And a way to learn to love and take care of ourselves.
As our world goes global and cultures collide, there is a growing focus on happiness practices. Yoga, sound baths, drum circles, meditations, the list goes on. These practices can be life changing. But it is important that we treat daily tasks that we may consider “mundane” as an opportunity to grow as well. Taking a bath is one of those tasks that, if done with intention, can prepare us to experience greater happiness, self-love, and connection.
Meditation has been shown to promote happiness in those who practice it. However, there are many forms of flow that can be treated as a meditation. Taking a bath with salts is one of them.
Water, since ancient times has been highly valued for being the vital liquid necessary for the biological processes that make life on our planet, and speaking specifically of human beings, we need it to be able to carry out many activities. Without it, we simply could not survive. Water is vital for the processes at the cellular level that take place in our body and, it is well known, that our cells are made up of a significant percentage of this liquid.
This relaxing effect that water has on our body helps us fight stress and sleep better, in addition to reducing some discomfort that we may have at the muscular level, such as back and leg pain and it can also provide us with relief from joint pain. Although, when we take a shower we can feel these effects, there is nothing like immersing ourselves in a bathtub to feel them to the fullest.
This is due to the fact that by being able to submerge our entire body in water, the temperature acts globally and because of the position we can be more comfortable for longer. This type of hydrotherapy bath is called an immersion bath and many people like to use bath salts that also have specific effects on the body acting from the skin.
HOW TO TAKE A BATH WITH THERAPEUTIC SALTS PROMOTES A BETTER SLEEP
Lack of sleep and insomnia can cause a lot of negative symptoms including impatience, anger, depression, weight gain, decreased brain capacity and higher risk behaviors.
One way the bathroom can help us sleep better is through thermoregulation. Body temperature can affect our energy levels throughout the day. Studies have shown that a hot bath or shower between 30 and 90 minutes before bedtime raises the core temperature, triggering a drastic cooling afterwards and promoting better sleep.
The lighting of the bathing area is also important for the quality of sleep. According to the National Sleep Foundation, artificial light after dark can suppress the production of melatonin, the sleep-inducing hormone, and make it harder to fall asleep and stay asleep.
Also, the magazine “CuerpoMente” collects this idea: “An excess of light in the hours before the rest or during the night, the emissions of the mobiles and the electromagnetic fields, can also affect the production of the hormone. The color of light influences the secretion of melatonin. Blue light, which corresponds to a wave with short length, is able to suppress melatonin at low intensities. This type of light dominates the LED screens of mobile phones, tablets and TVs”.
https://www.cuerpomente.com/salud-natural/tratamientos/como-producir-tener-mas-melatonina_1676
It is therefore necessary for us to make sure that we use soft lights and that we stay away from mobile phones and screens a few hours before going to bed.
THERAPEUTIC BATH ROUTINE
Before starting our night bath, we will prepare everything necessary to go to bed immediately afterwards. For example, towels, skin care products, socks, slippers, and pajamas. We will charge and silence the phone. We will brush our teeth. In short, everything you need to leave the bathroom relaxed and ready to sleep better.
Even during the bath, it is possible to recite mantras that help us relax and empower ourselves:
I give myself permission to live more slowly.
I passionately indulge in this moment of supreme relaxation.
Everything I need to be happy is in me.
I deserve the love that I give to everyone else.
Finishing the bath with a self-massage is one more way to promote a positive message of self-esteem towards ourselves.
THE PREPARATION OF BATH SALTS
Nowadays it is possible to find different centers specialized in the sale of bath salts that have a wide variety of them; so, we can choose those indicated to treat different conditions, from skin fungus and irritation, to joint inflammation and other types of discomforts.
And we can also prepare our own bath salts as we like to do on our blog😊
To prepare a bath with salts, it is recommended that we fill the bathtub three-quarters with hot water and that we add one or two cups of salts to dissolve them. Next, we can add a little cold water to regulate the water temperature before we dive.
These salts can be prepared with essential oils that have different relaxing and stimulating properties, such as lavender, rosemary, roses, jasmine, chamomile, almond, mint, among others.
We suggest that to prevent your skin from drying out excessively, do not take baths with salts more than twice a week. Of course, you can also prepare salts and bath bombs with added delicious oils that will avoid this problem. Better yet, you can slather on your favorite body oil right out of the bathroom, before you dry off. The water will help your oil spread very quickly, providing you with a high level of hydration that will counteract the dryness that bath salts may have caused.
Sometimes, just a little extra virgin olive oil, if it’s what you have at home, can already solve the question since olive oil is emollient and softening and, due to its high level of antioxidants, turns out to be a good anti-aging oil.
To make basic bath salts we will only need:
1kg of coarse sea salt (it must be coarse), salts from the dead sea, etc, or it is also possible with a slightly lower amount of pink Himalayan salts.
Optional: * Food coloring (we can choose the color we want but we will have to add enough drops of it if we want it to have a little color).
Essential oils (they are the ones that will give smell to our mineral salts and provide therapeutic qualities. We will choose those that we consider appropriate to the situation we want to treat; it is always advisable that we do not exceed 10 to 12 drops).
Optional: * About 10 grams of dried flowers (for example rose petals) or other herbs such as dried lavender flowers, lemon or orange zest, etc …
Homemade bath salts step by step:
The first thing to look for is a suitable container for the process of making the salts. You can serve any glass container, typical of any kitchen, but always with a lid.
