Jeudi: Root Work

All the ladies in my household have been sick this week.  From stomach trouble to sore throat and fever, the three of us have been down simultaneously and/or singularly every day so far.  It is time, quite clearly, for a simple but effective healing bath.

We’ve talked about ritual bathing before here at HQ.  Regardless of the issue in your life, it seems that allowing yourself time to clean not only the body but the mind and the spirit can at least help you through if not push toward a solution.  This bath is particularly designed to slough off the crust of illness that can hang around even after you’re starting to feel better.  It lifts the malaise off your shoulders and frees you from, as the Puritans would have put it, the mantel of slothfulness.

Fortunately, the ingredients just happen to be handy to almost everyone so no poking around in odd stores or the local park is necessary to help yourself back to health.  Here’s what you’ll need:

1 cup of sea salt (the Morton’s variety at the market will work just fine)

½ cup Epsom salt

1 handful of pine needles and 1 handful of dried rosemary or 2 handfuls of either alone

Mix the sea salt and Epsom salt in a glass bowl with your fingers.   Combine the herbs in a smaller bowl and then tie them into a porous piece of cloth (cheesecloth or gauze work great, as does the foot of a thin sock like pantyhose) with a long piece of string.  All the while focus on healing yourself or the person you are making the bath for.

Tie the herb bag around your bathtub faucet so that the water will run over the bag.  Now begin to fill the tub with very warm water.  As you do, sprinkle the salt mixture into the tub.  Swish it around with your fingers to help it dissolve while continuing to focus on healing.

Once the bath is full, remove the herb bag from the faucet and let it float in the water.  Now step in, lie back and close your eyes.  Breathe in the fragrant steam and feel the salts work on sore, tired muscles.  No need to dunk completely with this one, particularly if your ears are clogged; just pour a little water over your head and splash your face a bit at some point.  Dispose of the herb bag when your long soak is over.  A votre santé ~

Header: Le Bain (The Bath) by Berthe Morisot c 1886