Self-Care Series: Bathtime Barricades

This is the second article in a series of blog posts sharing favorite self-care practices aimed to recharge, de-stress, balance work/home energies, and realign priorities.  You can read the first Self-Care Series article here.

Have you ever had a day in which you had a task you wanted to complete, but were too distracted by everything else going on?  If you are at work you might jump from one project to an email notification, then to a different task prompted by the email, then to a co-worker’s question, a phone call, then finally back to the original task before it is time to leave. If you are at home it might be that the cat throws up when you are trying to do the dishes. Suddenly you feel compelled to start laundry to wash the cat-barf clean-up rag; you check all the kids’ rooms to find dirty clothes to complete a laundry load, find a Redbox movie that is past-due under a bed, and then you rush out the door to return the movie before the next charge hits your credit card. Meanwhile the dishes are saturating the sink with their oily, stinky smell. While we do have to prioritize sometimes, ultimately we often allow ourselves to be available to distractions when we don’t need to be- and then usually we end up doing less-concentrated work overall as a result.  This is exhausting. Intentions for self-care are no less subject to distractions than anything else, and they are easy to put at the bottom of a priority list.  That is why I’ve always found baths to be a great option for self-care practice, because when we barricade ourselves in the bathroom, the possibilities for distractions are greatly diminished.

Fill the tub with water. Drown out those distractions.  You don’t need them. 

-Tell people that you love them, but they need to leave you alone for a while.

-Lock the door. 

-Turn your favorite music on, LOUD. Turn it on loud enough so you can’t hear the T.V. droning on in the living room or the kids bickering outside the door wanting you to settle an argument in their favor.

-Get naked and sit in the tub.  Trust me, you are less likely to run to a distraction if aren’t wearing clothes and have to heave yourself to stand up from the low level of the tub.

-Have a plan to keep your mind from getting whisked around by to-do lists and what-if questions. Ideas: Bring a book to keep yourself occupied. Have a guided meditation recording handy.  Plan to work on a crossword puzzle. Write down your to-do list to get it all out in the open before you give yourself over to relaxing time. (Wine might help.)

Don't let your cat in the bathroom.  Cats are distracting.
Especially when they are convinced you are going to die from being submerged in water.

Once you’ve settled the mind, you can focus on caring for the physical body. This is the easy part. There are so many products available to enhance the physical experience of a bath, and they can all be tailored to your tastes.  If you are a visual person, you may enjoy a brightly colored fizzy bath-bomb.  If your body is feeling physically run-down you can add Epsom salts to soothe your muscles. If you enjoy touch and texture and the feeling of being deep-cleaned, you might consider an exfoliating body scrub or soap.  If you want to detox you can add baking soda or green tea bags to your water as you soak. The possibilities are endless. 

Without distractions, the physical details of a bath can be incredibly grounding.  If you can tame your mind for long enough, explore the physical sensations of a bath.  Is the bath water hot enough to make you sweat?  Rub your legs together, did the bath product you used make your skin feel sudsy, silky, sandy?  Does the smell of soap bring up any memories?  Does the scent make you feel invigorated, relaxed, or something else?  When you fingertips wrinkle from being in the water a long time, what do they feel like? Can you count the grooves, see shapes in them as if they were clouds or tea leaves in the bottom of a cup? Notice your body.  Notice your experience. Don’t get out of the tub until you are ready and until you have clear observations about how your physical body responded to the experience. Do let your worry go down the drain with the dirty bathwater.

Need some more inspiration? Lately I’ve been partial to a DIY milk-bath soak that is incredibly easy to make. See the recipe below.

Happy Bathing!

Homemade Milk Bath
Adapted from a recipe shared by @ctgyogalife on her Instagram page for her #KarmaInAJar series

Equal parts Dehydrated Milk and Epsom salts
Several drops of your favorite essential oil(s) (I used a combination of lavender and clary sage)

Mix ingredients together. If you are feeling fancy, you can add dried flower petals to the mix as well. Milk Bath keeps well in a sealed container. Add about a ½ cup to a cup of the milk bath to your tub for a soothing and hydrating experience.