I don’t know about you, but we had a lot of need for a soothing herbal bath over the last year. There was healing from pregnancy, and of course general pregnancy soreness. Plus, Ben started exercising and his muscles were really sore the first few weeks. Anyway…an herbal bath is an excellent way to relax and soothe all of these hurting muscles and other parts.
Besides, even if you’re not sore…who couldn’t use a yummy-smelling and soothing bath?
Soothing Herbal Bath
You will need (all the herbs are dried and by weight):
- 1 part Epsom salts
- 2 parts comfrey root or leaves (root can sometimes be hard to find)
- 2 parts lavender flowers
- 1 part chamomile
- 1 part uva ursi
- 1 part arnica (optional)
It’s simple: select how much you want of each (1 oz. as 1 part is plenty because herbs are very light — at least if you are just trying it out) and mix it all together in a big bowl.
Store this in an air-tight container.
To use, scoop some (about 1/4 – 1/2 c. depending on how full your bathtub will be) into a small muslin bag and pull the drawstring closed. Toss this bag into your bathtub. This is way easier to clean up than if you dump the herbs in straight. Ask me how I know. 🙂
You can also choose to steep it in boiling water, about 1/2 – 1 c. in 4 c. water, for 20 – 30 minutes, strain, and pour the hot “tea” into your bath.
I used this immediately post-birth as a soak to help heal all my sore parts. Adding the arnica helps to soothe sore muscles while leaving it out it simply helps to heal tissues.
You could also make it as a strong tea (about 1/4 c. mix to 2 c. water) and dip cloth pads into it, then freeze them for a healing ice pack post-birth. I did that after Daniel was born. This one has a lot of uses. 🙂
Do you ever take baths to help soreness or healing? Do you enjoy the idea of an herbal bath?
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Where do you get this stuff? I don’t know where to buy herbs and things, so I haven’t tried a lot of this kind of recipes. I have just started exercising seriously and I could really use a relaxing soak.
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