Almost everything pleasant in my life has come on the heels of learning incredibly basic life skills as a grown up, like how to feed myself high vibe food, how to take care of my finances, how to exercise, and how to take a good bath.
Basics, my friends!
Taking a bath helps our bodies to calm down. When our bodies calm down, our minds can calm down (our minds are part of our bodies, friendly reminder). Being a together enough grownup to take care our our inner children by drawing a hot bath and taking the time out of our social-media-scrolling lifestyles for 20-minutes can feel incredibly healing, relaxing, and luxurious.
Here’s what I’ve learned about bath time: not all baths are created equal. Through my own trial and error, I can share some super simple things you can do to improve your bathing experience as an adult.
Do one or a few or all of the following bath suggestions. Or don’t do any of them! Either way, I hope you take a bath, because I’m betting it will be a loving experience. And when you feel more love, then the world feels more love as well. So basically, if you want world peace, please take a relaxing bath today.
If you take a bath, you get a gold star sticker for sure (and maybe a self care trophy, too). Here goes on the how-to.
Clean Your Bathtub
It doesn’t matter how committed to your new bath lifestyle you are or not, if the tub is dirty, you’re never gonna get in there. Scrub and disinfect. This takes about five minutes. You can do it. I believe in you.
Basic Supplies: Mrs. Meyer’s Tub & Tile Lavender Cleaner, sponge with handle
Mood Lighting
Your bright bathroom light that lets you pluck errant eyebrow hairs is not a sexy look for chilling in the bathtub. String up a strand of indoor / outdoor twinkle lights (as they are safe to be around water). Or, light some tea candles and pop those babies into empty mason jars, which will amplify the flame and keep you safe from burning any part of yourself as you get mega relaxed and forget yourself a bit.
Basic Supplies: beeswax tea candles, mason jars, indoor / outdoor string twinkle lights
Add Salt
Choose Epsom salts if: you’re trying to detox after late nights, lots of exercise, overdoing it on heavy food or beverages, you’re having your moon time (a.k.a. bleeding), you’re feeling emotionally distressed, have sore muscles that need to heal, are having tummy issues.
Choose Mineral salts if: you’re body is craving hydration or nourishment, you’d like a pop of extra energy, you’d like to treat skin irritation issues, you want to create a miniature ocean in your bathroom, you’re on your period (yes, that’s suggested above, too).
Put 1 – 2 cups of one of those salts (or both of those salts if you’re trying to have a personal party for your body) into the warm water of your bath.
Basic Supplies: Epsom salt, mineral salt
Are You Into Essential Oils?
Mmmmm, I certainly am into essential oils. Different plant medicines have different benefits. If you’re new to oil land, start with a scent you’re familiar with and then build your collection from there. Pop 10 – 20 drops of your fav scent into hot bath water. Yum. Enjoy.
Basic Supplies: lavender essential oil, eucalyptus essential oil, sandalwood essential oil
How To Take A Rose Bath
Buy roses. Sometimes a bouquet costs less then $10 at Trader Joe’s. You can enjoy the roses for days (or weeks if you put them in the fridge at night) around your house (or on your altar). I’m a rose enthusiast, and of course you can also do this practice with other flowers if you want. Play with whatever you have on hand.
When the time comes for your bath, grab a few roses (even two or three will make for a magical experience, and go for more than that of course if you’re called to a decadent rose bath adventure!) and place them court-side at your bath. You can totally de-petal the roses before getting in the water, for sure. I like getting in the bath first. Once I’m settled in the hot water, I like taking the petals off and dropping them into the bath, one at a time, counting my appreciations, and breathing deeply.
The first few rose baths I took were kind of intense! If you’re not used to treating yourself real nice, this endeavor might push up against the boundaries of what you think you “deserve” or the kindness you are able to tolerate from life. That’s okay!
Affirmations can feel super lubricating under such circumstances.
Here’s How To Meditate in the Bathtub
Just do it! Whatever your normal meditation practice is (or reiki or another gentle bodywork practice) just do it while reclining in hot (salt or rose or essential oil or plain) water!
Here’s my easy guide on how to meditate.
Here’s how to meditate along to a song.
Here are guided meditations if you want to listen to my voice while you’re naked, relaxing, and meditating in the bathtub.
Wild Pro Tip For How To Enjoy A Small Bathtub When You Are An Adult Sized Person
I was shocked and delighted when a friend made this suggestion a few years ago. While I dream of my own ideal two-person sized soaking tub, and I do get to enjoy big beautiful tubs while on my many travels, my home base in Philadelphia sports a small bathtub that I can’t fully submerge myself inside of.
Here’s the magical tip: bring a towel into the tub with you (not the towel you will dry yourself off with). Saturate that towel in the hot water of your bath, and then drape that hot water towel over the parts of your body that are peaking out through the surface. Voila! Warm bath time luxury.
On The Topic of Towels
Upgrade to a nice bath towel, one that you actually want to wrap yourself in when you finally climb out of that blissful bath time journey through time and space. Big, soft, and thick (towels). Enjoy!
Leah Moon
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