New Mexico makes me dizzy. This land compels you to look every direction, over each shoulder and in front of yourself all the time — from the high desert with tufts of pinon trees and juniper to the snow-capped mountains or brilliant yellow cottonwoods and the red cliffs.

And then there’s up. Look up when you go to New Mexico. The azure blue sky which covers you all day long is like none other (unless perhaps you’ve been to Big Sky, Mont., but that’s still on my list of to-dos).

Around every bend in the road or over every hill on a hike is another landscape surprise.

I went to New Mexico in October to take a bath and make a pot. Really. I stayed six brilliant blue-sky days and my amazement at the way this land looks never waned.

My destination was Ojo Caliente Mineral Springs, a two-hour drive north of Albuquerque and 35 miles southwest of Taos, next door to the land which inspired painter Georgia O’Keefe. These geothermal waters have healed and soothed people for six centuries, and maybe longer.

First the Tewa Indians built their pueblo here; they named their village Posi which archeologists today translate as the village at the place of the green bubbling hot springs.

Now visitors can spend an afternoon or book a room in the 1916 adobe lodge to take the waters and soak up the serenity for several days, tucked in nicely with a cliff wall on one side and a river on the other.

Oh those waters! Ojo claims you cannot find such a combination of four different mineral waters anywhere else in the world: lithia, arsenic, iron and soda are the components. 100,000 gallons come steaming to the surface every day, revitalizing all who partake and — by their own testimonies — healing many who have suffered accidents and diseases.

Years ago the prescription was this: Stay 21 days for the full therapeutic value of the waters.

You can soak in them and you can drink of them. Really. Those in the know take jugs to Ojo Caliente and fill up a big supply of the lithia and the arsenic waters. In fact, the 104-degree lithia spring is accessed with an old-fashioned pump and a steady supply of paper cups. Many believe this natural substance relieves depression and aids digestion and I never encountered a cranky or short-tempered person my entire visit.

The waters are really hot. You might be chilly in the 40-degree weather strolling in your swimsuit (nobody hurries here) from the lodge to the pools, but once you’ve been in any pool, your now-higher body temperature keeps you comfy as you move from pool to pool or eventually back to the lodge.

How hot? The arsenic waters come out of the land at 113 degrees and they are a major destination for people wanting to relieve arthritis, stomach ulcers and skin conditions. Ojo Caliente technicians swirl the waters through a system of pipes to cool it a bit before flowing into the Arsenic Pool. Even so, it took me at least 10 minutes of dipping my toes before I could submerge.

A cooled-down arsenic pool is just two steps away and everyone moves back and forth for that age-old technique of shocking your pores and removing toxins. Remember seeing pictures of Scandinavians jumping out of their hot tubs and rolling in the snow? Same principle here.

All kinds of people do this: fat ones, skinny ones, energetic ones and the slow-moving, men and women of all ages — but only adults. These waters are not for children, the staff say, because the mineral content is simply too strong for young bodies.

The big cooler pool is diluted enough to be safe and families with children are invited to enjoy those waters.

The grown-ups move from pool to pool, each holding a dozen or so people comfortably. The soda spring is enclosed and all the others are in the open under that incredible blue sky or nighttime New Mexico star show. The soda waters are said to aid digestion and many who use them regularly also say their skin and hair is healthier than ever before.

Every pool is considered a “quiet zone.” Some doze, some read and some whisper, but everyone gazes at the cliffs and the skies. A natural rhythm occurs as people quietly share the small waterfalls for a hot water massage on the neck and shoulders. Should a loud-mouthed couple or group of friends arrive, they quickly respond to the soothing style of the others. Maybe it’s that lithia water all have sipped.

Ojo Caliente’s iron spring is 109 degrees and bubbles up from the sandy bottom as well as cascading in a small waterfall. These waters are said to be beneficial to the blood. Apache potter Felipe Ortega, who leads pottery classes throughout the year at Ojo Caliente, tells the story of his ancestors who knew this very pool of iron water guarded a secret place where the ancient people of the mesa received food and water during a time of famine.

Felipe gets in the waters too after crafting beautiful cooking pots out of the sparkly micaceous clay he digs in this land. “Coil and scrape” is his method and you can sign up five different weeks next year to learn how to shape bean pots, casseroles, bowls or saut pans. I’m using mine every day, right on top of the open gas flame.

The classes start with an Apache blessing — take a pinch of cornmeal from a soft leather pouch, using just three fingers and face east for the blessing of praise and appreciation of Mother Earth extended all four directions as you sprinkle your cornmeal back to the earth.

Apache tradition calls for women to lead the prayer because, as Felipe notes, “Community is all about pitching the tent and making the babies.” Teachings of the native traditions weave through the pot-making classes, beginning with tales of Quivering Aspen Flower who was Felipe’s pottery teacher some 35 years ago and Grandmother Spider Woman who is the only one who can turn the pot clockwise while coiling; all others must go counter-clockwise.

“Apaches live in a 45-degree world,” Felipe tells his students. “If you look too high you miss where you are going and if you look too low, you miss what’s ahead.”

In the south we like knowing we get trace elements of iron when we use our grandmother’s iron skillets; in Ojo Caliente you also get iron from the mica clay pots and your rice or soups or beans have a decidedly new flavor, not metallic but a bit sweet, from this subsoil clay. Felipe says it can be dug in Gainesville (Ga.), as well as New Mexico.

Soaks and pots aren’t the sum total of a visit to Ojo Caliente, which means “hot eye,” although they provide pleasure enough to make this trip. These mineral springs include a spa with 42 therapists who seem to know every therapeutic massage technique plus a specialty of their own: the milagro (or miracle) wrap. For this you soak in a private tub of hot arsenic waters for 20 to 30 minutes to increase your core temperature and then you are wrapped by a professional in a cotton blanket followed by a heavier wool blanket to accelerate the release of toxins from your body. Sure is easy to doze off for the next half hour.

Consider an Earth Keepers hot stone massage when you go. This 80-minute treatment invites the spirit of the sacred stone — the earth keeper — to enhance the healing power of the massage. The result? Tension relieved, psyche grounded, energy systems rebalanced.

A different kind of balancing is required if you climb up the steep rocky trail to the pueblo, a vibrant village for the Tewa Indians five centuries ago. Ojo Caliente will help you hook up with archeologist Martha Yates, a classical civilizations scholar working with the U.S. Forest Service for a friendly, informative tour.

Known as Posi-ouinge, meaning green, lush village, this thriving community of 7,000 Tewa Indians from 1375 to 1550 AD shows clear evidence of room blocks two and three stories high with up to 1,000 rooms on each floor. Today’s Ojo Caliente community in which the mineral springs are found? Population 450.

Once you navigate the steep climb, starting from a 4,200 foot elevation challenge for sea-level livers, the walk is flat and the views are remarkable. Easily seen are evidence of brilliant ancient agricultural techniques, ceremonial gathering places called kivas, pottery shards to hold lovingly and place right back on the land — plus those New Mexico views every which way. Archeologist Yates points the way for another day’s hike to see the petroglyphs in the Black Mesa.

The waters of Ojo Caliente have restored energy to tired souls for centuries. Every day you meet people in the arsenic or iron or soda waters who come every year, or are returning after an absence of a decade or longer, remembering the draw of the waters and this land.

Breathe deeply, look all around and connect. That’s the gift of Ojo Caliente.