Kelvin m. Wanjiru

Reasons why you are bathing absolutely the wrong way. As human beings one of our routine every day is to take a bath. As often, we do not pay attention to this, as long as we feel refreshed and clean, we just go on with our day. Do you know that in India taking a bath is more of a ritual than a routine? When taking bath properly, we are energized, our mind is relax and we do not feel fatigue. Also, proper bathing will wash off dirt and remove toxins. Unfortunately 99% of us takes a bath the wrong way. We may be refreshed but improper bathing can cause dark circles around our eyes, hair fall, rough skin, weak immunity, weak digestion, lethargy and other serious health issues. As it is, who would have thought that just by taking a bath the wrong way can cause many unfortunate things to our body? As a creative blogger in India, I Neha Bhardwaj has compiled 6 wrong ways to taking a bath and how we can correct them. 1. Bathing with hot water. A healthy person should always take a bath with cold water. Not stifling cold water, but water that comes from the tap is the water temperature that we should use. If you feel that you can’t tolerate cold water from the tap, you may opt for lukewarm water instead and eventually switch to tap water. Avoid pouring hot water on your head as this may cause hair fall, weak vision or brain disorder. Hot water diminishes your senses and makes you lethargic. In only some health concerns that a person may use hot water, like arthritis. There is also proper direction when using either warm or cold water. When using warm water, you do not directly pour it over head, pour hot water from foot to head. On the other hand when using cold water pour it from head to foot. This the proper direction, doing so, follows the blood circulation of body and avoid the possibility of a blood clot. So switch to using cold water when taking bath as this will energize your body to start your day. 2. Taking a bath after meals. Has somebody told you not to go back to swimming after eating? Some would say that it can cause appendicitis, others would say stomach ache. And we would so often brush it off as mere myth or hearsay. Somehow there is some truth to this, even for just taking a bath after meals. You may want to experiment on yourself for two days on the same time of the day. 1st day taking a bath before meals, and 2nd day taking a bath after meals. List down how you felt and compare. Any feelings of hunger or digestion? When did this happen, when you took a bath after meals? Or before meals? Most likely you will feel this when you took a bath after eating. This is because digestion requires a lot of blood flow and energy from our body and it should maintain its body temperature. When you take a bath after eating, you lower down your body temperature and even the temperature of your skin, this disrupts the blood flow of your body to aid digestion. Thus, digestion slows down, intestines becomes weaker, you may experience constipation and other stomach related concerns. Take a bath before meals to avoid stomach and digestion disorders. If you must take a bath after meals, make sure there is a 2 hour gap from meal to bath. 3. Skipping Oil Massage Did you know that massaging oil on your body before taking a bath, is one of the hidden secrets of bathing properly? How many of us would massage oil before taking a bath? Maybe only a small percentage of us would probably say “Yes, we massage oil on our body before taking a bath!” Massaging oil on our body before taking a bath attracts toxins and microorganisms and removes them easily. In India, traditionally, a bath does not start with water but ends with it. But times have change and lifestyle has become busier and it is not that practical anymore to massage oil on body every day before taking a bath. Maybe you can do this on weekends, or on days in the week when you do not have work or for kids when they do not have school (start them young as they say). But try including this in your daily bath routine, it will only take about 2 minutes to massage oil on your body. Suggestions on what oil to use? Try using coconut oil or mustard oil or sesame oil. Try it, and guaranteed you will have smoother and clearer skin. 4. Not Removing Dead Skin Are you certain that after taking a bath you have also removed the dead skin on your body? Maybe yes, maybe no. Even after washing and cleaning your body, soaps can only do so much. When bathing one of the bathing accessory that you should have in your bathroom is a scrubber. A scrubber helps you take out the layer of dead skin on your body. It is best to use a natural scrubber that comes from dried Ridge Gourd or popularly known as a “Loofah”. This scrubber is eco-friendly, biodegradable and affordable than the plastic loofah that you can find in the health stores or groceries. When using loofah, lather your body with soap, wet your loofah, remove extra water from the loofah and scrub your body. Using loofah, improves blood circulation of your body and unclogs skin pores. Commonly said, that after taking a bath pat dry with towel. But actually the correct way is to rub the towel with slight force. Scrubbing with loofah and towel dry with slight force will help remove the dead skin layer of our body and help the new skin layer to come out. 5. Duration of Bathing Are you the type that goes in the bathroom who takes a bath in 5 minutes (splash yourself with water, shampoo, soap, rinse and out of the bathroom in an instant), or are you the type that takes time in cleaning yourself, say, for an hour? In truth, we should not fall in either of the two. Bathing is not just for cleaning our bodies, it is also the time to rejuvenate our mind and soul. Have you ever observe that during bath times, we tend to think about a lot of things by ourselves? It’s like our own mini “Me Time”. Bathing should not be done hurriedly as most of us do, especially when we are about to be late for work. Take time to bath, calmly (some even would suggest with deep breathing) and with a purpose. It is only when we take time to ourselves, even during bath time, that we will be able to enjoy the benefits. Taking a long time to bath has its disadvantage. The skin loses its natural oils, it becomes rough and patchy. Prolong use of soap can also dry the skin. Many would ask, how often should we take a bath? It is advised that we take a bath every day and in the morning. 6. Using of Toxic Products Have you ever check the toiletries that you use? Have you ever read the ingredients of the products you are using? You will be surprise that 95% of these products in India have harmful ingredients in their formulation. These harmful chemicals can be found in most of the shampoos, shower gels, soaps, liquid shower gel, liquid soaps and the likes. What are some harmful chemicals and fragrances should you watch out for next time you shop for your toiletries? These are the following: Chemicals: Ammonium Lauryl Sulfate, Acrylates Copolymer, Dimethicone, Amodimethicone, Luareth – 23, Polyquaternium – 7, Sodium Laureth Sulfate, Cocamide MEA, Dimethiconol, Amodemithicone, Carbomer, PEG 90M Fragrance: Peg – 150, Climbazole, Disodium EDTA, BHT, Methylchloroisothiazolinone, Methylisothiazolinone, Peg 45- M, Peg 14M, Sulphobenzotriazol, Color 1, Color 2 These harmful chemicals when used on a daily basis slowly seeps into our bloodstream that can cause rough skin, hair fall, dandruff, allergies and certain diseases. So the next time you shop for your toiletries make sure to read the ingredients of the product and always choose 100% natural. Choosing 100% natural products helps prevent skin and hair fall concerns, avoids harmful chemicals seeping into our bloodstream that can cause certain diseases. There are a number of brands now in the Indian market that are made with 100% natural ingredients. You may check your local groceries, health stores or the internet. Bathing is part of how we take care of our bodies. Being able to properly bathe, can energize us in the morning, it can heal and purify our bodies. Taking a bath every day should be part of our daily hygiene before we start our day. And knowing now how we can properly take a bath is one of the big step in ensuring a healthy body.