Stress relief through Bathing…

I’m sitting here deeply calmed after a long refreshing bath. I just poured water over myself for a long while, I didn’t even use bath powder today. But it is simply so refreshing and stress relieving. And interestingly I feel very energetic and awake without feeling rushed.

My two and half year old loves to splash in a tub of water daily in the morning but also ask for it now and then when he feels hot or in need of relaxation. He naturally loves water so much that even a glass of water within his reach is quickly emptied on the floor and used in place of a pool or tub.

Some friends and cousins post pics of themselves in various natural ponds, rivers and water falls. I envy them like I’m possessed by the Onida Devil!

Water is therapeutic without having to go into the metaphysical realm. The very sound of it is calming to many of us – like the sound of the ocean waves, water falls, gushing rivers, streams, rivulets, and rains. Of course when it is the sound of a dripping tap, that’s a different matter altogether. Let’s not go into it.

It’s true that water in its natural setting is, perhaps, more therapeutic. But, water in a bucket is still water too.

I don’t want to go into the physical sciences of water because I don’t know anything about it and also that’s not what this is about . I’m talking of effect of water on our psyches, on our minds. How it makes us feel. How it can swing our moods around!

There are many practices to calm the mind. Some demand you allot some time and importance to them, some try to become entwined into your daily routine. And then there are cultural practices like bathing that can, rather than being a background to our rushed routines, can become spaces of calm and quiet joys that can heal us too.

Cold water baths can be invigorating and make you feel refreshingly energetic. Hot water baths can be relaxing and stress relieving.

A few times in the past I’ve suggested my clients to take long baths as a part of their healing journey. I’ve myself used, now and then, bathing as a healing process and it helped me enormously. People who are passing through a worried or stressed-out period in their lives can find it extremely relieving. Also people who are working to get out of a lethargic routine can also use bathing as a space to invigorate themselves.

We humans have a deep connection with water that dates back to prehistoric times. If some evolutionary theories proposed are to be true – our connection goes back even before the time when the first beings evolved out of the waters.

Even, historically there’s a lot of importance laid upon bathing. Like many civilizations have built and probably even encouraged public baths, segregated by gender. Some countries like Japan and China (I may be wrong here) still have public baths but then that culture has largely faded now, I believe. Even right where I live, in Hyderabad, I’ve seen public baths in some of the Qutub Shahi Dynasty period architecture. There’s even Mortuary Baths at the Qutub Shahi Tombs where the dead are ritually bathed before they’re laid to rest.

Ceremonial bathing is done in Hindu funerals, as far as I’ve seen at some funerals. Ceremonial bathing is a very common practice. Though I don’t know if that’s a farewell bath or a preparatory bath for an onward journey – perhaps a bit of both.

Ayurveda also, if I’m not wrong, prescribes therapeutic baths but those are with specially prepared herbs and other procedures aimed at healing the ailment of the person.

So you can use bath as a stress relieving tool in your life. Try it and see if it works out for you.