I don’t make new years resolutions, but this year I decided to up my self-care routine by indulging in a weekly epsom salt bath.
Every Wednesday, after getting home from work and having dinner, I prepare my tub with one cup of epsom salt, grab the latest book I’m reading (or just relax with some candles), and soak for at least 20 minutes.
As a massage therapist, especially during the busy months I’ve had, the benefits of these weekly soaks have been so useful to:
Ease stress
Reduce headaches
Improve sleep
Decrease muscle tension and soreness
Detoxify the body
But what’s the deal with epsom salts you might ask? Epsom salts contain magnesium sulfate, which is an element vital to many physiological functions in the body such as:
Regulating calcium and electrolyte levels, blood pressure and inflammation
Producing and maintaining serotonin, the mood-elevating hormone
Taking an epsom salt bath is an efficient method to increase the body’s magnesium level by way of diffusion.
With all these benefits, and how easy and relaxing it is to just enjoy a hot bath, I very much look forward to my weekly self-care routine.
In case you're wondering where this salt got its name: Epsom is a small town in England and in 1618 a local farmer had a cow who refused to drink the water because it had a salty bitter taste.