Not a Bath Person? Essential Oils Can Transform Your Daily Shower into Tranquility
Move over baths, showers are the up-and-coming key to promoting tranquility and relaxation! Research has shown that people are enjoying showers over baths more than ever. This could be attributed to busy lifestyles. In addition, many condominiums and housing complexes do not have bathtubs. If you aren’t a bath person and want to step up your bathing game, a great way to do this is by incorporating aromatherapy into your showering routine.
Benefits of a hot shower
A hot shower is one of the best ways to unwind after a busy day! Throughout the day, the body performs various physical movements. If you have a labor-intensive job or a job sitting at a desk, the body can become sore and stiff. Hot showers serve as an instant muscle relaxer, soothing tension and loosening up muscles that can tense up due to stress and anxiety. A warm shower has also been linked to a boost in levels of oxytocin, which is our feel-good hormone. (1) Do you sing in the shower? Singing has been shown to release endorphins! In addition, breathing in the steam can help clear out nasal congestion from allergies and colds, allowing us to breathe easier.
A hot shower is also a great way to clear the mind.
Have you ever heard of “shower thoughts”?
You may have noticed you have the most creative and productive thoughts in the shower. Songwriters have written their top songs in the showers. Authors who have had “writer’s block” suddenly have a ground-breaking idea for a new book while in the shower. Do you have your clearest thoughts while taking a shower? Or feel the most creative allowing your mind to freely bounce from one idea to the next?
“In the shower, with the hot water coming down, you have left the real world behind, and very frequently things open for you. It is the change of venue, the unblocking of the attempt to force ideas that are crippling you when you are trying to write” -Woody Allen
“Shower thoughts” exist because we tend to feel safe while in the shower. It’s a familiar place that is warm and comforting. It is one of the rare times in the day where we are completely free from distractions. Our prefrontal cortex (the part of the brain in charge of rational thinking, comprehension, and decision making) is relaxed because we are engaging in our shower routine and the brain begins to operate on autopilot. Our mind is then free to daydream and wander, allowing creative thoughts to surface. Showering is also a great time to practice mindfulness. Try this exercise below to promote feelings of calm and tranquility while in the shower.
Showering Mindfulness Exercise:
As you shower, use all your senses to fully engage.
Smell your essential oils on the floor, soap and shampoos.
Watch the water swirl down the tub and the drops accumulate on the curtain or wall.
Listen to the spraying of the nozzle and the splashing of the stream as it hits the floor.
Do a body scan: feel the heat of the water and the drops on your skin.
Start by focusing on your feet and work your way up.
Later, as you scrub and clean, focus on your movements and the sensations you experience.
Take a moment to breathe in and out.
Close your eyes and let the water gently run over you.
As you breathe, imagine all thoughts and worries passing in and out of your mind like water down the drain.
An evening shower can also promote sleep
Research shows a warm bath or shower before bed helps you fall asleep faster and improves sleep quality even in the heat of the summer. (2) Most people believe this is due to relaxation. While this may play a part in quieting the mind and allowing us to release tension stored from the day, science shows it has to do with the change in core body temperature. As part of the circadian rhythm when melatonin is produced, your core body temperature drops by 2-3 degrees. Mimicking that nighttime drop in body temperature by taking a warm bath can trigger a similarly sleepy reaction.
What is the optimal time to take a bath or shower to support sleep?
Research shows taking a bath or shower 1-2 hours before bedtime for as little as 10 minutes can significantly improve sleep quality. In a scientific review, multiple studies showed participants who took a bath or shower 1-2 hours before bedtime, fell asleep 9 minutes faster! (2)
What is even more interesting is to compare this data to studies done on Ambien which is a popular medicine used for sleep. In one study, patients who used Ambien fell asleep 16 minutes faster than the placebo group after 8 months of use. (3) That’s only 7 minutes faster than a warm bath! Not to mention, warm baths aren’t addictive like Ambien.
What about cold showers?
A hot shower can offer multiple health benefits. It can help promote blood circulation, ease muscle tension, clear congestion, calm the mind and support sleep. Ending a hot shower with a quick 30 seconds of cold water also has a host of benefits. Cold shower exposure can lower the sympathetic response and increase parasympathetic activity due to the activation of the vagus nerve and cholinergic neurons in the vagus nerve pathways (4) (5). I love the feeling of following a hot shower with a quick refreshing cold water rinse. It may be tough at first, but it is very helpful in improving vagal tone.
How to use aromatherapy to enhance relaxation while showering
Stress relief is by far the strongest pillar of aromatherapy practice. Aromatherapy can be a very helpful technique to elicit a relaxation response. Due to the complex chemical constituents, essential oils can play a role in transforming unpleasant emotions, inducing relaxation and potentially reducing the damaging effects of stress on the mind and body. In addition, essential oils are incredibly complementary to other healthy stress relieving techniques such as unwinding at the end of the day with a hot shower.
