Herbs for Your Bath By Silver Sage So you have an important meeting in the morning and you've been preparing for it for weeks, kids sick and cranky, keeping you up all night, maybe life has just handed you more stress than you can deal with. Do yourself a favor and take some time for you. Lock the bathroom door, turn on some soothing music, light a few candles and take a wonderful herbal bath. Baths have been enjoyed for their pleasure and benefit for centuries. Bath houses abounded in ancient Rome and Greece. In today's break-neck world a hot herbal bath is probably more necessary than they were in ancient Rome or Greece. Now tossing a handful of fragrant herbs and flowers into your tub, and bathing with them floating on top of the water may seem romantic, that method isn't very practical. The best way is to make a strong infusion or a decoction of the herbs you've selected and add that to the bath water, or you can tie the herbs up in some cheesecloth or in a muslin bag and hang them from the spout while the water is running. For an infusion, pour boiling water over ½ cup of the dried herbs and steep for 10-20 minutes, strain and add the liquid to the bath water. A decoction uses the same proportions of herbs and water, but the herbs are added to cold water and brought to a boil. The decoction is, of course, much stronger than the infusion. The temperature of the water is an important factor, and some attention should be paid to it. Warm water (temps around 98 degrees) soothes and relaxes, while cool water (temps around 80 degrees) stimulates. Be wary of very hot baths (temps around 104 degrees), this can dehydrate, dry the skin, and exhaust you. That high a temperature can also be harmful if you have high blood pressure, diabetes or are pregnant. Herbs for: Achy Feet Almost all of us have had tired, achy feet at least once in our lives. Here are some herbs that make a marvelous foot bath: agrimony, burdock, lavender flowers, mustard seeds, sage, witch hazel and wormwood. Relieve Tension A combination of your choice of any of the following will be soothing for the mind and body: Catnip, chamomile comfrey, hyssop, jasmine flowers, lemon balm, lavender flowers, linden flower, passionflower flowers, roses, slippery elm bark, valerian roots and violets. Stiff Muscles and Aching Joints A combination of sage and strawberry leaves, or sage and mugwort can be quite soothing. Also try a combination of agrimony, chamomile and mugwort (equal parts). Stimulating Bath A combination of any of these herbs can provide a wonderful, mind and body bath: Basil, bay leaves, calendula, fennel, lavender, lemon verbena, marjoram, mint, nettle, pine needles, rosemary, sage, savory, thyme (sounds like an Italian meal) or vetiver roots. Tonic Bath This type of bath yields the most benefit if repeated each evening for several evenings in a row. Try comfrey, alfalfa, parsley and orange peel in equal parts. Or equal parts of rose petals, orange blossoms and lavender. There are many other herbs that can be used. For instance, try adding a some eucalyptus leaves, fennel and horehound when you have a cold. Lovely fragrances can be obtained with angelica root, bay leaves, cloves, jasmine and lavender flowers, lovage root, mint, orange leaves, flowers and peet, patchouli, pennyroyal, rose petals, rosemary or sandalwood. Be creative, come up with your own favorite combinations! You'll find that an herbal bath, instead of a luxury, may well become a necessity. Reference material in part is from Rodale’s Illustrated Encyclopedia of Herbs As always, consult your health care professional for all health concerns. The information contained above is for educational purposes only. The authors makes no health claims or guarantees for any of the herbs mentioned in these articles. Silver Sage is a "sis" of mine as well as an herbalist, if you need help locating herbs or more information about them please feel free to email her. Starshyne Return to Silver Sage's Herbal Corner Starshyne last updated 9/23/01