Spa At Home – Detox Bath

Most of us would love the chance to have the day at a spa to relax and refresh ourselves, but not all of us have the time or the money to make that fantasy a reality.  Now you can create the experience of a healthy detoxing bath in your own home!
We found some intructions and a guide for creating a detox bath that you can do in the privacy of your own home whenever it suits you.  The step by step tutorial came from WikiHow.com.  Getting rid of stress and some of the toxins that just come as a result of day to day life sounds like a fabulous idea.  You can bet this is in my very near future.  What about yours?  If you try it, share with us what you think and how it made you feel.  As always the point is to have lives filled with love, joy and abundant living 🙂

A detox bath is thought to assist your body in eliminating toxins as well as absorbing the minerals and nutrients that are in the water. Most of all, it’ll leave you feeling refreshed and awakened.

1. Prepare your bath on a day that you have at least 40 minutes available. The first 20 minutes are said to help your body remove the toxins, while the second 20 minutes are for absorbing the minerals in the water.

2. Fill your tub with comfortably hot water. Use a chlorine filter if possible.

3. Add Epsom salts (aka magnesium sulfate). Soaking in Epsom salts actually helps replenish the body’s magnesium levels, combating hypertension. The sulfate flushes toxins and helps form proteins in brain tissue and joints.  Epsom salt is very inexpensive. It can be purchased in decently sized bags or cartons at discount stores in the garden center or pharmaceutical area.

• For children under 60 lbs, add 1/2 cup to a standard bath.
• For children 60 lbs to 100 lbs, add 1 cup to a standard bath.
• For people 100 lbs and up, add 2 cups or more to a standard bath.

4.  Add 1 to 2 cups or more of baking soda (a.k.a. sodium bicarbonate). Baking soda is known for its cleansing ability and even has anti-fungal properties. It also leaves skin very soft. Large bags can usually be found in the swimming pool chemical area, but the boxes from the bakery aisle will work fine.

5. Add ground ginger or fresh ginger tea. While this step is optional, ginger can increase your heat levels, helping to sweat out toxins. However, since it is heating to the body, it may cause your skin to turn slightly red for a few minutes, so be careful with the amount you add. Depending on the capacity of your tub, and your sensitivity, anywhere from 1 tablespoon to 1/3 cup can be added.

• Most people sweat profusely with the addition of the ginger, and if you wrap your body in a blanket immediately after getting out of the tub, you can continue to detoxify through perspiration for another couple of hours. This is especially beneficial if you are trying to rid the body of a bug of some sort, like the flu, or a cold.

6. Add aromatherapy oils. Again optional, but many people love the fragrance of such oils and for many, the oils have particular therapeutic properties to take advantage of. There are many oils that will make the bath an even more pleasant and relaxing experience (such as lavender and ylang ylang), as well as those that will assist in the detoxification process (tea tree oil or eucalyptus).

• If you prefer, you can use fresh herbs. Add mint leaves (warming), lavender flowers (soothing), chamomile (soothing), or anything else that suits your mood.

7. Swish all of the ingredients around in the tub, then soak. Again, 40 minutes is recommended (the longer the better), but aim for at least 20. You should start sweating within the first few minutes.

• If you feel too hot, start adding cold water into the tub until you cool off.

8. Get out of the tub slowly and carefully. Your body has been working hard and you may get lightheaded or feel weak and drained. On top of that, the salts make your tub slippery, so stand with care.

9. Drink plenty of water. Any time your body detoxes (after this type of bath, a massage, or chiropractic work, for example), you need to flush out toxins. If you don’t, you will likely feel sick afterwards.

10. After the bath, you might like to rub down your body with a loofah or vegetable bristle brush. This can help to stimulate the lymphatic system, which can aid with the release of toxins. Use long, gentle sweeping strokes aimed toward the heart.