? And when you hear the word “mud”, do you imagine the squishy stuff you see under your feet when it rains? You probably don’t, but this is what I used to think about first before I started my research. Not that I was unaware of clays and mud being used in beauty and healing. It's just that these words didn’t mean much to me. Well, not until I saw some grey powder on my mother’s window sill. I asked her what cement was doing on her window sill. She laughed and said that it was a very special “cement” called blue Cambrian clay, and that many people were using it not only for its wonderful action on the skin, but also for healing, with many positive outcomes.

My mum’s comment got me curious, so I started researching clays and their properties. I found out that people had been using clay for thousands of years. They used it to disinfect wounds, stop the infection spreading, prevent diarrhoea and food poisoning. Clay was used to stop aches and pains, as a source of valuable minerals, and for many other purposes. During both WWI and WWII clays were included into soldiers’ rations to help keep the water clean, stop diarrhoea and food poisoning, as well as wounds from being infected. Many soldiers' limbs were saved by clay.

While I was researching clay, I stumbled upon information about mud. I found out that mud was being used successfully by medical spas all over the world to treat a whole variety of medical problems, such as arthritis, eczema, psoriasis, gynaecological problems, infertility, weight problems, disorders of the nervous system, and much more. We all know Dead Sea mud. There are many other types of mud – salt water and fresh water ones, all having their own healing properties.

As I was researching healing properties of muds, I realised that salts were part of the healing minerals range, and started researching their properties. The salts which stood out for me were magnesium chloride and magnesium sulphate. I found out that using them in a bath, spray or wrap ensured the quickest way to supplement the body with magnesium – the 4th most abundant mineral in the body which takes part in over 300 body processes.

Then I found out about healing properties of other salts, detoxifying properties of zeolite, and anti-parasite properties of diatomite… I am still learning.

This book is a modest attempt to share some of what I have learned, so that you rediscover for yourself what your body has known ever since the day you were born – that our body is a living ocean which has all the minerals we need. Most of them are found in muds, salts and clays. Life on Earth has started from mud. What has created us has the ability to heal us too. Let’s use this to our advantage.