Water Therapy

Are you a bath or a shower person?  

Even though they both involve water they provide entirely different experiences. Showers are meant to be a quick and more energy efficient and sustainable way to get washed whereas taking a bath isn’t but provides a more relaxing experience. 

I do like showering, but on a cold day, when I’m chilled to the bone, taking a bath is the only thing that will warm me up. Showering doesn’t seem to have the same effect,  it doesn’t matter how much I turn the temperature up, if I get in cold I’m still cold when I get out.  On a hot day though, no one wants to soak in a hot bath unless you want to combust and die so the cold shower is your saviour.

I wanted to write about my bathing experiences because for me, taking a humble bath, particularly on a miserable cold day after a hard day at work, is like the ultimate act of self care and equal to if not better than any spa experience I’ve ever paid for.  Spas can be lovely but the downsides for me far outweigh the pleasurable bits.  

Let me explain why I would rather stay at home and take a bath than go to a spa!  For a start, when you go to a spa, you have to plan ahead, shave your legs and pay heavy prices before you’ve even dipped your big toe in. You usually have to share the experience with other people, random ones you don’t know and unless you are staying in an hotel with a spa, when your time is up, you have to immediately get dressed and go outside to carry on with ‘normal’ life when what you really want is to be provided with a comfy bed and a warm blanket so that you can just have a little sleep.

A few years back when we went to a forest holiday park, I decided to treat my mother to a ‘Twilight Spa’ which basically meant we went after 6pm when it was a bit cheaper.  The different spa rooms were lovely, who doesn’t love a sauna and steam room?  However, being selfish and antisocial, this experience was spoiled for me by the presence of other people!  When you want to relax you don’t want to hear other women in there talking about their children, we know that you love them but it’s an adults only spa, people go there to get away from their kids!

So because of this annoyance, we started lurking and made a beeline for one of the rooms that didn’t have anyone else in as we wanted to chat to each other ourselves without other people listening in.  It was going well but as soon as we started to relax, the door abruptly opened letting in a gush of cold air. In walked a hairy man with a woman. The woman quickly apologised  for the intrusion and the hairy man sat quietly opposite us looking uncomfortable not knowing where to look.  I got the impression he was only there for her, perhaps under duress so not enjoying it either.

So after letting a bit of time pass, enough that didn’t make us look like we were leaving because of them, we made our exit just as another couple were making their way in.  However, we then found ourselves in a bit of a pickle, we were all provided with a complementary white bathrobe on arrival and because we had to hang them up outside the spa rooms before we entered, we weren’t quite sure which robes were ours now when we came out. 

We picked what we thought was ours, but after wearing it for a while I wasn’t convinced I’d pick my own as this one felt a bit more damp than I thought it had previously been and because of that, I was starting to feel cold and uncomfortable.  Was I now wearing the hairy mans robe?  There was a good chance. So because I was now damp, cold and anxious that I might have another person’s robe on we decided to have a quick swim so that we could at least say we’d used all the facilities and then we left.   My mother later confessed that she’d hated it more than me and never wanted to go in the first place.

So you can see now why I’m not a big fan of spas and that’s why if you want to relax with water therapy, it can easily be done in the comfort of your own home by having a simple lovely bath!

I’m not really one for creating a full on ‘home spa’ experience, I don’t go in for all the scented candles and I don’t play zen spa music because I love to read whatever self help book or magazine i’m on at that time whilst I’m having a good soak.  I just fill the tub with lovely hot water, chuck in a good amount of Epsom Salts and let the steam hit my face whilst taking in the fragrance of whatever bath product I’ve decided to use.  Just me, no fuss, no kiddy chat, not damp robes and no hairy men!

Usually after about 40 minutes, I get out looking like a prawn but it doesn’t matter because I can then go and have a lie down on my own bed to cool off.  The post bath lie down is the second part of the whole self care experience which is why my relaxing baths have to be taken at night or during weekends when I don’t have to go out anywhere afterwards.  

Sometimes, if I’ve done a lot of work in the garden or allotment and my back is aching, I take a bath and then have a 30 minute session on my Shakti Mat (see my blog on Shakti Mat experience) I can’t recommend this routine highly enough because for me, this is better than having any spa massage treatment any day!

But I’m not a total Debbie Downer when it comes to spas though because the thing that I actually do love about them is the aroma that hits you when you walk in.  There’s usually a menthol eucalyptus type smell wafting in the air from the oils they use in the saunas, that is really nice and inviting. But you can also enjoy your own aromatherapy fix at home and this is where the all important bath products come into play and why they are an important key to your humble home spa!

Here’s some of my recommendations on the type of bath products that I use:

Westlab Reviving Epson Bath Salts – 100% natural, pure and unscented mineral salt.  You can pick a bag up from Home Bargains and they are usually cheaper there than in places such Holland & Barrett or Amazon

Urban Veda Radiance Body Wash with Turmeric and Botanic or the Urban Veda Soothing Body wash with Sandalwood and Botanics.  I specifically love these because they smell so nice, but you would not be disappointed with any of the products that you get from the Urban Veda range. They are a multi award winning Ayurvedic skincare brand, cruelty free and Vegan friendly, but what makes this brand so good is that they are also affordable and frequently on offer from Holland & Barrett or at discounted prices when you buy directly from the Urban Veda website.

Bayliss & Harding now do a ‘Goodness’ range which includes natural ingredients and are vegan friendly. I  like the Rose & Geranium body wash which I pour in as the bath is running which makes the whole room smell like Turkish delight!  Again, they are reasonably priced and can be picked up in most supermarkets and in Boots and are often on offer in Sainsburys or Morrisons.

Lidl’s ‘Natures Best’ range is also one of my favourites.  Also cruelty free and vegan friendly and a lot cheaper than the Urban Veda range at just £2 per bottle. I especially love the 100% cold pressed macadamia oil shower gel which leaves your skin feeling so silky it’s the reason why I stock up on this everytime I see it.

And last but not least, I really love the Original Source 100% tingly mint and tea tree products.  If you want a blast of minty aromatherapy during your home spa then this will provide it and is especially good at helping to clear blocked nasal passages whilst you are at it!

Obviously taking a bath is not going to suit everyone and some people can’t for health reasons but I hope you have enjoyed reading why I think home spa bathing is just fadulous!  

Do you agree? What are your recommended bathing products? Get in touch, I’d love to know. Or do you disagree?  Do you absolutely love going for a spa day?  Let me know why and you might just change my mind!  

Happy bathing everyone!