Combining mindfulness and meditation with your self-care soak can yield significant benefits, including elevated relaxation and psychological rejuvenation as you appreciate the present and act intentionally. This powerful stress reliever can help you improve focus, build resilience to stress and increase inner peace.

 

"A hot bath slows the parasympathetic nervous system making it easier to breathe deeply." - Magdaleena Nikolov, Director of Spa at Fairmont Century Plaza, tells Mashable

 

When we are being mindful, we are completely in tune with our senses as we notice what arises moment-by-moment, every single thought and feeling. You will open the doors within your mind to invite these experiences inside and sit with them, holding on instead of pushing them away or avoiding them.

 

If this all sounds boring, we totally get that. We've become so accustomed to our fast-paced, multitasking, and overburdened every day lives that it can feel uncomfortable simplifying our minds like this.

 

But we promise, this ritual holds a strangely addictive power once you get the hang of it. You'll begin noticing things you've never noticed before, and the details you discover will charm you with childlike wonder. Like most things in life, it will take practice.

 

 

Here's out step by step guide on how to have a mindful bath:

 

01. Create the Time

Mindfulness is something you need to practice consistently to observe long-lasting changes and impactful progress. You want to intentionally carve out space in your calendar, ensuring you're creating enough psychological, mental, and spiritual space for uninterrupted time. Once you set this time aside, it should be just as sacred and hold just as much value as any other errand you have in your calendar.

Don't forget to ask yourself, what do you want out of this? For example, will you focus on a specific sense, invite all your sensory experiences, or practice clearing your mind and transporting yourself worlds away?

 

02. Set Up the Environment

Prepare your space for peace and relaxation (we even created a playlist for our customers to help with that!) Keep your senses in mind as you create your sanctuary. Will you light some gentle candles? How does a glass of wine and finger foods sound? Or will you opt for a sensory deprivation experience by eliminating sound, taste and light altogether?

Don't forget, you are in control of your environment.

 

03. Tune Into Your Senses

After you have prepared your bath with our instructions, you can begin winding down and clearing your mind. Mindfulness means focusing on your surroundings and what is happening, rather than what you should be doing or should have done instead.

You're not ridding yourself of emotions and thoughts but acknowledging them, how they change, and letting them pass. The more you practice letting go, the better you will get at it.

 

Sample Sensory Guidance

The 4-7-8 technique asks you to inhale through your nose for four counts, hold your breath for seven counts, and exhaling completely through your mouth for eight counts.

Feel the air fill your lungs completely and be transported throughout your body, from the top of your head to the ends of your toes. Feel your breaths melt into the air around you, and feel your belly rise and fall in the water.

Is your jaw still clenched? Is your forehead relaxed? Are your shoulders loose?

How does the air smell? What aromatherapy scents and notes can you pick up from our bath formula?

Feel the warm water envelope your body, isn't it amazing how water takes on the shape of its container? Pay attention to the gentle waves in your bathtub with every little movement you make. Press your fingers, elbows, calves, and back into the bathtub - this can be your grounding practice for whenever your mind begins to drift away.

If you opted for one of our playlists, what do you hear? What are you imagining in your head? Where are you now? Where do you feel these sounds in your body?

Can you feel the energy change in your bathroom?

 

04. Transition Back Into Your Life

When you are done with your mindful bath, your experience doesn't end there. By pulling the plug and throwing the bathroom door open, everything you have just cultivated will undo itself. Instead, pull yourself out of your bath slowly, gently, and mindfully.

Savour the last few wisps of the gentle aroma, let the warm air linger on your skin, put on some skin cream to lock in that dewy moisture, and feel the clothes rest against your skin before reentering the world.

Notice what you're thinking and feeling, and pay attention to your experiences afterwards. Does anything feel different? Do you feel more grounded and conscious while performing daily activities? Are you becoming better at being present?

 

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Here at Inoki, we understand that always finding the time for a mindful bath may not be feasible for everyone - life gets in the way! But the bathtub isn't the only place you can practice mindfulness. Using the same formula, you can practice mindfulness and being present in every corner of your life - cooking and eating a meal, spending time with loved ones, taking a walk, or even while making your morning cup of joe!

 

Mindfulness takes practice - the more you do it, the easier it will become. From our entire team here at Inoki Bathhouse, we're wishing you warmth, love, and light. Please remember to be kind to yourself, and listen to your inner voice telling you what you need. The rest will follow.