por Jess Winans

Normal Heights business spreads peace, positive energy through water

Trisha Kuhlmey was initially taken aback when her friend mentioned the concept of opening a water store.

“When she first told me I was like, ‘What? You’re going to sell water?’,” said Kuhlmey, who was studying spiritual psychology at the University of Santa Monica at the time. “That was the first real idea that I had that a water store was a real thing.”

She then began researching the work of Japanese author, Masaru Emoto, who wrote about the molecular structure of water and how it can absorb and emit energies and frequencies.

According to Emoto’s research, water is a liquid crystal with four states: liquid, gas, frozen and a liquid crystal phase, which occurs when water meets a hydrophilic solid. Emoto describes this fourth state as characterized by sacred geometry that has informative properties.

Not only does Kuhlmey believe that water holds and transfers physical energy, but she also believes it can hold and transfer emotional energy as well.

“More metaphysically, water is responsive to words and energy,” Kuhlmey said. “You can see changes in its molecular structure with the naked eye using a microscope.”

The importance of water continued to percolate through her head while studying. Eventually, after on an RV trip with her dog cross-country after her college graduation, the importance of water moved to the forefront of her mind.

“What was amazing about the trip was my relationship to water,” Kuhlmey said. “During that trip I always had to calculate in the RV how much water I had for her [the dog], for me, for drinking and for showering. I knew we could only carry so much that can only get us so far and I had to figure out where we could go to refill. The whole route was along waterfalls and mineral hot springs — the whole travel was just this whole ‘waterness’ When I got back and asked myself what I wanted to do with my life and where I wanted to go, the answer was opening this center.”

There are two types of water for sale at Liquid Eden: a mineral electrolyte water, used for drinking, and a reverse osmosis purified water, used for cooking and brewing.

Both are purified using an in-house 12-stage commercial grade reverse osmosis filtration system. This system removes any bacteria, viruses, radioactive contaminants, pesticides, herbicides, chlorine, industrial waste, detergents, asbestos, fluoride and hard minerals in the waater.

The drinking water and cooking water is then sold in certified lead-free bottles for $2.50 per gallon and $0.50 per gallon, respectively. These bottles range in size from half gallon to five gallon and are also available in plastic BPA-free bottles.

In addition to water, Liquid Eden sells local, fair trade and organic products which Kuhlmey hand picks herself based on the concept of removing “unconscious contaminants.” These products and or services are easily accessible but cause and contribute to disease and exploitation of workers, unknowingly to the customer.

“[Liquid Eden] is a collective, there’s hundreds of businesses that run out of here and we started this space to show goodness,” Kuhlmey said. “When I picture San Diego there’s these glittery sparks of light everywhere, of these people that are doing such amazing things. They’re all small, single individual people or a small team and they’re doing what they’re doing in their spaces. They need a place to go for goodness.”

That’s how Normal Heights resident Alfred Lerma found Liquid Eden.

“My wife and I were getting our water here and then we developed the idea to use the space to support the community,” Lerma said.

Lerma is a manager at Illumina, a local genetic researching firm, and operates his group “Unity and Peace” out of Liquid Eden.

Unity and Peace is a nondenominational group which meets every Wednesday, free of charge, from 7–8 p.m. at Liquid Eden. The group focuses on unification, peace, love and health; it even blesses the Liquid Eden water. They also aim to create and improve relationships and make positive impacts on the community.

“Some people are sitting alone and depressed but instead they can come [to our meetings] and be with a group of people that are looking to support one another,” Lerma said. “Our intention is to increase joy and decrease suffering. We need to support one another. We build community through connection and inspire people to become better versions of themselves so they can step into their potential and achieve their ultimate greatness.”

Similar to Kuhlmey and Emoto, Lerma also believes water has memory and holds and transfers energy, which helps local neighborhoods.

“The water here goes in and out to the community and kids drink it, families drinking it and I drink it,” Lerma said. “I hope we can make a positive impression on the community with the water they drink.”

In addition to Unity and Peace gatherings, Liquid Eden holds other classes and events such as Qigong, yoga and a spring detox class.

“I initially encountered Liquid Eden during one of the Adams Avenue street fairs,” Normal Heights resident Elena said. “I instantly gravitated towards these weekly gatherings [of Unity and Peace] because of the safe space they provide and the shared energy of support and positivity among the attendees. I will continue to support the gatherings, as well as Liquid Eden, and humbly look forward to continue contributing to this community of love, health and peace.”

Liquid Eden just celebrated its four-year anniversary on Saturday, April 28 from noon–5 p.m. as a part of the annual Adams Avenue Unplugged event. Liquid Eden held a customer appreciation day where handwritten notes and small gifts were handed out to attendees to express appreciation and gratitude to the community.

“The customers shared their sincere gratitude for us being here,” Kuhlmey said. “It was magical walking Adams Avenue and seeing all the smiling faces and happy hearts coming together to enjoy local music in the neighborhood.”

Hearing positive customer feedback and learning how Liquid Eden is impacting the Normal Heights neighborhood is something Kuhlmey thrives on.

“People are so uplifted and joyful when they are here and they leave feeling better than when they came in,” Kuhlmey said. “That’s really what we’re here for in a lot of different ways. Whether it’s the products, the service or the water — it’s uplifting.”

For more information about Liquid Eden, inquiries about studio rentals or the company’s event calendar, visit liquid-eden.com.

—Jess Winans is the editorial assistant of San Diego Community News Network, the parent company of San Diego Uptown News. Reach her at  [email protected].