How To Take The Most Relaxing Bath

When it comes to baths, you can get a mixed bag of opinions from everyone. People either love them or feel a weird discomfort with them. Many aren’t able to sit still in a bath without feeling impatient or pruney. However, many methods create the perfect ambiance for a relaxing and stress-relieving bath that even skeptics could enjoy a soak.

It’s good to understand that baths aren’t purely for hygiene purposes alone but also for leisure and health. Baths provide numerous mental and physical benefits. They’re the perfect addition to our self-care days, and if you’re able, having a bath daily can even boost your mood. The colder months are excellent times to bathe, as our skin tends to be more dry and sensitive during the winter. Bathing and steaming is a perfect way to provide your body with hydration and help avoid irritation and inflammation. Adding bath soaks can soothe our mind and body as well as enhancing hydration.

The most important thing to do before taking a bath is to ensure that you have a clean and calm environment to take a relaxing soak in to be able to unwind from the stress of the day or week. Follow these steps for the perfect spa-like bath.

Create the right ambiance 

Before taking your bath, you want the space to be calm and serene. Make sure the environment doesn’t have clutter and is clean to avoid feeling overwhelmed and stressed. After clearing the area, try lighting candles and placing them safely around your bathroom. Lastly, add whatever music soothes or eases your anxiety the most. This doesn’t necessarily have to be spa or meditation type music but any music that you enjoy. You can also use this time to catch up on a book you’ve wanted to read or maybe a podcast. Go for any activity that you can do in the bath that reduces your stress.

Stay hydrated by drinking water

While the bath can help soothe irritation and dryness on the top layer of the skin, it can’t keep you hydrated from the inside. Especially while we often sweat a bit during a bath from the steam, therefore, causing dehydration. Keep a cool glass of water (add a lemon!) next to the tub to cool and hydrate throughout bathing. It’s also essential to ensure that your bath temperature is not too hot, or it won’t benefit your skin and may irritate it more. Bathe for about 10 minutes in warm water to soothe your body.

Get off the phone!

Treat your bathtime the same as when you meditate or prepare for sleep. It’s a normal reflex to check our phones, especially when we hear notifications vibrating or pinging. Turn off those notifications! This should be a relaxing part of your day, but when you have your phone continually going off, you’re not allowing yourself to de-stress and decompress. If you still can’t keep your mind off of your notifications and emails flooding in, try to read a book, magazine, write in a journal, or have your meditation session in the bath. If you prefer electronic devices to unwind, try setting up your phone or laptop a safe distance in the tub to watch your favorite feel-good movies and shows. 

Try bath soaks

Bathing is already soothing, but to make it even better, add soaks and salts to the bath. Usually, when we think of baths, we imagine lots of bubbles and those bath bombs that seemed to take over the world a few years ago. However, those products’ ingredients can be irritating and unsafe when looking for salt and soak guarantee that there are no added fragrances, phthalates, artificial dye, or talc. These ingredients can be harmful to the skin and negatively affect the vaginal pH balance leading to infection. Ingredients such as sea salt, magnesium, activated charcoal are your best bet for a relaxing and safe bath. With the proper bath soak, it can soften and soothe itchy and irritated skin and moisturize. Double cleansing toward the end of your bath is another way to treat your skin and get your mind off the stress you face daily. Again, don’t soak in boiling water as it will irritate your face as well.

Try the Madagascar Bath Soak available on the Simple Healing Space store!

Moisturize immediately after

To lock moisture in the skin, apply body oil to your skin before drying off. Using oil on your body while still wet creates a barrier between the skin and the water, replenishing dry and sensitive skin. Try letting your body air dry or pat gently with a towel, not wiping it completely dry to retain more moisture. Doing this can reveal smooth and glowy skin, making you feel more radiant and clear from your bath. 

Try the Salud Modern Empress Body Oil and Free Flow Botanicals Calm Body Oil, available on the Simple Healing Space store.