Yes! You REALLY CAN transform your life one bath at a time!
You can get in the tub feeling like a crusty toad and emerge a goddess beaming beneficence on everything around you.
(Cue heavenly music and beams of light breaking through clouds).
Follow the easy guide below to begin this transformation.
To start this transformation you need a couple of bathtime basics:
- Epsom salts (see here & here why you want them in your bath)
- Bubble bath
That’s it for the core essentials. You can add other ingredients as you see fit and play around with some recipes.
Get some hot water going and pour in 2 heaping cups of Epsom Salts and a 1/4 cup of bubbles. Put the bubbles in as soon as the tub starts filling up so you’ll have tons to fluff around in.
Once the tub is full, get in it, relax, breathe deeply and start saying some nice things to yourself. Yes. Just try it. Better if you talk out loud. Especially if when you get in the tub you are thinking cruddy thoughts. (I don’t have to define “cruddy thoughts”, we all know what they are don’t we?)
These nice things you say can be about yourself or what you are noticing around you. It’s easy. It is. You just have to get into the habit of doing it and get OUT of the habit of saying crappy stuff.
Try expressing gratitude and appreciation and affirming that there are some really good things in your life to be happy about. Doing this will change your attitude, which will affect your life in that moment which will have the beneficial effect of transforming your life.
I have noticed that being in a tub full of bubbles and Epsom salts makes this really easy to do :)
If you can’t come up with anything for starters try:
Lucky me! I’m sitting in a hot tub full of Epsom salts and bubbles and it feels pretty darn good.
Sometimes people have a hard time saying nice things about themselves – start off easy:
I’m doing something nice for myself with this bubble bath.
That red nail polish on my toenails makes me happy.
Sometimes if you are in a really crusty space it’s hard to say nice things about much of anything – once again, start off easy:
I really like my shower curtain.
This washcloth is the softest washcloth in the world.
I did 3 things on my to-do list today! (So what if there are still 10 things on it – – – perhaps consider a shorter to-do list?)
If absolutely nothing is pleasing to you in the moment, try something like this this:
Well, it’s certainly not the ugliest shower curtain in the world.
Work you way up from there…
Starting to get the hang of it?
Sit in the tub for at least 20 minutes (I like 60 minutes + if possible) and say/think thoughts of gratitude and appreciation. Watch how your mind might want to go to cruddy thoughts and steer it in another direction.
Remember, it’s YOUR mind, you can have it do whatever you want.
When you get out of the tub, check in with how you feel – if you relaxed and thought about good things, you will be feeling better, even if you were feeling good when you got in, you can always feel better!
For me, if there is any “goal” it’s to feel good more often than feel bad, to feel contented more than stressed, to be focused more than unfocused – you get the idea. Baths help me with that, they have transformed my life by bringing more ease and relaxation into it – and from there so much more is possible.
Refresher on Epsom salt:
When dissolved in warm water, Epsom salt is absorbed through the skin and replenishes the level of magnesium in the body. The magnesium helps to produce serotonin, a mood-elevating chemical within the brain that creates a feeling of calm and relaxation. Research shows that magnesium also increases energy and stamina by encouraging the production of ATP (adenosine triphosphate), the energy packets made in the cells.
It’s possible that bathing with Epsom salt at least three times a week will help you to look better, feel better and gain more energy. Magnesium ions also relax and reduce irritability by lowering the effects of adrenaline. They lower blood pressure, create a relaxed feeling, improve sleep and concentration, and help muscles and nerves to function properly.
And the magical thing with Epsom salts is while you are just sitting in the tub they are working! You don’t have to do anything!
Here’s an article on the health benefits of Epsom salt you might enjoy. And don’t forget the bubbles!
Epsom salt info: Saltworks
Photo by Tom Barrett
I love it, Bath Tub Diva!! You rock! I did not know you had a new blog. I’ll have to get me an RSS feed to this fun new bloggie of yours. MWAH! Bethie
Ha ha! So much for keeping it under wraps for a few more days….. :)