Give the gift of self-care: 4 DIY bath tea recipes

When life’s challenges get difficult, our focus on health tends to take the back seat. However, prioritizing self-care helps us manage our emotional states and prepares us for adversity. Taking care of yourself begins with treating yourself well—and that could mean soaking in a tea-infused bath after a stressful day. Read on for bath tea recipes you can make for yourself or your loved ones.

What is emotional self-care?

Emotional self-care is the practice of attending to your mental health. It involves processing, nurturing, and healing our emotions, enabling them to grow into positive moods and states, despite the sometimes stressful situations we find ourselves in. Learning how to manage and care for our emotional state can lead to cultivating healthy and positive attitudes, and caring for yourself can achieve all these.

Why is emotional self-care important?

Emotional self-care casts a wide net over keeping yourself healthy overall: physically, mentally, and spiritually. It would sound like common sense to prioritize your self-care, but it is often the first thing we give up in challenging times or situations.

When we don’t prioritize self-care in difficult situations, it could result in burnout, anxiety, depression, and resentment of others. Investing in self-care strategies helps reduce these negative implications and enables you to lead a healthy, happy, and well-rounded life.

When you feel good about yourself, you’re more equipped to put together solid self-care strategies. Discuss your overall wellness with a St. Joseph and Texas A&M Health Network primary care physician in person or through a televisit.

Why the best gift you can give is self-care

Among the barriers to self-care are time and money. Not everyone has the privilege to set aside the time or financial resources to focus on their self-care, which is why a great gift to give yourself or your loved ones is something that can help emphasize its importance.

Here are some DIY bath tea recipes to help you or your loved ones destress. They may not be an instant remedy, but feeling good can be a significant first step on the self-care journey.

4 DIY bath tea recipes

1. Soothing blend

This blend contains natural ingredients known for their soothing properties, like chamomile, lemon balm, and calendula. This bath tea is best for achieving a calm and relaxed state at the end of a long, tiring day.

Ingredients:

• ½ cup calendula
• 1 cup chamomile tea
• ½ cup oats
• ½ cup Epsom salt
• ½ cup lemon balm

2. Fragrant blend

This herbal blend uses calming buds like lavender, hibiscus, and rosebuds, which will soothe you and fill your surroundings with a glorious floral fragrance.

Ingredients:

• ½ cup lavender
• ½ cup hibiscus
• ½ cup rosebuds
• 2 cups lemon balm

3. Refreshing blend

This bath tea blend contains anti-inflammatory ingredients like ginger, eucalyptus, and arnica, which are herbs used to remedy swelling. This blend is great for soothing sore muscles, and the refreshing scent can also help clear your sinuses.

Ingredients:

• ½ cup ginger (freshly minced or dried)
• 1 cup eucalyptus leaves
• ½ cup arnica
• 1 cup chamomile tea

4. Skin-softening blend

Oatmeal, a natural emollient, and ground rice help lock in moisture in the skin, leaving it smooth and soft.

Ingredients:

• 1 cup oatmeal
• 1 cup ground rice
• 2 cups Epsom salt
• ½ cup chamomile tea
• ½ cup jasmine flowers

How to use bath tea

Combine all ingredients in a muslin bag (you can use cheesecloth or organza if they’re more readily available to you), and tie off with a string. Place the tea bags in steamy water for at least 15 minutes. The longer you soak them, the more infused your bathwater will be!

Give bath tea as a gift

Pour ingredients of your bath tea blend of choice in a clear glass jar or muslin bag, then tie it with a ribbon, and a small card. They make lovely gifts your loved ones can use on a self-care day of their choosing.