What is a Detox Bath and How do You take One?
For centuries people have used baths for much more than just getting clean. The bath is a great place to relax, meditate, and even improve your health. The practice of hydrotherapy is the use of water in the prevention of illness and disease, detoxification, and a general health booster. But, before you go buy that blue box of chemical crystals to color and scent your bath water, here is a better idea – take a detox bath.
Why Take a Detox Bath?
A detox bath is something you can create at home with ingredients you probably already have. Unlike commercial bubble baths, oils, and salts, this isn’t just designed to make your skin soft and smell good—it’s made to actually help rid the body of toxins, alleviate pain, improve tissue health, and help you relax.
Use this bath a few days a week to help remove toxins from your skin and to encourage general health. This is especially useful if you are fasting or doing another internal detox, as it is a gentle way to slowly and safely encourage daily pollutants and toxins out of the body.
There are a few different DIY detox bath recipe options. Follow the basic recipe and then make changes as you see fit. If at all possible, use the most filtered water you can, whether it come from a shower filter or whole house filtration device.
Basic Recipe (Store these ingredients in a clean jar with a tight fitting lid and add 1 C. of mixture into running bath water):
- 2 cups of Epsom Salts
- 2 cups of Sea Salts (any kind will work, but those especially suited for healing properties are best)
- 2 cups of Baking Soda
Additional Options (Add these at bath time):
- Several drops of essential oils to scent the bath. We like sandalwood or lavender if you want something calming. Try sweet orange or another citrusy scent if you want an energizing bath.
- 3-5 T. fresh minced ginger: to increase circulation and add scent
- 1 cup of apple cider vinegar: to soften the skin.
The salts in your bath will decrease inflammation and draw toxins from the skin. They can also work to heal wounds and blemishes. Baking soda will refresh the skin and balance the ph levels in your tissues.
Not only does a bath like this have more benefits than a commercially packaged bubble bath, it looks prettier sitting on the edge of your tub. Try hot water on days when you need to relax and a cooler bath when you are looking for a pick-me-up.
If you want to know how to cleanse your body using other techniques, check out these 3 methods for detoxing your body,
Additional Sources:
Excellent blend. But a word of caution re. sweet orange, which can sting like mad! I wouldn't advise using any citrus oils in bath, certainly no more than two drops of sweet orange.
You also need to be careful with the ginger. It is VERY detoxifying; work up with it a little bit at a time, and don't stay in the bath too long if you have very much in there. Also, don't use peppermint oil! I made that mistake once! My whole body caught ''on fire!'' I wanted to try pouring some milk on it to see if that would help, but didn't have any! Salt and lavendar mixture is supposed to superbust clean your aura!
I have to agree with not using the peppermint oil in a bath, I made that mistake too, I felt like I was in an ice bath, my teeth was chattering and I was shivering so badly, it took me 20 minutes to get warm under heavy blankets and dressed in fleece pajamas. I will never make that mistake again:-).
thank'vryone…
Keep the oil oils out of tub. They are hell to clean later. Plus, you can have reactions like others have mentioned. Just keep the salts, baking soda and a little organic apple cider vinegar. Voila. That's it. People are scent crazy. I have MCS now, and so I'm aware of too much of a good thing……relax…and detox wisely. Drink plenty of water w/lemon……Light & Love.
Laughing at the essential oil in the bathtub mishaps! I’ve had one too with a citrus oil. It’s best just to skip the oil altogether for reasons mentioned above. And true, it’s messy. The entire tub gets a thin, greasy layer that’s hard to clean.