Today I'm Thinking | About Baths
Today I’m Thinking | Blog Post #5
Today, I want to share methods for a deeply clearing, cleansing, soothing, and healing experience in the bathroom. Of all places, yes, the bathroom. I recently had an evening to myself and felt it would be a good time to luxuriate. I ate a really early dinner (yep, like 4:30), took an online restorative class, and then drew a bath and lit some candles.
Even the puppy must have known I needed these chill vibes because he was calm and quiet as a little church mouse the whole time!
There is a practice in Ayurveda called abhyanga, or oil massage, in which you rub oil (typically sesame or coconut) into the skin from head to feet and then gently rinse with warm water. While my bath was filling, I added this practice to my evening self-care along with a few drops of lavender and eucalyptus essential oils into the tub.
Getting into the tub the water felt so good! The freshly placed oil on my skin in the water felt like butter. I realized that my body was virtually weightless in this liquid environment, so I decided to use that to my advantage and massage my feet, calves, and inner thighs. These are the places I hold my tension, but anywhere in the legs, including hamstrings, quadriceps, and hips can benefit from this weightlessness during tub time. I felt I could get much deeper into the muscles because they didn't have the usual gravity, tension, and resistance. I did a few simple stretches that I felt were helped with the support of the water as well.
Inspired by my bath, I thought I'd share with you a simple routine you can do when you have about 30 minutes to nourish and reset yourself. I think you will be VERY happy you took the time.
An aside for those who don't have a bathtub set up, I've got you covered with an alternative that is actually commonplace in India. "Bucket baths" are a great way to mix up our routine and can be very enjoyable and soothing. I'll explain in detail how to do this at the end of this post.
If you give yourself this gift or relaxation, let me know! I'd love to know what you think and maybe learn some new ideas you create from your own experience!
Luxuriating Tub Time:
Light some candles
Grab your favorite body oil (coconut or mct oil is my favorite because it doesn't stain and doesn't smell strong). Before getting into the tub, massage as much of your body as you feel comfortable with firm, long strokes. Emphasize around joint areas with circular massage strokes. You can massage your scalp as well, oil is so good for the hair, but I generally skip this because it becomes a longer process of getting the oil out of your hair. A face massage can feel really good too by using your middle two fingers to create tiny circles or massage all around your face focusing on forehead and jaw especially. It’s up to you, but it can be nice to leave the oil on your skin and not scrub it off with soap during your bath. It can help moisturize your skin.
Add a few drops of your favorite calming essential oils to the tub and maybe even some Epsom salt
Alternatively, you can add a few tea bags to the water (think chamomile, rose, green tea, lavender, etc) to calm your skin and your mind with healing herbs
Now into the tub! Again, and this time with the assistance of the water, you'll be massaging again. You might focus on any areas in the body where you really felt the tension before. The legs will have the least gravity pulling on them so that was where I focused my efforts. The hands will be doing a lot of work, so I gave them a little extra massage and love at the end and then just allowed them to float for a bit of the surface of the water.
The idea of this time is not only to do good and nice things for your body but also to build a positive relationship with your body. I find it helpful and would encourage you to have a little mantra, a positive word association for each part of your body. A simple example would be that as you massage each part of your body, you say aloud or mentally, "Thank you, toes. I appreciate you. Thank you, foot, for getting me to all the places I need to go. I love you, ankle. I see you, calf, and all you do for me throughout the day. Thank you, knee; I love you." It may sound cheesy, but this can be incredibly healing for our subconscious patterns and the mind-body connection. If you struggle to do this, just start with something that doesn't feel TOO crazy. Rather than skipping this part of the practice just find what feels doable. Maybe just a few simple thank yous. Maybe just thinking about what's under the surface of your skin and everything that's effortlessly involved in keeping your body alive. Maybe just a smile on your lips in quiet appreciation of the time you're taking care of yourself.
Add a few yoga stretches to your time in the tub. Here's the little routine I did but play here and see what feels good for your body!
figure four forward fold hip stretch seated (both sides)
seated forward fold (paschimottanasana)
crossed leg dynamic twists hand to opposite knee
seated neck circles
back of hands on tub bottom wrist stretch
laying back with neck on tub edge gently rocking head side to side to massage the craniocervical junction
Alternative Bath Option:
No tub? No problem. The above concepts still apply, we are just changing the delivery system a bit. In India, I was introduced to the concept of "bucket baths". Yep. Think Home Depot "Let's Do This." bucket with a plastic measuring cup as your tub in a room that accommodates the toilet, shower, hot water tank, and sink all in the same 6x6 ft area. At first, the idea of squatting on the floor pouring cups full of water on myself beside the toilet sounded not so cool, but after using this system for 2 weeks I have to say, I enjoyed it. There's something soothing about this setup. I even have a friend from India who keeps a bucket bath set up in his bathroom despite having a perfectly usable shower and tub. So if you're needing to get creative with a bath option may I suggest trying out a bucket bath? Here are my suggestions to make this a good experience.
Follow the same ideas mentioned above for oil massage, candles, essential oils, tea bags, mantra, etc
You can use any kind of bucket/cup set up however the more water each can hold the better the experience. A five-gallon bucket and a two-cup measuring cup work well. You want it to hold the maximum amount of water but also be able to lift it
Don't use glass, better safe than broken =)
I wish you a happy and restorative tub time!
Photo by Darshan Gavali on Unsplash