Aromatherapy Bath Salts, Reduce Stress with Healthy Relaxation
The therapeutic qualities of seawater have been known for centuries.
Hippocrates wrote about the healing affects it had on the injured hands of fishermen. The seawater reduced infection, and patients treated with seawater found that it also promoted pain relief.
Seawater is salty, and when the water is removed by evaporation, we get these natural seawater ingredients in concentrated form – we call it 'sea salt'. Sea salt makes the very best bath salt.
Not All Bath Salts Are The Same
Chemical companies start with sea salt as a raw ingredient to make other chemicals. They remove 'impurities' - other minerals and dried sea plants - from sea salt, refining the salt and removing important components along the way. At some point, after many important minerals have already been removed, they package it and sell it. They call it 'bath salt'.
As minerals are removed from sea salt, the salt becomes more refined. Nearly 80 minerals are removed from sea salt to create other products. Each step along the way, minerals of natural sea salt are removed until only one is left – a pure crystal of sodium chloride.
This final, left-over crystal happens to be white and tastes salty, and we call it 'table salt'.
The reason table salt is not used for baths is simply because it is so concentrated; it is very harsh to our skin.
(For these very same reasons, table salt is also harsh inside our bodies, containing almost none of the nutrients we used to get from real salt. That is why we should buy sea salt to flavor our food, as well – all the ingredients we need for health are still there!)
The Best Bath Salts (and food salts) are All-Natural!
Natural sea salts come in a variety of colors - gray, brown, green, pink and other colors. These colors come from the minerals and other ingredients in that particular sea as the water evaporated over the centuries.
The natural buffers and other minerals contained sea salts allow us to feel the gentle 'balance of the sea', and the softness of warm bath water with sea salts is good for our skin.
One of the best sources of natural bath salts is the Bay of Brittany, France. This area is well known for its great wealth of algae, plankton, and rich sea life. Salt in this area is sun dried and hand harvested in the Celtic fashion, using ages-old harvesting methods that preserve the vital elements.
This salt is rich in minerals, organic compounds, microscopic algae and phytoplankton, and other trace elements. These natural salts are beneficial to us in ways we don't understand and cannot measure. They are simply good for us.
Sea salt, when added to bath water, is like a seawater kit!
Sea salts in a bath create an effective therapy for many skin problems. People with psoriasis, eczema and other dry skin conditions can benefit from warm seawater therapy. Acne can improve with this as well - baths of sea salt help clean pores and detoxify the body.
(Detoxify means, the minerals in the sea salt bath pulls the waste materials out of the pores - such as the salty-sweaty stuff that we eliminate through the skin during the day - and the bath salts neutralize these things, leaving your skin fresh and really clean.)
In other words, a sea salt bath creates an environment that can help remove waste materials from the body, a comfortable and soothing way to detoxify our bodies.
And when natural herbs and essential aromatherapy oils are added, a bath with sea salts can improve our sense of well-being, too!
A Recipe For Relaxing
Start with natural sea salts from the Bay of Brittany. Add natural plant-based aromatherapy - use fragrances from essential oils of eucalyptus, cyprus, and peppermint. Sprinkle in organic herbal extracts of chamomile and calendula. Mix this in a warm tub, light a candle or two, turn off the lights, and step in.
Then, just soak, relax, and breathe. Speak quietly to yourself, listen to your own voice gently repeating some positive language. Say things like "I am okay", and "It is all good", "I am strong and well". Positive affirmations can be very powerful.
Imagine how this could improve your life, just doing this simple routine for yourself on a regular basis!
Take advantage of the power of nature, a simple warm bath infused with ancient remedies – seawater, aromatherapy, and candle light - to nurture, heal, and soothe your body, mind, and spirit.
Aromatherapy Oils and Natural Bath Salts -- You are worth it!
Dr. McIntosh has had a wellness-based practice for 30 years. He and Lisa, his wife, live in Las Vegas. They teach women <a href="http://www.osteoporosis-people.com/osteo-update.html">a safe, natural approach to osteoporosis,</a> showing women how to stop and reverse bone loss without dangerous drugs. They teach women how to use other simple, natural healing methods, and encourage them to use natural products such as <a href="http://www.osteoporosis-people.com/plantlife.html#Therapeutic%20Gift%20Sets">natural herbal soaps and aromatherapy bath salts</a> to help them reconnect with themselves for better health and wellness.
Copyright 2006 - Dr. Martin McIntosh. All Rights Reserved Worldwide. Reprint Rights: You may reprint this article as long as you leave all the links active, do not edit the article in any way, give Dr. McIntosh name credit as author.