In this container we will add the coarse salt and little by little the drops of coloring. These drops will be responsible for giving this particular color that bath salts present. We will close the container and shake it until the coarse salt, little by little, has a uniform color.
Once we have the color, it is time to add the essential oils. After adding the drops of essential oils, we must shake our jar again so that the essence is evenly distributed throughout the salt.
After this step, it will be time to add our dried flowers or any other aromatic element that we want to incorporate into the homemade bath salts.
We will then let our salts dry for about a couple of hours. To do this, we will spread them on a tray.
When they are completely dry, we can put them in a nice glass container and leave them as decoration in the bathroom. In addition, if we use them in the bathroom, (it is also possible in a tub for the feet) we will enjoy completely homemade bath salts, with an aroma and texture difficult to find and interesting cosmetic properties.
As you can see, it is a fairly simple process, in addition, we can also make them as a gift, placing them in a beautiful pot we will get a most original and handmade present.
And if we want to prepare salts for their healthy properties, in this section we provide you with three different recipes. And it is that, according to the essential oils and herbs that we add to our salts, we will achieve one effect or another.
BATH SALTS PROPOSAL FOR TIRED AND SORE MUSCLES
If you have tired and sore muscles, we suggest the following bath salts recipe:
What you will need:
Cup and a half of Epsom salts
1/2 cup coarse sea salt or pink Himalayan salt
1/2 cup of baking soda
6-8 drops of Essential Oils to relieve muscle pain: Peppermint, clove, wintergreen and Helichrysum
Blue food coloring (optional)
PROCESS:
Mix the Epsom salt, sea salt, and baking soda until well combined. Add essential oils and food coloring (optional) for soap or food and continue stirring until the oil and color are evenly distributed. Store the salts in a large glass jar.
When you feel your muscles sore due to a strong training, also rheumatic pains, etc., you can immerse yourself in this salt bath that will undoubtedly help you to recover and sleep better.
DISTRESSING AND RELAXING BATH SALTS PROPOSAL WITH LEMON AND LAVENDER
If you are stressed and cannot fall asleep, these salts will help you to achieve it: The scent of lavender is calming and relaxing, and is often used in insomnia and stress reliever products. Lemon radiates a clean, fresh fragrance, and lemon oil is often added to skincare products to reduce the appearance of blemishes and increase circulation. The combination of lemon and lavender is an ideal complement in the bathroom when we want to guarantee a good night’s sleep!
What you will need:
3/4 cup Epsom salt
1 tablespoon pink Himalayan salt
1 tablespoon dried lavender buds (or 5 drops of lavender essential oil)
The zest of half a medium lemon (or 5 drops of lemon essential oil)
PROCESS:
If you wish, you can substitute 5 drops of lavender essential oil and 5 drops of lemon essential oil for dried lavender flowers and fresh lemon. Essential oils are very stable, so our salts will have a longer shelf life without fresh ingredients being replaced by essential oils. Logically, if we are going to use the salts soon, the fresh ingredients will add much more life and freshness to our salts.
Combine the Epsom salt along with the Himalayan salt, then carefully mix the lavender flowers and / or essential oil. Grate the lemon into the salts (or add lemon essential oil), stir, and then let it sit for about 20 minutes so the ingredients mix well.
You can now store your salts in a glass jar and use them by adding them to warm bath water to enjoy a stress-free bath.
ANTI-FLU AND DETOXICANT BATH PROPOSAL WITH GINGER AND ROSEMARY
The addition of dried rosemary and ginger powder to these salts is very suitable in cases of respiratory infections and fever, as it stimulates sweating, helps lower fever, and also provides powerful antibiotic principles such as gingerols from ginger and carnosol from rosemary. It is also indicated in cases of bronchitis and cough.
Ginger baths help increase circulation, warm us up in winter and fight our pain, colds or flu.
To these salts it is also possible, in case we really have colds, add essential oils of peppermint, eucalyptus and camphor. This synergy of oils, together with rosemary and ginger, will exert a very powerful action when it comes to lowering our fever and enhancing our defenses against winter viruses.
These salts are also very easy to prepare. Simply, we prepare a hot bath and pour out our already prepared bottle of salts, which will contain:
1 cup Epsom salt (or sea salt)
1 tablespoon ground ginger
2 to 3 tablespoons of dried rosemary
Regarding the antibiotic and decongestant benefits of rosemary, it is not necessary to explain anything else, as they are well known by all, that is why we wanted to endorse the benefits of ginger as a useful spice to “warm up” ailments due to winter cold:
Potential Ginger Benefits: Ginger has been found to be anti-inflammatory and helpful in treating rheumatic and arthritic conditions that feel better when heat is applied. Ginger helps warm and energize the body when you are cold and is therefore also a great help with colds and flu when chills and congestion are among the symptoms. It is also a great relief from stomach upset, nausea and vomiting caused by stomach viruses.
Here are just a few of the interesting scientific studies on dried ginger on PubMed:
Dried ginger and inflammation (PubMed ID 23935687)
Dried ginger and antioxidants (PubMed ID 26799205)
Plus dozens more studies on ginger (PubMed search dry + ginger)
It is important for us to know that if we have blood pressure problems, bleeding disorders, or are taking blood thinners or other similar medications; we may want to consult a healthcare professional before using large amounts of ginger in therapeutic doses.
As with all medicine, natural remedies are highly effective, but not harmless. It is advisable not to exceed the amounts and act prudently, especially because with a hot bath our body temperature can increase considerably and also the stimulating effect of all these remedies.
