6 Bathing Herbs that you can grow yourself
What better way to cope with the consequences of a hard day than a bath with aromatic medicinal herbs? Just 10-15 minutes – and you come out of there a completely different person!
And the miracle herbs for such a procedure can be grown right at home.
The benefits of herbal baths are indicated at least by the fact that in SPA salons and expensive cosmetology centers, phytovannas are in great demand.
How to take herbal baths
How to make herbal bath – basic rules:
Liquid cream-soap for use different parts of plants (leaves, roots, flowers, stems) in fresh or dried form.
If you use dry raw materials, then pre-prepare it: put 1 cup of dry grass in a thermos and pour boiling water. When the herb is infused, strain the infusion and pour it into the bath. The water temperature should not exceed .
Do not take a bath immediately after eating, the interval should be at least 2 hours.
Before taking a bath, wash your body with soap and water, clean your skin with a scrub, and rub all places with rough skin with a pumice stone.
While taking a herbal bath, do a self-massage: start with your toes, gradually moving higher. For the procedure, you can use a massage brush.
To achieve the maximum therapeutic effect, it is recommended to take fitovanna in courses – from 10 to 18 procedures with an interval of 3 days.
The duration of the bath should not exceed 20 minutes.
In a herbal bath, you can add a few drops of your favorite essential oil – the effect will be even stronger.
What herbs can be added to the bath
Let's name the herbs that are most often used for phytovann.
1. Melissa
Lemon balm (also called lemon mint) is a perennial plant. Growing melissa will not give you much trouble. It can be bred with seeds, cuttings and seedlings. In care, it is unpretentious, but it feels better in sunny areas, protected from weeds. It can grow in one place for 5-7 years.
Melissa, though rather nondescript in appearance, is incredibly useful. Thanks to its delicate lemon flavor, it is successfully used in cooking. It is added to meat, fish, mushrooms, put in the first dishes, prepare tea from it.
The plant also has medicinal properties. The greatest healing effect has leaves and apical shoots, cut during the flowering of lemon balm. It is used to treat diseases of the stomach, gallbladder, upper respiratory tract. Everyone knows the soothing effect of lemon balm tea.
Herbal baths with melissa also have a calming and relaxing effect. In addition, the herbal bath collection, which includes melissa, is good for the skin: it soothes, relieves irritation and cleanses the skin.
2. Peppermint
Peppermint is the most famous type of such a popular aromatic plant as mint. The unique aroma is given to it by a large amount of mint essential oil.
Growing mint is easy. The main thing is to observe a few rules when landing:
Mint does not like the scorching sun, so it is best to grow in partial shade.
Mint is a moisture – loving plant, but stagnant water can negatively affect its development.
Mint can be propagated in different ways, but preferably vegetatively (cuttings or dividing the bush), because the seeds do not germinate very well.
You can trim the mint at any time, because it quickly recovers and begins to grow even better. However, the plant gains the greatest amount of essential oils at the beginning of flowering, so for medicinal purposes, mint is cut off during this period.
Mint is used in various fields:
in cooking: added to salads, meat dishes and vegetables, put in drinks;
in medicine: to improve appetite, get rid of nausea, for diseases of the stomach, gallbladder, upper respiratory tract, for the treatment of headaches, as an antiseptic;
in perfumery: the refreshing aroma of mint is often used in the creation of perfume compositions.
Mint baths help to relieve fatigue and irritation, have a beneficial effect on the skin, fight insomnia, normalize blood pressure and relieve headaches.
3. Sage
Sage is a perennial plant that is grown not only for its useful properties, but also for its decorative effect. Dense sage bushes can often be seen growing along paths and in flower beds. In one place, they can grow up to 8 years.
It grows well and during spring sowing will give the first harvest of useful greens in the first year in the fall. In subsequent years, you can cut the leaves and flowering tops three times per season, the first time - during flowering.
Sage is not called the herb of longevity for nothing. Infusions and decoctions of sage treat diseases of the oral cavity and pharynx, upper respiratory tract, gynecological diseases. Sage helps with gastritis, colitis, hair loss, hypertension and other diseases.
Baths with sage help to get rid of excessive sweating. Take such baths and for recuperation, with colds. In combination with other herbs, sage is used to reduce weight and fight cellulite.
4. Valerian
Valerian is one of the most famous medicinal plants. For medicinal purposes, a rhizome with roots is used. They contain essential oil, which gives valerian a healing effect.
Valerian is demanding to the growing conditions. It prefers a well-lit, but at the same time moist place with fertile soil. Given the height of the plant-about 59.06 inch, it is better to plant valerian near the fence or in the background of flower beds.
To get larger roots, during the budding period, remove all the buds from the plant, do not let it waste energy on the formation of seeds.
Valerian is known in medicine primarily for its sedative effect: it is prescribed for insomnia, neurosis, increased nervous excitability, migraines, hypertension, But only this useful effect of valerian on the human body is not limited. It is used to treat neurodermatitis, asthma, diseases of the thyroid gland and gastrointestinal tract.
Baths with valerian root have a calming effect, relieve nervous tension, normalize blood pressure. They are also recommended for skin diseases.
5. Chamomile
Medicinal properties of chamomile pharmacy were known even before our era, but still it is popular. The range of therapeutic effects of chamomile pharmacy is large. It is used in the treatment of gastrointestinal diseases, in gynecology, in radiation sickness. Chamomile has anti-inflammatory, sedative, hemostatic, diaphoretic and choleretic effects. It reduces pain, has an antiseptic effect, is recommended for the treatment of the oral cavity and pharynx, upper respiratory tract.
Chamomile pharmacy propagates only by seeds. You can sow them several times a year: early spring, at the end of summer, after the seeds of the new crop ripen.
To improve germination, chamomile needs:
lighting-do not seal the seeds in the ground, they should lie on the rammed surface of the soil;
moisture-moisten the soil well before sowing, otherwise the seeds will not sprout;
sunlight-chamomile is very light-loving, and throughout its life; weak plant sprouts in the shade can die.
Chamomile pharmacy – an annual plant, but thanks to self-seeding, it will give new shoots every year.
Baths with chamomile are taken to cleanse the skin, especially oily and prone to acne, to reduce inflammatory processes, wounds and abscesses. Chamomile baths have a soothing effect, and are also used to stimulate the metabolism.
6. Motherwort
Motherwort-a perennial plant In one place, it can grow for 3-4 years. It is easy to grow, because it makes no demands on the soil, the place of planting and moisture.
Propagated by seeds that are sown in spring or autumn, 7-10 days before the onset of frost. During spring planting, it is recommended to pre-stratify the seeds within a month by placing them in the refrigerator.
For medicinal purposes, cut off the upper part of the plant with a length of 15.75inch. Do this at the very beginning of the flowering period and after 1.5-2 months, when the motherwort begins to bloom again.
According to some studies, the sedative effect of motherwort is 1.5 times higher than valerian. For this reason, it is most often used to reduce emotional stress and as a cardiovascular remedy. It also helps with gastrointestinal diseases, thrombosis, high blood pressure.
Baths with motherwort will help to relieve nervous tension, relieve irritation and fatigue. In addition, after such baths, you will return to normal healthy sleep.
Some of them have a positive effect on the skin, others rejuvenate, and others show a restorative effect.
Disclaimer: It is not a treatment. Be sure to consult a doctor, you may be allergic to herbs.