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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.
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Favorite Bath Herbs
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.
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Relaxing Bath Sachet
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:
- Pour the bag of oat flour into a bowl.
- 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.
- 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.
- Go ahead and mix it all up with your hands, or a spoon.
- 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.
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Comments
thanks for sharing but where can we get these herbs?
- Author
You can order them online (there are links above). Also, check your local grocery stores, farmers markets, and health stores. Whole Foods often carries these things. Check your local business listings for more options. Here in Seattle, for example, we have stores, like The Herbalist, where many of these can be purchased.
Great information. I love herbal baths..I like to add a cou-ple of handfuls of dry milk. :)
- Author
Marye, I have added dry milk to homemade bath satchets. Hm...I have a bath scheduled for this afternoon--can't wait!
I'm saving this. It will come in handy. Peace
What is Herbal Soap?
Herbal soap is a kind of soap mixed with natural ingredients, juice or extract and vitamins from medicinal plants.
METHOD #1
How to Prepare Herbal Soap:
Utensils:
* Plastic pail
* Wooden ladle or bamboo stick
* Glass or cup
* Mortar and pestle
* Cheese cloth or strainer
* Knife
* Chopping board
* Cooking pot (preferably made of clay, enamel, stainless or glass)
* Stove
* Plastic molders
Akapulko and Guava Soap:
How to Prepare a Decoction:
1. Wash the leaves thoroughly and chop or cut in small pieces.
2. Measure 1 glass of chopped fresh leaves and 2 glasses of water.
3. Let it boil for 15 minutes (start timing when the water starts to boil).
4. After 15 minutes, remove from fire and strain in a cheesecloth. Set aside and let it cool.
Materials:
* 1 glass Caustic Soda (NaOH)
* 3 glasses Akapulko or Guava decoction, cooled
* 5 glasses cooking oil
* coloring powder (optional)
Procedure:
1. Prepare the materials and the utensils needed.
2. Measure 1 glass of caustic soda and 3 glasses of Akapulko or Guava decoction and pour into a plastic pail.
3. Mix well by stirring continuously using a wooden ladle or bamboo stick. Use only one direction in mixing the mixture. Stir until the caustic soda is dissolved.
4. Pour 5 glasses cooking oil into the mixture.
5. Continue stirring until a consistency of a condensed milk is achieved.
6. Pour the soap mixture into desired plastic molders. Set aside and let it cool to harden.
7. After 4-5 hours, remove the soap from the molder.
8. Allow 30 days of ageing before packing. Label the soaps.
Indications:
* Akapulko leaves – anti-fungal
* Guava leaves – antiseptic for wounds
Kamias, Calamansi, Papaya, Cucumber and Radish Soaps:
Materials:
* 1 glass Caustic Soda (NaOH)
* 3 glasses water
* 5 glasses cooking oil
* 1/2 glass juice or extract
Procedure:
1. Prepare the materials and the utensils needed.
2. Measure 1 glass of caustic soda and 3 glasses of water and pour into a plastic pail.
3. Mix well by stirring continuously using a wooden ladle or bamboo stick. Use only one direction in mixing the mixture. Stir until the caustic soda is dissolved.
4. Pour 5 glasses cooking oil into the mixture.
5. Continue stirring until a consistency of a condensed milk is achieved and add 1/2 glass of juice or extract.
6. Pour the soap mixture into desired plastic molders. Set aside and let it cool to harden.
7. After 4-5 hours, remove the soap from the molder.
8. Allow 30 days of ageing before packing. Label the soaps.
Indications:
* Kamias – fruit extract or juice (bleaching soap)
* Calamansi – fruit extract or juice (bleaching soap)
* Cucumber – fruit extract or juice (moisturizer)
* Papaya – extract from fresh leaves (bleaching/moisturizer)
* Radish – extract from the stem (moisturizer)
Reminder:
* Caustic Soda can harm the skin upon contact. Wash immediately with vinegar or anything sour and then wash it with soap and water.
* Caustic Soda is harmful to health and so, make the necessary precaution. Use mask and gloves to protect your body.
METHOD #2
You don’t need to pay high prices for fancy, scented soaps; you can make your own fragrant concoctions with some simple ingredients and a little know-how.
Steps:
1. Decide what kind of dried herbs you’d like to use. Good choices are lavender for its lovely fragrance, and for its ability to soothe irritated skin, and mint for its invigorating properties. Experiment with your favorite herbs to find your favorite combination.
2. Assemble the other items you will need: the plainest soap you can find (plain glycerine soap is best, but Ivory or another mild, unscented soap will do), a soap mold, and a double boiler.
3. Coat your soap mold with vegetable oil.
4. Heat 1/3 cup water in a double boiler to a simmer.
5. Crumble 3 to 4 tablespoons of herbs into the water.
6. Take the double boiler off the heat and allow the herbs to steep for 15 minutes.
7. Return the pan to the heat and add the bar of soap, cut into small pieces.
8. When the soap is melted, pour the mixture into the soap mold.
9. Leave at room temperature until the soap has hardened (it will be a bit softer than the bar you started with).
10. Open the mold and remove the soap.
I find that Rosemary is best not used as a herbal bath if you are wanting to relax. However if you are tired but really need to get up and get going after your bath then it can really help you to function again.
Nice article. I agree with you when you say we need to create whole body health instead of focusing on only one issue at a time. I will definitely give herbal baths a shot now!
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