“Most studies, as well as clinically applied experience, have indicated that various essential oils, such as lavender, lemon and bergamot can help to relieve stress, anxiety, depression and other mood disorders. Most notably, inhalation of essential oils can communicate signals to the olfactory system and stimulate the brain to exert neurotransmitters (e.g. serotonin and dopamine) thereby further regulating mood.” (6)
Essential oils are a simple and easy way to impact your emotional wellbeing while taking a shower. Depending on your intention, you can use essential oils to promote feelings of calm and relaxation, focus and energy, or joy and peace.
A few ways to use essential oils in the shower:
Add a few drops of your favorite essential oil to the shower floor
Use essential oils in an exfoliating sugar or salt scrub (see recipe below)
Diffuse essential oils in small diffuser in bathroom
Add a few drops of essential oil to hair shampoo or body wash
Use a shower steamer
Make a “shower” spray by adding 60 total drops of essential oils to 4oz spray bottle and filling 1/4 of bottle with high proof alcohol then filling the rest with distilled water.
The best essential oils to use while showering
Try adding a few drops of one of the below essential oils to shower floor for:
Energy and focus: eucalyptus, peppermint, rosemary
Calm and relaxation: lavender, spruce, chamomile, bergamot, juniper
Creativity: fir, pine, eucalyptus, rosemary, clary sage, mandarin
Uplifting mood: orange, ylang ylang, lemon, grapefruit
Respiratory support: eucalyptus, laurel, peppermint, ravensara
Invigorating Himalayan Salt Scrub
Ingredients
- 18 drops Grapefruit essential oil
- 10 drops Rosemary essential oil
- 8 drops Juniper essential oil
- 1/4 cup carrier oil such as jojoba oil
- 1 cup fine pink Himalayan salts
Instructions
- Combine essential oils and carrier oil.
- Mix in Himalayan salt and stir to combine
- Store in glass jar with lid.
- To use: Wet skin and apply in gentle circular motion when in need of exfoliation. Rinse with warm water and follow with lotion, body butter or moisturizer of choice.
Notes
Dilution is 2.5%
Shelf life: 3-6 months
After taking a nice long shower, try a little pampering session while diffusing one of the below blends:
Spa Day Diffuser Blends
Spa Vibes
3 drops Lavender
3 drops Eucalypus
Refresh
2 drops Eucalyptus
2 drops Lime
2 drops Rosemary
Aveda Spa
3 drops Lavender
2 drops Bergamot
2 drops Marjoram
2 drops Orange
1 drops Geranium
1 drops Frankincense
Chill
3 drops Lime
3 drops Black Spruce
Spa Treatment
3 drops Eucalyptus
2 drops Hinoki
2 drops Elemi
1 drop Juniper
Unwind
3 drops Bergamot
3 drops Copaiba
Add some essential oils to your showering routine and notice the difference it makes in how you feel mentally, emotionally and physically!
Want to learn more about using essential oils? Check out my latest book Science of Essentials: The Essential Guide for Using Aromatherapy to Promote Health and Healing here.
Looking for more education on using essential oils for emotional health? See my blog article, The Best Essential Oils for Stress and Anxiety and 5 Tips for Using Aromatherapy for Stress Relief.
Disclaimer: This blog is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute the practice of medicine, nursing or other professional health care services, including the giving of medical advice. The use of information on this blog or materials linked from this blog is at the user's own risk. The content of this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Users should not disregard, or delay in obtaining, medical advice for any medical condition they may have, and should seek the assistance of their health care professionals for any such conditions.
References:
Uvnäs-Moberg K. Oxytocin linked antistress effects--the relaxation and growth response. Acta Physiol Scand Suppl. 1997;640:38-42.
Haghayegh S, Khoshnevis S, Smolensky MH, Diller KR, Castriotta RJ. Before-bedtime passive body heating by warm shower or bath to improve sleep: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sleep Med Rev. 2019 Aug;46:124-135.
Randall S, Roehrs TA, Roth T. Efficacy of eight months of nightly zolpidem: a prospective placebo-controlled study. Sleep. 2012 Nov 1;35(11):1551-7.
Al Haddad H, Laursen PB, Ahmaidi S, Buchheit M. Influence of cold water face immersion on post-exercise parasympathetic reactivation. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2010 Feb;108(3):599-606.
Kinoshita T, Nagata S, Baba R, Kohmoto T, Iwagaki S. Cold-water face immersion per se elicits cardiac parasympathetic activity. Circ J. 2006 Jun;70(6):773-6.
Lv XN, Liu ZJ, Zhang HJ, Tzeng CM. Aromatherapy and the central nerve system (CNS): therapeutic mechanism and its associated genes. Curr Drug Targets. 2013 Jul;14(8):872-9.