This Homemade Epsom Salts Bath Crystals recipe is an all natural and effective homemade stress relief therapy that you can whip up in your own kitchen in under a minute.
DIY Stress Relief Bath Salts
I'm a huge fan of bath salts. I'm not talking about the fancy and expensive pharmacy brands either, I'm talking about just the simple homemade Epsom salts kind of bath salts. It's a small evening ritual which we've enjoyed since my kids were little. It only takes four tablespoons in a hot
I keep a big bottle of this simple DIY bath salts recipe next to the bath. Each batch lasts me 2-3 weeks depending on the kids bath vs shower habits.
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Does Epsom Salts Actually Work?
So, I guess the question you want to ask is: "Does Epsom Salts Bath Actually Work?"
There's a ton of science backing up the benefits of Epsom salts but at the end of the day, the real proof as to whether it works or not is how it makes you feel.
A few years back, our family went through a stressful period (you can read more about me here). It took it's toll on everyone in our family in some way or another and left a few of us feeling extremely anxious. Dealing with, and learning to heal, that anxiety has been a process which we still work on now.
I don't like to recommend therapies on my blog, as I am not qualified in mental health, but one of the things that genuinely helps sooth my mental agitation and stress is upping my intake of magnesium. I start to feel the results within a couple of days. My mind seems clearer and less scattered and that clarity brings me Peace.
I increase Magnesium in my body in two ways:
- By taking a good quality magnesium supplement and
- Soaking in a bath containing magnesium rich Epsom salts.
How an Epsom Salts Bath Works
Your skin is a living organ. Human skin is a porous membrane which works hard to protect us from the microscopic dangers of the outside World. But the skin is not merely a shield. It's more of a two way filter which is fuelled by a process called Reverse Osmosis.
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Magnesium Bath Benefits
Adding magnesium and sulfate rich Epsom Salts to your bathwater, sparks the process of reverse osmosis. Minerals move through the skin from a high to a low concentration. The Epsom salt solution in your bath surrounds your skin in a salty solution allowing it to draw in beneficial magnesium and eliminate harmful toxins out into the water.
How to Make your Own Homemade Epson Salts Bath Salts
You will need :
- 2 Cups Epsom Salts Crystals
- 20 drops of Lemon Essential Oil
- A air tight jar to store your crystals and a spoon (for measuring each bath time)
Instructions:
- Add Epsom salts to the jar.
- Drop half the lemon essential oil into the Epsom Salts. Shake. Drop the remaining Essential Oil.
- Shake well.
How Much Epsom Salts Do You Use in Your Bath
I add 3 - 4 tablespoons to a hot bath (we run the bath about ⅓ full in our house). If you have aches and pains and looking for a more intensive magnesium soak, increase to half a cup of bath crystals.
Epsom Salts Benefits
Epsom Salts is a compound of Magnesium and Sulfate with a long, proven history of uses and benefits for health, natural beauty, non toxic cleaning and gardening. A few of the benefits of Epsom Salts include:
- Boost Magnesium Levels. Magnesium regulates over 300 enzymes in the body and plays an important role in your body chemistry. These vital functions including muscle control, energy production, electrical impulses and elimination of harmful toxins.
- Reduce Stress. According to research from the University of North Carolina, magnesium deficiency enhances stress reactions. (4) Further studies show that magnesium has a profound effect on stress and neural excitability. (5) Magnesium salts, such as Epsom salt, can reduce stress and may improve neuropsychiatric disorders. (source)
- Eliminates toxins. Through the process of reverse osmosis, your super clever skin expels concentrated salts and dangerous toxins out of your body, and absorbs the higher concentration of beneficial minerals you've added to your bath into your body.
- Reduces Pain and Inflammation. I don't like to admit it, but since turning 40, I definitely feel more aches and pains than I used to. A hot Epson Salts Bath works wonders to soothe muscles and body niggles.
According to the Arthritis Foundation: (8)
Data collected by the National Academy of Sciences show most Americans don't get enough magnesium, a mineral that's important for bone and heart health. One way to help remedy that: bathing in magnesium sulfate crystals, also known as Epsom salts. They're relatively inexpensive, can be found at grocery and drug stores and can boost magnesium levels as much as 35 percent, according to researchers at the University of Birmingham in the United Kingdom.
The Benefits of Lemon Oil
You don't have to add essential oil to your Epsom Salts Bath. But it does add a stress relief boost to your bath crystals. I like to use Lemon Oil in mine as an anti-anxiety therapy.
Lemon Oil isn't the same as squeezing lemon into your bath. It's is made by cold pressing the lemon rind and extracting the aromatic lemon oil from the lemon.
It's known for its ability to calm and relieve mental fatigue, anxiety, nervousness, and nervous tension. Plus it's safe for the kids and detoxifies skin, keeps hair healthy and strengthens your immunity. Oh yes, and it smells AMAZING!!!
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