Herbal Bath Remedies

Western medicine tends to focus on using drugs to treat one health problem at a time. Other kinds of medicines tend to have more of an open-armed approach, welcoming an assortment of treatments. I believe that we shouldn’t only focus on fixing one problem, but work on creating whole body health. In no way do I encourage you to solely focus on treating yourself with herbal remedies, but don’t rule them out either.

One simple step you can take to add some herbal therapy to your lifestyle is to use herbs and essential oils in your baths. Herbal baths can make you feel relaxed and refreshed.

Below is a list of herbs you can use in your therapeutic bath. To make your bath with any of these herbs, make a pot of tea and pour it in the bath. Simple, right?

You can also put your herbs in a muslin bag and infuse them in hot bath water for 5 to 10 minutes.

Calendula Flower

This is a soothing and healing herb. It calms irritated skin tissue and contains antifungal properties. I often use a calendula cream on irritated skin.

Cedar

Cedar is cleansing with antimicrobial and antifungal activity. It stimulates the immune system, breaks down mucus, and increases circulation in the lungs—making it great for colds and coughs.

Chamomile

The calming chamomile flower helps relieve insomnia and irritability. It works well as a topical herb to treat itchy skin, inflammation, and wound care.

Lavender

This is a wonderful herb for your skin, treating burns and skin rashes. Lavender contains skin restorative properties and acts as an astringent. It is also incredibly calming to the nerves. Store satchets full of dried lavendar in your clothing drawers and linen closets. The scent will have a calming effect on you.

Mugwort

Mugwort will leave your skin feeling silky smooth. It is very astringent and cleansing. It also contains some potent antimicrobial properties. You will find tubs full of this at many spas. You can pour it over your body--it is fabulous.

Oats

Rolled oats make a fabulous dry, itchy skin treatment. You can place a cup of oats in a muslin bag and squeeze it in hot water. A milky extract will be released. Press the bag on areas of skin that are itchy or rashy.

Peppermint

A peppermint bath will cool and refresh hot, irritated, or itchy skin. It also revitalizes your mental alertness, while increasing circulation. When i was in college, I used peppermint oil to stay alert during lectures.

Rosemary

The scent of rosemary in a bath will relieve sore muscles, poor circulation, and headaches. Rosemary acts an antioxidant to the skin.

Rose

Rose leaves, root, and petals are astringent and healing to the skin. It is nourishing, toning, and restorative.

A co-worker showed a group of us how to make this wonderful sachet. The scents released while mixing the ingredients together relaxed all of us. I can't wait to use it in the bath.

What you need:

• Muslin bags
• Oat flour
• Cedar
• Cedarwood essential oil
• Lavender essential oil

What to do:

1. Pour the bag of oat flour into a bowl.
2. Add pieces of the cedar (from any cedar tree--use extra cedarwood oil if you don't have access to a tree) into the bowl.
3. Add the essential oils. How much you use is up to you. When it reaches the desired scent you believe is strong enough, you have entered enough.

4. Go ahead and mix it all up with your hands, or a spoon.
5. Pack the mixture into the muslin bags. Tie the bags closed.

To use:

Run your bath. Place the sachet into the bath. Let it sit for a few minutes, then squeeze it out. The bath water will turn a milky color. Then, relax.

Tips:

You can reuse the bag, so save it!

Don't open the bag and dump it into the tub. The flour will clump and harden.

Oat flour is fabulous for dry and irriated skin.