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While showers warm the skin, a hot bath thoroughly warms the entire body.
Heat naturally raises the heart rate, dilates blood vessels, and induces a light sweat.
For these reasons a hot bath is like a home sauna and a natural way that your body releases toxins.
2. Bathing Revitalizes Your Skin
Bathing is important for removing dirt, sweat, and dead skin cells from the surface of your skin, cleansing any impurities, and helps you to feel pure and refreshed in the morning.
Heating the skin enhances blood flow which revitalizes your skin, moisturizes it, and restores a healthy glow. The heat also revitalizes internal organs, and your entire body!
3. Bathing Relaxes the Nervous System
When you take a bath, the warm water surrounding your body actually calms the nervous system, providing relaxation, and stress relief, and enhancing mood.
Bathing reduces muscle tension and relieves pain.
The contemplative state induced by bathing or showering can be a source of inspiration and creativity. Bathing can be a new source of epiphanies and eureka moments in your life.
A warm bath before bed improves sleep. In contrast, a cold shower increases dopamine levels even after the shower, and can energize your entire day.
4. Bathing Clears the Respiratory System
Hot steam and improved blood flow can clear the sinuses and liquefy mucus in the lungs for easy expectoration.
5. Bathing Inspires Spiritual Growth
On a spiritual level, bathing and cleansing each day can help you feel pure, and refreshed, and inspire you to internal spiritual purity as well. After bathing, you will be like a breath of fresh air.
Another way of saying this is embodied through the popular quote, "Cleanliness is next to godliness." That is certainly the case from an Ayurvedic perspective.,Ayurveda recommends taking a bath or shower each and every morning to promote purity, clarity, and to get your day started on the right foot.
When to Avoid Bathing
Do not bathe for 15-20 after a meal, as this will heat the skin. The heat will draw blood from the digestive tract to the skin. Instead, keep blood in the digestive tract where it is needed.
When you have a low fever, bathing is not recommended as wet hair, a wet body, and even a sudden drop in temperature when leaving the bath can cause a chill that depresses immunity and aggravates the disease. Naturally, heat is contraindicated in all cases of high fever.
Avoid a bath if you feel faint or dizzy, low blood pressure, or postural hypotension (low blood pressure / dizziness upon standing).
Avoid a bath if you have a heart condition (although bathing can be good for the heart as well).
Avoid a hot bath while pregnant as the baby has no means to lower internal core temperature and this can harm your baby.
Avoid a hot bath if you have a rash or poison ivy, as the water can both irritate and spread the disease. Avoid a hot bath if you have open wounds as the heat can further damage the traumatized tissue.
Make sure you are well-hydrated before bathing, as the heat will make you sweat.
John Immel, the founder of Joyful Belly, teaches people personalized diet, lifestyle and herbs
through Classical Metabolic Theory (Ayurveda & Greek Medicine).
His approach is clinical, yet exudes an ease which many find enjoyable and insightful.
John also directs the Joyful Belly College,
offering professional clinical training for over 15 years.
John's hobbies & specialties include advanced digestive disorders,
virtue psychology through classical & Christian philosophy, languages, cooking
& botany. He holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics from Harvard University.
John, his wife Natalie, and their 8 kids live in Asheville, NC.
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* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration.
The information and products on this website are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any
disease.