How to take a bath
that actually helps you unwind

Before you start

Give yourself a real twenty minutes. Not the gap between dinner and the next thing, but a stretch where nobody needs you. If that means after the kids are down or after the dishwasher is running, that is the time.

Set out what you need first: a towel within reach, a glass of water, your soak and oil. Getting out halfway to find a towel undoes most of the good.

1. Draw the bath warm, not hot

Very hot water feels good for a minute and then leaves you flushed and restless. Aim for warm enough to sink into comfortably, somewhere you could stay for twenty minutes without wanting to get out. Fill the tub deep enough to cover your shoulders when you lean back.

Lower the lights. A single candle or a lamp in the next room is plenty. Bright overhead light keeps your brain in daytime mode.

2. Dissolve the soak under the tap

Add a heaping scoop of Lavender Sleep Soak or Pink Salt Soak directly under the running water. The moving water dissolves the crystals far faster than stirring a still tub, and the warmth lifts the scent into the room before you step in.

If you are using the Bath & Body Oil in the water, add two or three pumps once the tub is full so it spreads across the surface instead of clinging to the tap.

3. Breathe, and leave the phone outside

This is the part people skip. Put the phone in another room, not on the edge of the tub. Lean back, let your shoulders drop, and take a few slow breaths: in through the nose, then a longer breath out through the mouth. Longer out-breaths are the simplest way to tell your body it can slow down.

Then just stay. No podcast needed. If your mind wanders to tomorrow, notice it and come back to the warmth of the water.

4. Rest: get out slowly and go to bed

Stand up slowly, because warm water can make you lightheaded. Rinse the tub so salts and buds do not dry on the surface. Pat your skin almost dry, then press a few drops of oil into your arms, legs and shoulders while the skin is still warm and a little damp.

Then go to bed. The point of the evening bath is the gentle cool-down afterward, so do not undo it by going back to a bright screen.

How often

As often as you like. Some people take this bath every night, others save it for Sundays or the end of a hard week. If your skin runs dry, keep soaks to about twenty minutes and always finish with oil.