The holidays are often synonymous with stress, exhaustion, and over-indulgence. How can we find a happy balance between enjoying the festivities, treating ourselves, and staying grounded? This month, we’re sharing our favorite guilt-free indulgences with you, so you can create time and space for yourself.
Today, Seeress, shaman, yogi, and Reiki master, Deborah Hanekamp, known as Mama Medicine, explains why we should treat ourselves to a ritual bath, and shares a DIY for you to experience at home.
Splendid Spoon: Hi Deborah! What is a ritual bath?
Deborah Hanekamp: In spiritual practices all over the world, bath rituals serve as a form of rebirth. We unify with the sacred waters for detoxification, regeneration, and clarity.
SS: Why do we need to add a ritual bath to our self-care routine?
DH: As we bathe, we take time to reflect, set intention, and wash away old habits and patterns that no longer serve our highest good. While we do this, we also make our skin sing from the inside out!
SS: When and how often should we do a ritual bath?
DH: Once a week is ideal.
SS: How do ritual baths help us better connect to all our senses?
DH: Through sound, scent, and feeling we begin to open up to a softer part of ourselves, and in that relaxed state, healing can occur.
SS: What are the physical and mental benefits of ritual baths?
DH: I find ritual baths powerfully cleansing and balancing for body and mind. You feel so different before and after: your muscles and mind will be at ease and stable.
SS: Are there any essential ingredients we should always have on hand to create a ritual bath?
DH: I think salt and a clear quartz crystal can make an amazing bath. I use them in almost all of mine!
SS: Can you share a ritual bath DIY to help us get grounded, connect to ourselves, and release what no longer serves us?
DH: Here’s a ritual bath for harmony:
This sacred ritual bath embraces the shadow while blessing the light within. It uses crystals, herbs, essential oils, and elements from the divine feminine and masculine aspects of nature.
Through breath, meditation, mantra, and intention we begin to call in harmony. This ritual is surprisingly powerful, so allow yourself space and time post-ritual for journaling and tea. You will leave this bath feeling balance, love, joy, and clarity. Here’s how to experience it:
Create a Sacred Space
– Set up a simple altar that’s slightly above eye level, and in direct view from your bath.
Place on Your Altar
– A selenite wand
– A lit candle
– A feather (that you have found in nature if possible)
– A small bowl of water
Bath Ingredients
– 1 cup Epsom salt
– Pink rose petals (fresh or dried)
– Sunflower petals (fresh or dried)
– A rose quartz crystal
– A smoky quartz crystal
– A pot of tea brewed from tobacco, pink rose, mugwort, saw palmetto, cacao powder, and ashwagandha powder.
It’s best if you can make an infusion by allowing these ingredients to brew in water together overnight. You may also add:
– 1 tbsp apple cider vinegar
– A few drops of spikenard & rose absolute essential oils
The Ritual
– Before entering the bath clear your aura with the selenite wand and smoke of white sage.
– Call in the seven directions: east, west, south, north, below, above and center.
– Call in your guides and guardians.
– Step into the bath. Dunk head under water.
– Practice a few rounds of alternate nostril breath:
Close off right nostril with right thumb.
Exhale from the left nostril.
Inhale from the left nostril to a count of 4.
Hold both nostrils closed for a count of 4.
Exhale from the right for a count of 6.
Inhale from the right for a count of 4.
Hold both nostrils closed for a count of 4.
– Repeat this breath 8 times. Dunk your head in water. Hold a rose quartz in your left hand and the smokey quartz in your right.
– Stare into the flame of the candle and allow the flame to understand the shadows of your masculine energy while sparking the Divine Masculine in you.
– Dunk your head under water again, staying under for as long as you can. Allow the water to understand the shadows of your feminine energy while rebirthing the Divine Feminine in you.
– Sing “I am perfect as I am” to yourself thirty-six times.
– Sit and enjoy the bath in silence and stillness with the energy you’ve created.
– Now is a powerful time to set an intention of manifestation in your life.
– After your intention is set, blow out the candle to signify the end of your ritual. The smoke carries your prayers to the ether.