Why having a bath is good for your health
WORDS Emma Vidgen // @emma_vee
IMAGES Ashley River Brant // @ashleyriverbrant
Dea Ludovice // @dealudovice
Why is it that problems always feel that little more manageable after a long, hot soak? Like a good night’s sleep or a big cry, even major dramas seem more manageable after some quality time in the tub. Physically, a bath works magic on many levels. A new study of 30,000 people showed warm baths lowers your risk of heart disease. It’s just the latest research to prove the power of a long hot soak. Baths have also been shown to lower blood pressure, clear your sinuses and improve oxygen intake and reduces muscle damage and soreness. Being in water also soothes the nervous system and promotes relaxation.
On a spiritual level, there’s something incredibly healing about being in water. For millennia, baths have been used in ritual and healing. For intuitive healer Deborah Hanekamp, water is central to her practice. “I started recommending people take ritual baths about 20 years ago in my work with medicine readings,” Deborah says.
Deborah uses bath tubs as a gateway for meditation, grounding, cleansing and healing. “The bath is one of the most approachable and applicable tools that we can use to be our own healer because we have all taken a bath before and we all know that we feel one way before we get into the bath and a different way when we get out of the bath,” Deborah says.
Deborah shares her unique approach to harnessing the healing power of your bath tub in her first book Ritual Baths. She spoke to The Wayward about how to make your next bath a spiritual experience.
What is it about baths and being in water that is so healing?
Being in water feels like a return to source, in a way. We're born from water. We were held for nine months of our very early life inside water. And when we go back into water and let ourselves just sit and soak in it, it's almost like this sense of rebirth, our returning, a sense of home and a sense of support that is hard to find elsewhere.
how were you introduced to this idea of using baths as a part of ritual?
I was introduced to ritual bathing at a very early age and then again later on when I was at the start as an eight-year apprenticeship, going back and forth from the Amazon, learning how to heal there. It's been following me around as a concept of healing and cleansing the spirit. I just made it one of my personal practices at a very early age and
What if I don’t have a bathtub, can I create a ritual shower?
You can do a foot bath, which can be really lovely too because when you focus just on the feet in the bath, it's a very grounding experience. But you can also pre-prepare the mixture and then just put it in a bowl and bring it into the shower with you and wash yourself with it in the shower. You could put the bath potion inside of a spray bottle and just mist yourself with it if you wanted to.
“Being in water is like a return to source. When we go back into water there’s a sense of rebirth, our returning, a sense of home and a sense of support that is hard to find elsewhere.”
What is your favourite ritual bath?
I keep a variety of crystals around. But for grounding, I'll always reach towards black tourmaline and amethyst because black tourmaline and amethyst will have a very cleansing energy to them usually. And when we're clear, when we're cleansed, we're also grounded. So I'll put those in a bath, along with a cup of salt, maybe pink Himalayan sea salt, maybe Epsom salt, and then I'll put a green tea in the bath as well and red rose petals.
Why red rose petals?
The colour red is a present colour. It's a very active colour, therefore it's very grounding.
