I asked Presnik why he went to Germany to learn from sources. “Because she wanted to get the whole point,” she said. “He was born poor and had a great desire to help people heal. He found a way to make it happen.
Hotel Plesnik invites you to ‘kneiping’ in the ice-cold springs of the mountains adjacent to the spa. Early in the morning, as the morning sun gilded the mountain peaks, Presnik and I slowly walked knee-deep in the freezing water of Kneipp’s private pool. She then instructed me to let her feet air dry rather than towel them off and showed me how to rotate her arms in a particular way using a specially designed cold water tub. Ta. This is another “infusion method” designed to increase circulation and focus. . She gasped with cold, but then felt energy rush through her body.
Presnik is also passionate about the nutritional component of Kneipp’s teachings. “He said people should eat less meat and more vegetables. No such thing was done.” Kneipp believes in eating seasonal and local foods, and Presnik adheres to this principle. “We have our own garden where we grow vegetables for breakfast, lunch and dinner and herbs for herbal teas, and all our food is prepared from scratch,” she said. Ingredients are locally sourced and the cheeses, meats and yogurts served come from her family’s farm across the valley.
Kneipp’s core tenets are certainly not radical today. In fact, much of what he taught has become mainstream. But that is the power of simple ideas, and they endure. “It’s simple, effective, and anyone can do it every day,” says Paladin. “It’s free to walk barefoot on the grass.”
Wellworld on BBC Travel is a global take on wellness that explores the different ways cultures around the world are striving for a healthy lifestyle.
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