Marinating in Self-Care
I meant to write this post yesterday, but I decided to make a delightful dinner instead. That’s how I self-care.
Okay, that’s it. That’s the post.
Just kidding! Wait! Come back!
Once upon a time, I enjoyed reading while soaking in a hot bath. Back then, we didn’t have things like bath bombs. We had Epsom salts and Vaseline Intensive Care bath beads. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoyed VIC. It was the whole reason to get in the bath with a paperback. Well, that and ignoring everything outside the bathroom door.
I never did get to try the Calgon, take me away bath products.
I mean, sounded like they were going to kidnap me. Maybe I should give it a whirl. Where will I end up when they ‘take me away?’ Please, please, please let it be somewhere warm and sunshiny with high humidity.
I haven’t had a bath tub in so long that I convinced gaslit myself into loving showers. Over the years, I had a difficult time staying in the shower to just relax. Even doing all the things (washing/conditioning hair, shaving, scrubbing, steaming the sinuses to near death) would take twenty minutes or less.
Try it before you deny it.
Then I no longer had a massaging showerhead. If you’re ever super-stressed, using certain settings on your feet, regardless of how much you hate it (omg, I fucking hate it), can help lower tension and stress in the rest of your body. You have to get through the initial discomfort (if you have sensitive feet like me) before it starts making a difference.
Massage Therapists (who are the only people allowed to touch my feet) will tell you that taking care of your feet will help the rest of your body. The feet are the foundation. (Btw, I’m a Pisces, on the Cusp of Aries, and the feet are my body part, so I know what I’m talking about here.)
When I moved into an apartment where I didn’t have to pay for water, I finally had a tub again. I attempted, once, to take a bath. Unfortunately, the drain didn’t seal and it never happened. I wasn’t going to bother maintenance to fix it and I wasn’t going to rig something up just to take a soak. I’m lazy and cheap and I hate bothering people, period.
Besides, I have Queen Jayne to live vicariously through when it comes to hot steamy bath time. Candles, relaxing music, sudsy goodness that she then uses to water her plant babies when the water is cooled down.
It just makes me happy to see someone I love taking extra good care of themselves (and their plant babies).
After moving again, I have a tub with a working drain cap. I have some bath bombs that are just moisturizing. They aren’t fun or colorful or have toys inside them, but they’re basic and plain and I like them. (Besides, the last thing I need to do is stain a tub I don’t own because that would totally happen to me.)
The first bath, I had trouble. I didn’t want to use my phone while in it, even for reading, so I was just… there… in the tub… in hot water… doing nothing. Of course, my mind got the best of me and I couldn’t stand not doing anything. So, I ruined the bathwater by shaving my legs and then 5 minutes later I didn’t want to be in any longer.
Last night, I tried again. I was a bit more successful. I decided to use my phone for reading purposes. This time, I had something to occupy my mind. The new problem that arose is the bathtub isn’t really suited for soaking. It doesn’t have a nice slope at one end, it’s just a manufactured piece of plastic. Great for bathing kids, I’m sure, definitely not for soaking in. I tried using a towel on my neck but I still couldn’t get the positioning right.
I did last longer this time, despite the discomfort.
So, any of you tub aficionados out there – I’m looking for tips, tricks, and ideas on how to make a tub that isn’t built for soaking into something I can peacefully lounge in that doesn’t eat up a lot of funds.
I really want to get back to being someone who can just allow the outside world disappear for the length of a long moisturizing soak minus the discomfort to my neck. What’s the point if my neck is going to need a massage afterwards?
