Tuesday, August 14, 2012

40 minutes to clean...

as of late i've been on this home remedy kick.  i am intrigued by the idea of using common household things that provide glamorous results; the smoothest legs ever, whitening my teeth, detoxifying, cornsilk hair, brighter complexion and the list continues.  i think it is interesting that there is so much more to do besides ingesting nutrients.  you can mash things into a paste or scrub.  you can mix things together to clean drains or kill bugs.  the options are endless.

detoxing.  outside of the detox water i tried a few weeks ago (which i am still drinking because it tastes good), i haven't done any real detox program.  i see those pills or series of drinks in the store but have never thought to try them.  why now?  who knows.  i'm bored, i'm curious, i'm anything but normal.  to be honest with you i don't really understand it, nor do i care to spend any time researching it.  i am lazy.  i even get tired of reading people's replies when i stumble across some new thing. 

anyway, i decided to try a detox bath.  duedue and i have been talking about this for several weeks, but neither of us had actually taken the plunge.  yes a pun was intended there.  there were some steps to this; mix the dry ingredients, prepare copious amounts of water to be drunk, gather reading material, and finally trek on up to the bath. 

the day had already been long; church, swimming and dinner with the perdue family.  have you ever noticed how stinking exhausting swimming is?  well it is.  my legs were definitely fatigued from the hour and a half of punishment i had put them through.  what better time to try a detox bath?  so i gathered all the required ingredients and supplies and headed to my tub.

with my hair piled high on my head i slid into my hot detox bath.  first observation, this is an activity best done in the dead of winter.  it was blazing hot day, well hot for washington, and slipping into a hot bath was not my brightest idea.  i can see how it would be awesome when it is only 35 degrees outside.

second observation, it smelled good.  this is a mixture of epsom salt, sea salt, baking soda, ground ginger, and apple cider vinegar.  the ginger made the bath smell really good.  i suppose you would need to be a ginger fan to enjoy a tub of ginger.  guess it's a good thing i am a fan.

quickly i noticed bubbles of liquid forming on my skin in places that were unusual.  this concoction definitely made me sweat, my hair was wet when i got out, but the bubbles were not sweat.  my chicken wings, most commonly known as triceps, don't typically sweat but there were these mysterious bubbles of liquid popping up.  are these toxins?  i have no idea, but i was intrigued. 

the first 20 minutes i filled my time blipping.  chatting with my friends from around the world.  they are always good for entertainment and time killing.  the next 20 minutes i decided to call a friend.  i hadn't spoken to him with my voice in a few days, and i clearly had uninterrupted time to spare.  during this discussion it came to my attention that i wasn't clear on after care.

after care?  well, i'm sitting in a tub of salt and my own filth.  am i supposed to rinse off?  above mentioned friend advised that i should so i wouldn't wake up looking like a salt encrusted prime rib.  ha!  love a guy with a sense of humor.  then i got to thinking do i use soap?  i have just spent 40 minutes opening my pores and supposedly releasing those nasty toxins, i didn't want to clog my pores up by spackling a layer of soap across them.  i ended scrubbing the salts off with my poof (thanks ana) and plain old water.

results.  i will say that i slept solidly.  i feel asleep very quickly and i didn't wake throughout the night.  prebath i had felt like i was getting a cold. the following day i was feeling very clear and uncongested.  coincidence?  maybe, but the recipe for this bath came from a woman who says her grandmother used this as a cold remedy.  so either this works or i've just convinced myself through the power of suggestion that it works. 

just in case you wanted to try this for yourself here is the ingredient list:

dry mix (combine and store)
2 cups epsom salt
2 cups sea salt
2 cups baking soda
5 tablespoons ground ginger

add 1 cup dry mix with 1 cup apple cider vinegar to a hot bath and soak for 40 minutes.  i'm going to suggest that you rinse with water afterwards and drink lots and lots of water.

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