The Detox Bath takes the load off the kidneys, cleanses lymph and skin, helps exit metals, pesticides, acids and other toxins. The trick is to get hot enough to sweat and promote sweating with herbs and such. It’s best done on a near-empty stomach after taking in a lot of fluids.
Take 40-100 mg of Niacin depending on your size. I take 40 mg. Make sure it’s the regular kind and not the non-flush kind, as you want to flush your skin and open your pores. Your scalp should itch and burn. Wait about 20 minutes for it to take effect. If you can’t find the right kind, skip this step and drink extra peppermint/chamomile tea instead.
While waiting, use a dry skin brush and brush skin.
Drink a pint or more of good water, or the Cleansing Drink with cayenne, lemon, apple cider vinegar, maple syrup. Peppermint or Chamomile tea would also be good.
Run a hot bath and add:
1/2 to 3/4 cup Epsom salts
1/2 cup Baking Soda
1 cup Powdered Ginger, or make a quart of ginger tea by slicing and dicing an entire ginger root and simmering for 20 minutes on low heat. Strain into bath. You can also use ginger extract. You can also skip this step for convenience if you wish but do try it. Optional: Add cayenne pepper – but beware! it stings. I often chicken out and don’t add it.
Detox bath
Soak for as long as you can, scrubbing your skin with a loofah or washcloth the entire time.
When you get out, to continue the sweat, wrap up in towels or robe and get under the covers and continue sweating for another hour or so. Drink more water at this time. then air dry or take lukewarm shower, go to sleep. DO NOT try to do any housework or errands after bath. Rest peacefully! 🙂 If you tend to get overheated (Pitta dosha) skip this step and simply air dry.
Note: there’s a fantastic Japanese washcloth that is highly recommended for this. It’s about 2 feet long and a kind of pastic synthetic that is rather abrasive and really creates a ton of suds from any liquid soap. Rinses totally clean and pristine in a second. It got an award for best invention. I get it from my health food store and from my Japanese grocery store. I have not found it online yet. It’s only about 2 bucks and well worth it.
Pitta people may find this bath totally exhausting, too much heat for them. So what they can do is drink two cups of chamomile tea (it promotes sweatign and relaxation) and make the bath not so hot. They can do the post-sweat wrap up or immediately shower with a lukewarm shower, whichever helps them feel better. 🙂
If you want to pay special attention to your face for acne or pigmentation issues, you can:
give yourself a clay facial while dtaking the detox bath, just apply liquid bentonite clay or other clay masque after scrubbing your face clean. You can mix in colloidial silver for more of a detox effect.
Or apply a paste of ginger powder and turmeric, 50/50.